FORT WORTH, Texas – OU coach Brent Venables made it clear after the Sooners’ 21-20 loss to Navy on Friday.

There is no regret about opting for the two-point conversion at the end of the game.

The conversion attempt occurred a few moments later Mike Hawkins found Jake Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown that cut Navy’s lead to 21-20 with six seconds left. The touchdown capped a 13-play, 65-yard drive that helped the Sooners regain rhythm after a second-half slump.

Instead of kicking the extra point that would have tied the game and almost certainly forced overtime, Venables went for the win. But Hawkins was thrown into the pocket, effectively ending the game.

The decision to go in pairs was made at the start of the trip, said Venables.

“We had a chance to win there,” Venables said. “We got the coverage we were hoping for and they did a good job staying out of the way. “If we can hold on a little longer then I think we’ll have worked one over the middle in the late stages … I would try again.”

The Sooners struggled to find a rhythm on offense in the second half while Navy found its rhythm. The midshipman scored twice in the second half, including a 95-yard quarterback touchdown run Blake Horvath The game was tied at the end of the third quarter.

The Sooners, meanwhile, failed to score in the second and third quarters as the offense struggled with dropped passes and penalties. And with the offense finally scoring late in the game, Venables decided not to risk overtime.

“We will get exactly what we expected. We’ve been working on this situation all year, but in the last few weeks we’ve been working on it in particular… We knew if it was under 30 seconds, we wanted to go for two, so we made that decision earlier in the trip met.

“I liked the way we looked. I liked our options there.”

The Norman native returned home for his fifth and final season and spent much of the year as the team’s backup tight end.

However, with Farmer Sharp When he transferred to LSU, Roberts was thrust into a starting role. Roberts played the majority of the reps and finished the game with two balls for 17 yards, including the late-game score.

Roberts — who finished his lone Sooner season with 12 receptions for 112 and two scores — doesn’t regret his decision to transfer to Oklahoma despite the Sooners’ disappointing 6-7 season.

“It was great to come back,” Roberts said. “I will make a childhood dream come true. Pursue my dream and play at the highest level in the SEC. Obviously not the year we wanted. Although there are a lot of disappointments, there has been a lot of growth. You learn to fight back against adversity and get back to work when you may not want to or when everyone is knocking you down or knocking you down a little.

“Although it’s disappointing, I won’t say I would change anything. I am grateful and blessed to have been an early one. I’m excited to see what Team 131 does. This stuff is just a learning experience. You take.” Learn from it and move on. Even though it’s disappointing, I’m grateful to be able to do what I was able to do.

Norvath’s 95-yard touchdown not only tied the score at the end of the third quarter. It was the longest play from scrimmage in Navy history and the second-longest running play by an OU opponent in program history.

“You have a puller, a blocker, a guard pull and we have to be in and out. We missed the fit,” Venables said. “We missed the pass and (Horvath) did a good job keeping the ball close. He is very fast and you have to defend them for 60 minutes. That’s what the team can do to you if you miss a pass, and we played well for a good portion of the game and there were a couple of explosive plays there that you have to pay for, so that was a tough call there.

Horvath also scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter that gave the Midshipman the lead for good. He finished the game with 155 rushing yards and two scores on 18 carries, adding 92 passing yards.

Venables confirmed OU’s new offensive coordinator before the game Ben Arbuckle participated in the Sooners’ bowl game preparation. Arbuckle also served as quarterbacks coach during the game.

“You can also place great value on that,” said Venables. “As opposed to being someone who’s been here and there, not really here, just evaluating, as opposed to what he’s actually done and having to go into the quarterback room and practice, the indy drills (individual drills ). to kick.

“I think that really gets everything going. There is a level of comfort for the players and what they can expect, who this new coach is and what they can count on when things get going again.”

Before the game, there was some speculation about the Sooners’ running back rotation, as Sawchuk was listed as a co-starter along with Sawchuk Sam Franklin, Xavier Robinson And Taylor Tatum. Sawchuk had just 61 rushing yards entering the game this season, while Robinson had played a crucial role in the team’s offense late in the season.

But Sawchuk did most of the work, converting 13 carries into 67 yards and a score. Robinson and Tatum combined to score just nine runs, and Robinson didn’t see the field much after halftime.

“(Gavin) got off to a really good start and did well early,” Venables said. “And we played against several players. All four defenders touched the ball today. And we didn’t perform particularly well behind our pads at times, and I think that partly affected the rhythm as well. You get these little windows over the course of a game to capitalize on that, and we just didn’t do some of the basic things that you need to do to win and put someone in a really tough spot.”