Head coach Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners got back in the win column on Saturday, defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks on the road by a final score of 26-7 in Columbia. OU started fast and finished strong in the 19-point win, and they are now 6-1 overall in 2025, including a 2-1 mark in the SEC.

Oklahoma needed a bounce-back performance on the road in this game, after a very tough loss last week against Texas in the Red River Rivalry. The Sooners hit a rough patch in this game in the closing minutes of the first half, but they responded with a 12-0 score in the second half to put away the Gamecocks.

In his postgame press conference, Venables spoke about his team’s response this week after a rough go of things against the Longhorns last Saturday. OU’s head ball coach was pleased with the way his squad showed up in South Carolina.

“It says a lot, again, about their ability to respond, and punch back, keep striking,” Venables said. “What I’ve said, and when you don’t win a week ago it doesn’t really resonate with anybody, and I get that, but we have been incrementally improving.”

After the way things went in Dallas, it was important for Venables, his coaching staff, and his team to respond the way they did on Saturday. South Carolina is far from the best team the Sooners will face going forward, but winning on the road in the SEC is not an easy thing to do, and the Gamecocks are more talented than their record shows. There are much tougher tests coming for Oklahoma in the weeks ahead, but this game was a solid response after getting knocked down.

As life goes in the SEC, Oklahoma must now get ready for a very good Ole Miss team back in Norman next week. That’s only the beginning of an absolute gauntlet over the next five games, and the Sooners are going to have to be ready to go when Lane Kiffin and the Rebels roll into town. As for this Saturday, though, a job well done overall for Venables and this team in a game they had to have.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: OU’s Venables credits his team for responding after last week’s loss