NORMAN — Brent Venables and Eli Drinkwitz won’t be going head-to-head calling plays Saturday when Oklahoma hosts Missouri.
Venables will be directing the Sooners’ offense but Drinkwitz gave up offensive playcalling duties for the Tigers after his team stumbled to a 6-7 finish in 2022.
Since then, Missouri’s offense — and the Tigers as a whole — have thrived, going 28-8 with Kirby Moore calling the plays.
But Venabbles and Drinkwitz have squared off as playcallers before, though.
“Got great respect for Eliah and who he is as a coach, certainly known him way before Missouri, faced off against him and he does a great job,” Venables said.
From 2016-18, Drinkwitz was on Dave Doeren’s staff at North Carolina State as the Wolfpack’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
NC State faced Clemson, with Venables as defensive coordinator, each season during Drinkwitz’s tenure in Raleigh, before he was hired as Appalachian State’s head coach for one season before moving on to Missouri.
Venables and Clemson came out on the winning end of each of those three matchups, but Drinkwitz’s offense pushed the Tigers’ defense plenty.
In 2016, the Wolfpack were off to a solid start, going 4-1 with a win over Notre Dame before a mid-October matchup with Venables and the Tigers. North Carolina State had scored at least 30 points in four of their five games heading into the game at Clemson.
The Wolfpack fell behind three times, but each time battled back to tie the game, including with a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with Matt Davis’ 2-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
NC State drove into the red zone late in the fourth, but Kyle Bambard’s 33-yard field goal try sailed wide right as time expired, giving Venables and the Tigers new life.
Deshaun Watson led Clemson to a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, then Marcus Edmond picked off Ryan Finley’s pass in the end zone on the first play of the second possession to end the game and keep the Tigers undefeated.
Clemson eventually lost to Pitt later that season but bounced back to win a second consecutive national title.
The next season, Drinkwitz’s offense had even more success against the Tigers, outgaining Clemson 491-415.
A pair of turnovers, though, helped the Tigers pull off a 38-31 win.
In their final meeting as coordinators, in 2017, Venables’ squad forced three turnovers and held the Wolfpack to just 297 yards in a 41-7 blowout win.
While Drinkwitz doesn’t call offensive plays for Missouri anymore, his fingerprints are still on the offense.
Ahmad Hardy comes into Saturday’s 11 a.m. showdown as the nation’s leading rusher, and Kevin Coleman is one of the top receivers in the SEC.
On the OU side, Venables’ mindset hasn’t changed.
He’s brought back a defensive identity to Norman that had largely been missing since he left to take over as Clemson’s defensive coordinator in 2012.
And this season, as he took over defensive coordinator duties following Zac Alley’s offseason departure and entering a pivotal fourth season, the Sooners’ defense has taken yet another step forward.
“I think he’s doing an outstanding job,” Drinkwitz said. “Obviously, him taking over the defensive side of the ball and calling the defense, you can tell his aggressive nature and style is on display.”
