Oklahoma won Saturday night.

That may have been the best thing anyone could say.

The Sooners escaped New Mexico 14-6 in a game that raised even more questions about an offense already struggling to find an identity.

The number that dominated the postgame edition of The Long View: 61 rushing yards on 32 attempts — just 1.9 yards per carry.

Against New Mexico.

Quarterback John Mateer completed 19 of 25 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. Oklahoma scored on a 29-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Hansen and a long completion to Isaiah Sategna. That second touchdown, it turns out, came mostly from fans screaming and making Mateer notice Sategna was wide open.

Beyond those two plays, sustained offense was difficult to find.

The rushing problems particularly bothered Clay. Oklahoma averaged only 4.2 yards per carry against UTEP, struggled to run against Michigan and then fell below two yards per attempt against New Mexico.

“You can't block,” Horning said. “They can't block.”

That led him to propose a significant change.

Rather than replacing offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle or Mateer, Horning suggested Oklahoma could remove offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh and move Kevin Wilson into that role. Wilson, now an offensive analyst for the Sooners, coached offensive line earlier in his career before becoming an offensive coordinator and head coach.

The move, Horning argued, could simplify the offensive decision-making process while directly addressing Oklahoma's biggest weakness.

Ryan and Clay also debated whether deeper organizational problems could be contributing to OU's struggles.

Clay questioned whether offensive coaches are working effectively together and whether Brent Venables has successfully empowered his offensive coordinators. Ryan raised questions about the expectations and incentives surrounding OU's athletic leadership.

But the conversation repeatedly returned to the same issue:

Oklahoma simply cannot run the football.

And the schedule is about to become much less forgiving.

Ryan and Clay went game by game through the Sooners' remaining schedule and found few comfortable wins. Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Missouri were among the matchups that made a six-win season seem far from guaranteed.

OU left Saturday with another victory.

It also left with a much bigger question than whether it could beat New Mexico:

What happens when this offense starts playing SEC teams?

Follow Clay Horning’s work at OklahomaColumnist.com.