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Lloyd Avant has emerged for OU football. Will the Sooners lean on him vs Georgia?
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- Lloyd Avant has emerged for OU football. Will the Sooners lean on him vs Georgia?
NORMAN — Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and coach Brent Venables made clear this week that Lloyd Avant is the Oklahoma running back who has separated himself through three weeks.
That could become particularly important Saturday, when the Sooners travel to face No. 2 Georgia at 2:30 p.m. CT at Sanford Stadium. OU enters SEC play still searching for answers on the ground after averaging just 1.9 yards per carry against New Mexico .
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Avant has received more than twice as many carries as any other Sooners back. He showed flashes of what OU's coaches raved about during training camp against Michigan , breaking off an 11-yard run but receiving just nine carries.
"Lloyd has proven he's a good player," Venables said. "Whatever Lloyd does, he does well, and he's consistent. That's probably his best quality, is his consistency and trustworthiness."
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Oklahoma Sooners running back Lloyd Avant (9) is brought down by New Mexico Lobos safety Jayden Flaker (38) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the New Mexico Lobos at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Oklahoma won 14-6.
One of the more puzzling issues plaguing the Sooners' offense through three games — and there are many — is an inability to run the football despite months of making it their biggest offseason focus. Venables declared after OU fell to Alabama in the College Football Playoff last December that in order to take the next step, the Sooners needed to improve on the ground.
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So if Avant is the Sooners' bell cow, why do they continue to experiment with Tory Blaylock , Jonathan Hatton Jr. and Xavier Robinson ? All four saw significant action against the Lobos.
"You want guys to emerge and separate and leave no doubt," Venables said. "Lloyd's been the most consistent. He's had the most opportunity as well. And coach McCullough has done this a long time and done it with the running back groups where you know you can develop depth and trustworthiness, and give guys some opportunity to show whether or not they're what we need."
Another question bubbling beneath the lack of a run game has been whether Arbuckle's background as an Air-Raid play-caller has clashed with Venables' vision for more of a ground-and-pound offense.
But when asked Tuesday what the identity of the Sooners' offense would be in his perfect world, Arbuckle was in lockstep.
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"Tough, physical and that's showing up on film," Arbuckle said. "Whenever other teams turn on the film, that's what they see. That's the brand we expect to play here. So that's the identity we want to show up on film. That we're tough and physical in every aspect of the game, at the line of scrimmage, out on the perimeter, running the ball, carrying the ball.
"Everything we do, we want it to be tough and physical. That's the identity that we want to show up on film."
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Oklahoma Sooners running back Lloyd Avant (9) warms up before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the New Mexico Lobos at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.
Spoiler alert: That hasn't been the case thus far this season.
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In fairness to Arbuckle and the run game, it's difficult to find any rhythm on the ground when running behind an offensive line that is missing star left tackle Michael Fasusi and averaged a 58.8 run-blocking grade against New Mexico, per Pro Football Focus. OU has consistently shot itself in the foot, too, giving the ball away five times in the past two games.
As inconsistent and turnover-prone as quarterback John Mateer has been, the deep passing game has been the Sooners' sole source of offense the past two games. Mateer has thrown six touchdown passes of 20-plus yards this season.
There is still belief throughout the Barry Switzer Center that things can turn around in the run game. OU believes that if it can improve on the offensive line and limit its turnovers, it can still become an elite running team.
Veteran offensive lineman Heath Ozaeta, who could see an increase in playing time this week amid the starting unit's struggles, attributed the lack of a run game thus far to blocking.
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"It just comes down to executing," Ozaeta said. "We get put in good situations and the game Saturday there was probably about five, six, seven runs where we're one guy making a block or breaking a tackle away from huge runs.
"The smallest details with things — you're one foot to the side of where you're supposed to be, you're one step — just the small things, if we clean up, we would've broken a lot."
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Few teams nationally are using four running backs at this point in the season. It's clear the Sooners wanted to see what they had with Avant, Blaylock, Hatton and Robinson early.
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That approach gave OU a chance to evaluate its depth, particularly with injuries affecting the group during camp. But with Venables and Arbuckle both pointing to Avant's consistency, the question now becomes whether his role will grow as the Sooners settle into a more defined rotation.
It sure sounds like we'll see more of the Colorado State transfer Saturday.
"Lloyd's been extremely consistent for us," Arbuckle said. "When he's been in the game, he's done some really good things. When you look at that running back room, again, through some injuries in fall camp, specifically with Tory and a little bit of Hatton there, we've really wanted to see early in the season what those guys could do."So being able to give them opportunities early on, before we developed more of a set rotation, 'Hey, this is how we're going to do it. This is going to be our guy going forward.' Lloyd's been awesome. Consistent, technically sound, plays physical."
OU vs. Georgia
KICKOFF:2:30 p.m. CT at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia (ESPN)
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Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoma n. Order "BOOM TIMES: The Oklahoma Sooners ' Epic Charge to the 2026 College World Series Title" at Sooners.ChampsBook.com . Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lloyd Avant has emerged for OU football. Will the Sooners lean on him vs Georgia?
