Trailing 17-16 in the SEC opener against the Auburn Tigers, the Oklahoma Sooners‘ offense had just watched their defense run out of gas on a long touchdown drive by Hugh Freeze, Jackson Arnold and the Tiger offense. Playing from behind for the first time all season, OU turned to Ben Arbuckle and John Mateer, needing a go-ahead drive. The Sooners delivered, and the defense sealed the game with a safety in the 24-17 win.
It was a tough day at the office for the Sooners on offense, especially in the run game. The Auburn defense forced OU into a one-dimensional situation, where it all relied on Mateer and the passing game.
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In a matchup where Arnold’s return to Norman after starting 10 games over the 2023 and 2024 seasons was the big storyline, it was Mateer, Arnold’s replacement at OU, that engineered the game’s deciding drive.
On the six-play drive, Mateer took over. He went 4-for-4 in the air, and ran the ball twice, including the go-ahead nine-yard touchdown run directly following a perfect 31-yard pass to Isaiah Sategna III. The Sooners went ahead 22-17, and a potential game-winning drive by Arnold was shut down by the OU defense.
Speaking to reporters postgame, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables had plenty of praise for Mateer’s play, despite the redshirt junior not having his best day.
“He led us to a win,” Venables said. “I thought John was awesome like he always is. Have an opportunity to watch the tape and all those types of things, but we were four out of four in the red zone. That last drive was just fantastic. … Had some huge runs and that last one there, obviously, the quarterback run. He got some really timely third downs with patience and athletic ability and the go-ahead touchdown there.”
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Venables also had effusive praise for the rest of the offense for their execution on the go-ahead drive. Things are still a work in progress at times for that side of the ball, but it’s really impressive when they’re in rhythm, and they were in stride on the final drive.
“Tells you a lot about who they are, who’s in the huddle,” Venables said. “Coach Arbuckle and the rest of the offensive coaches. They were able to do it. Really the toughness that that takes to put everything that didn’t go how you’d like it to, to put it behind and put it together and go down the field, that was something else.”
No, the Sooners aren’t flawless on the offensive side of the ball, but they’re way better than what we saw last year. Mateer notched the win over Arnold, and he put the ball in the end zone when Oklahoma needed it the most. After all of the ineptitude from OU’s offense in 2024, the Sooners are in much better hands this year. There’s still a ways to go, but Mateer and Co. did enough to get the job done in the SEC opener.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Brent Venables loved what he saw from his offense on GW drive
