NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Brent Venables got his first welcome-to-the-hot-seat moment well before his first game as Oklahoma's new coach.

He attacked that controversy the same way he took on ball-carriers as a gritty, undersized linebacker at Kansas State -- head on.

Earlier this month, Oklahoma said assistant head coach Cale Gundy spoke a "racially charged" word multiple times during a film session as he was reading off of a player's device. Gundy, a popular ex-Sooners quarterback, quickly resigned and Venables accepted.