Alva Review-Courier -

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Finally, Brent Venables gets his shot.

The man who helped build dominant defenses in 26 years as an assistant coach at Kansas State, Oklahoma and Clemson will make his head coaching debut Saturday when ninth-ranked Oklahoma hosts UTEP.

"The excitement, the anticipation is real," Venables said. "Our guys have worked incredibly hard for the last eight months – coaches and players – preparing for this. This is what you work for. ... It's that time to play somebody else, to go compete and kind of see where we are at."

Venables, 51, plans to keep his typical energy on...