Brent Venables he had a plan.

But a better plan was to win the football game.

That’s why quarterback Jackson Arnold he did not redshirt last season. And that’s why running back Xavier Robinson they shouldn’t send red this season.

Like Arnold last year at BYU, Robinson was called upon late in his freshman season to come off the Missouri bench and give the Sooner offense a shot in the arm.

The same week that Venables proclaimed that the OU coaching staff intended to redshirt Arnold, the young QB had to step in and replace the injured Dillon Gabriel in Provo and directed a late play that propelled the Sooners to victory.

In the same week that Venables declared he would red Robinson, the young RB had to come in and replace the injured Jovantae Barnes in Columbia and spurred a late score that propelled the Sooners to victory — which it was somehow wasted in the last two minutes.

After Robinson rushed six times for 29 yards and a touchdown in the easy win over Maine, plus a 46-yard touchdown reception — he had played just four snaps all season, catching two passes against Texas — Venables was asked last week about Robinson’s redshirt status and freshman offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis. Venables said they are “not going to burn their redshirt year” and plan to limit their participation this season to the NCAA’s four-game regular season limit.

But now, after this week’s bye week, Robinson is facing an existential crisis.

Does he want to play next week against Alabama? (Who wouldn’t?) Or the week after at LSU? (Same question.)

Or does he want to stick around for the last two games and hope his teammates get him to a bowl game and then wait and hope he plays a bigger role later in his career?

Sorry, but this is an outdated way to approach college football in 2024.

What Robinson showed last week, while knocking down Missouri’s forwards like tenpins, was that he brings immediate value to an offense that needs it. He didn’t play in the first half, got a transfer in the third quarter, then in the fourth quarter he was the best player on the field. He finished a stunning 30-23 loss to the Tigers with nine rushes for 56 yards and also caught a pass for 7 yards.

At Carl Albert, Robinson was the engine that kept the Titans from back-to-back state championships in 2022 and 2023, rushing for 2,598 total yards and 41 touchdowns as a junior and 1,789 yards 36 touchdowns- uri as a senior. In the regular season his senior year, he averaged nearly 11 yards per carry.

Robinson may not have seen any playing time at OU in the first half of the season, but the 6-foot, 226-pound Robinson is poised for a starring role in college football — especially at a position that has been uneven at best case for Earlier in 2024.

“(He had) fresh legs and showed what he could do last week (against Maine),” offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley said Saturday night. “I was excited to see him in the game. He just brings another level of physicality, going through things. He never really goes down on the first hit, he’s so big and strong and works so hard. I’m excited to see where he continues to help us this year.”

That has to be on the field for the next two days of play.

The question boils down to this: Does Venables want to beat Alabama and/or LSU and get to a bowl game? Or does he want to risk saving Robinson’s redshirt for the next coach?

Whether Robinson still has college eligibility in 2028 or 2029 — Venables and his staff certainly don’t have to think that far if they’re essentially coaching for jobs in 2024 — then hand Robinson the football for the next. two games increases Oklahoma’s chances of picking up its sixth win and becoming bowl eligible.

Even though Barnes is 100 percent back from the sprained ankle that kept him from making the trip to Mizzou, the Sooners need a more physical running gameand Robinson proved he can help Barnes carry the load. Arnold is still turnover-prone, and while the pass protection remains incomplete, the offensive line appears to be shaping up in the ground game, where it worked the Tigers’ defense for 157 rushing yards and 4.9 yards per carry. transport.

“We did a good job running the football,” Finley said. “I thought our guys did a really good job tonight, man. There were holes there. I took bodies on corpses, gaining 4 or 5 meters. I was very close to making some big plays. The last drive with Xavier Robinson, we went right down the field running the football.”

In the fourth quarter alone, Robinson had gains of 10, 9, 6, 7, 8, 1, 10, 4 and 5 yards.

“It was fantastic,” Venables said. “We just built on what he showed last week too, he came in and did well early on in the first shots he went in. , broke a lot of tackles. It really helped us move the ball out there and score late.”

“He was kicking ass today,” Arnold said. “I was super proud of him. He was taking her to the end.

“It’s a big confidence booster, especially with someone like him — a real freshman guy who gets thrown into the fire.”

Arnold knows the value of getting those clutch hits as a first-year player.

A freshman running back won’t necessarily save this season for Oklahoma, which sits at 5-5 and will be a big underdog twice later. But by giving him the football at short, it improves OU’s chances to win and also sends a message to the team and a hungry fan base: Venables is here to win games — and win now.