COLUMBIA, Mo. – Brent Venables has often said the Sooners need to go their own way.

On Saturday, with two minutes left, the Sooners led Missouri 23-16 and simply had to finish the job. Instead, the Tigers scored 14 unanswered points and pounded the Sooners for a 30-23 loss. The loss puts the Sooners at five wins on the year and leaves them empty-handed for their best chance to get that coveted sixth win for bowl eligibility.

When asked if Venables was frustrated that the Sooners were shooting themselves in the foot again, he gave a simple answer.

“Absolutely,” said Venables. “Yes.”

The problems that allowed the Sooners to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory were the same problems they’ve faced all year: turnovers, no offensive consistency and untimely mistakes.

The Sooners again struggled with ball security, and it was the biggest issue keeping them from taking control. Jackson Arnold lost a fumble on a 12-yard run on the offense’s second possession and Peyton Bowen muffed a punt at OU’s 28-yard line, leading to a Missouri field goal late in the first half; Deion Burks lost a fumble at the 30-yard line early in the fourth quarter, setting up a nine-play touchdown drive from Missouri that took nearly five minutes off the clock.

Despite these mistakes, the Sooners were still tied at 23-23 and had possession with a minute left and a chance to win the game. But the Sooners committed their fourth and final turnover on an Arnold fumble, which Missouri returned for a 17-yard touchdown.

The Sooners nearly escaped despite their first three turnovers, but the fourth proved to be one too many. The Sooners have now committed 15 turnovers in six conference games and have a turnover margin of -10.

“It’s a shame,” Arnold said. “I just tried to roll it out, get out of the bag and throw it away. I probably should have thrown it out a little sooner and just gotten a new game in. It’s blowing. It sucks. That could happen at any time happen, and it happened at the worst possible time, but I just have to be better.

Of course, the Sooners might not have been in that situation without a return to their old, destructive habits on offense.

The offense was essentially non-existent, especially in the passing game. Despite the return of Deion Burks And Jalil FarooqArnold completed just 15 of 24 passes for 74 yards, an average of 4.9 yards per completion. The Sooners had two passing plays of 15 yards or more – one came up Lucas Elzinga‘s 43-yard pass to Bauer Sharp on a fake punt conversion in the second quarterback, and the other came running back Taylor Tatum‘s 18-yard touchdown pass to Arnold late in the fourth quarter.

The Sooners relied largely on the running game, totaling 36 carries and 26 pass attempts. But outside Xavier Robinson (9 carries, 56 yards) who found a rhythm late, without which the Sooners didn’t have much success Jovantae Barnesfinishing with 122 yards on 3.4 yards per carry. The offense finished with 257 yards and averaged 4.1 yards per carry.

“It’s very frustrating,” the OU offensive coordinator said Joe Jon Finley said. “I’ve been part of really good offenses that go for a lot of points and a lot of yards. Obviously it’s tough when you don’t always have all your weapons there. But at the same time, our guys have fought and scratched and clawed, and we’ve got to find a way find ways to make it work.

“It’s the University of Oklahoma. I know better than anyone how high the standard of offensive football is here, and we have to find a way to make that happen.”

Defensively, the Sooners shut down Mizzou’s backup quarterback Drew Pyne and the Tigers’ attack early. The Tigers scored three points and totaled 88 yards in the first half, as Pyne completed six of 11 passes for 23 yards. But in the second half, the OU defense began to slip as the Tigers totaled 190 yards after halftime.

The biggest failure came on their final drive of the game. With the Sooners holding a 23-16 lead with two minutes left, Pyne split OU’s defense on an eight-play, 75-yard drive that lasted just 57 seconds. He capped it off with a nine-yard touchdown to the former OU receiver Theo Weas to level the game.

It was another missed opportunity for the Sooners in a game full of opportunities. OU was held to two field goals on both red zone trips in the first half, and all four turnovers came inside their 35-yard line. The Sooners converted on 5 of 15 third-down attempts, while Missouri scored 11 of 19.

It looked like the Sooners had won the game for good after that Billy Bowman‘s 43-yard fumble with two minutes remaining, giving them a seven-point lead. Instead, it only added to the heartbreak.

“Heartbreaking loss,” Venables said. “I feel so sorry for our players. They did everything we asked of them. They did their very best to put us in a position to win the game tonight… We certainly had our moments and had a great opportunity there at the end.” We have two minutes left and Missouri did a great job of executing.

“We have been outscored 21-7 in turnovers. Nothing impacts the game more than this. We have to take better care of the football. Just incredibly grateful and proud of our boys. We, as a staff, have to take a better to help them in some way.”

The Sooners are now 5-5 on the season and 1-5 in SEC play, and it’s the same issues that have plagued them all season. The Sooners even got two of their playmakers back on the field, and the offense still struggled with turnovers and a lack of explosiveness.

With only two opportunities left to become bowl eligible (Alabama, at LSU), the Sooners don’t have much time to solve this one.