Oklahoma C Joshua Bates Apologizes for His Meltdown: ‘I Need to Be Way Better’

NORMAN — Joshua Bates’ mea culpa has come in layers. But it’s been sincere every time.

First, Bates apologized to his Oklahoma teammates. That came on Saturday night, minutes after the Sooners held on to a 16-12 victory over Houston.

On Monday, OU’s redshirt freshman center apologized to the world.

It was the sixth question to Bates in a post-practice interview that lasted nearly eight minutes. It was the one everyone wanted answered, and Bates took on the glare of the cameras and microphones and a dozen or so local reporters, standing just a few yards from where it all went down.

“I need to be way better in that moment,” Bates said.

The moment in question happened in the closing seconds of the Sooners’ narrow escape of the four-touchdown underdog Cougars.

OU held a four-point lead, and the Sooners were trying to bleed as much time off the clock as possible before pun ting the ball back to Houston. On third down, quarterback Jackson Arnold took the snap at 47 seconds, and the play clock almost immediately reset for 40. But Arnold didn’t go down immediately, hesitating, waiting for Houston defenders to get close. 

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma offensive line, which had a very difficult night against the Cougar front seven, was holding its ground, aggressively not letting anyone gain ground on Arnold. At the last possible moment, Arnold dropped to the ground, but he was met there — with some force — by some Houston defenders.

Bates, an aggressive young player who plays notoriously hard (it’s been said that he got into three fights in his first preseason training camp last year) didn’t like that, and quickly engaged. 

Even as his teammates surrounded him and escorted him away from the melee, Bates’ fury was unrelenting. Within a few seconds, Bates took his helmet off and continued screaming at his adversaries.

Bold. Defiant. Even a little courageous, maybe. Admirable, to be sure, to defend his quarterback with such ferocity.

But the moment Bates escalated things and took off his helmet, it drew an immediate 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which stopped the game clock with 35 seconds to play — and ensured Houston would have one final breath on offense.

Instead of getting the ball back with 4-5 seconds left, the Cougars started possession at their own 13-yard line with 29 seconds to go. They ran four offensive plays and actually gained 42 yards to the OU 45 before the clock finally ran out.

On the “Oklahoma Breakdown” podcast on Sunday, former OU offensive lineman Gabe Ikard called it “the stupidest play I’ve ever (expletive) seen on Owen Field.”

Bates stood up in front the team on Saturday night and apologized for his actions. He reiterated his regret again Monday night.

“I have dealt with it with my team,” he said. “I have apologized to the team, and my No. 1 thing is to make sure I gain the respect of my teammates back.”

“I think what’s most important for me personally is earning the trust of the coaches back,” head coach Brent Venables said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “And I trust Josh. Don’t get me wrong. But that was a tough moment to watch under the circumstances any time. That doesn’t represent me, and it certainly doesn’t represent this program.”

Maybe Bates just finally lost his cool because he’d had such a frustrating night blocking Houston’s defensive tackles. Or maybe he really blew up at seeing Arnold smushed at the bottom of an otherwise unnecessary pile.

“He owned it immediately, felt terrible,” Venables said. “And that still doesn’t take it back. But at the same time, he’s an emotional guy that was going to bat for his quarterback and lost his cool. So we’re not going to make it more than it needs to be. We’re talking about it because you brought it up, but we’re moving forward. His moving forward and earning the respect back from everybody is just (to) go to work.”

“That’s something I’m still down about,” Bates said. “It’s something that I cannot do in that moment. Emotions got to me. That stuff will never happen again. I’ve apologized to the team. I’ve apologized to the coaches. I made it clear I’ll do anything I can to fix that mistake and move on.”

“I know his teammates respect him,” Venables added, “because Josh comes to work, he likes to work, he loves practice. He’ll take every rep in practice if you allow him. So, I don’t think that Josh will do anything other than work, and that’s it. In the locker room, that’s what it’s all about.”