If Oklahoma loses to Auburn, Brent Venables should start packing his bags

They may be a slight underdog on the road, but Oklahoma cannot really afford a road loss to Auburn this soon into the 2024 college football season. While OU did play better in the second half in last week's home loss to Tennessee, that game got out of hand very quickly for Jackson Arnold and the Sooners offense. He was benched in favor of Michael Hawkins Jr., who will get the start at Auburn.

As for the Tigers, well, they are 2-2 on the season with losses to Cal and Arkansas. Like Venables, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze has made a change at the starting quarterback position, twice now. He pivoted off Payton Thorne after the Cal defeat, but pivoted back to him after Hank Brown let him down vs. Arkansas. Simply put, Auburn is teetering on the brink of destruction once again. Don't lose!

Should Oklahoma fall to Auburn down on The Plains, we are looking at a team that will no longer be ranked, probably for the rest of the season. Oklahoma would be 3-2, but 0-2 in SEC play. To me, this is all about Venables proving to us that he made the right decision in going from Arnold to Hawkins. If it backfires on him, then good luck trying to recruit anybody of note on the offensive side of the ball.

The last thing Oklahoma needs in transitioning to the SEC is major unsteadiness with its head coach.

Brent Venables could force himself on hot seat with a road loss to Auburn

Things can change very quickly, both in life, and definitely in major college football. Oklahoma is a top-three program all time in the history of the sport. All things equal, this was the best program in the Big Eight/Big 12. When the Sooners had it rolling, there was nothing anybody else could really do about it. By leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, they gave up it to essentially being someone like Auburn.

Historically, Auburn is the most challenging job in the country. Your two biggest rivals are Alabama and Georgia, and both are dynastic. Factor in a fractured fan base and wacky boosters, and good look with that. This has allowed Auburn to be everyone's favorite underdog when the Tigers are good. In short, they are built for this. It is in their nature, even though they are struggling with their coaches...

What I am getting at is while it may be a tad premature to tell Venables to go pack his bags, the honeymoon phase of being a new SEC team is over with and done. He may massive contract on the books from athletic director Joe Castiglione, but Oklahoma did not join the SEC to be Auburn's whipping boy. He got paid to be given some time to figure it out, but if he cannot, OU must pivot.

In situations like this, you have to kick a reeling SEC opponent like Auburn when they are down.