The biggest buzz before the Red River rivalry is John Mateer’s availability. After undergoing hand surgery, Mateer was sidelined for recovery, missing the 44-0 win against Kent State. Three weeks after surgery, Mateer pushed his limits to start the game against the Texas Longhorns on October 11 at the Cotton Bowl. Despite a brave move, it wasn’t his best day. His throws were inaccurate, and unable to move the ball rushing. Mateer struggled throughout the game, which led Oklahoma to a disappointing loss of 23-6. Mateer’s struggle made CFB legend blame coach Brent Venables, alerting him of their upcoming challenges.

Venables admitted after the game that he mismanaged key moments and that the Sooners simply “didn’t deserve to win.” On the October 12 episode of See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack, while reviewing the week 7 games, David Pollack discussed how John Mateer shouldn’t have played at all. “Honestly, I didn’t think he would play. I honestly thought that it would be the backup…You could tell he was doing a good job of protecting himself, but man, he got hit early and often. He got hit a whole lot more than I would have been comfortable with.” David Pollack said.

In his post-game interview, Venables said, “Not a good day, but we still have a chance to have a heck of a year. A lot of ball still in front of us right now.” But as Pollack pointed out, the path ahead won’t be that easy. He warned of Oklahoma’s brutal upcoming stretch: “So, Oklahoma is interesting to me now, because their schedule is miserable. It’s absolutely miserable.”

Taking a look at Oklahoma’s rest of the games scheduled for this season. They will be facing South Carolina on October 18th at Williams-Brice Stadium. After which, they will be hosting Ole Miss on October 25th at the OU Memorial Stadium. This is one of the biggest challenges for the Sooners, as Ole Miss hasn’t lost a game yet with a 6-0 record, leading the SEC table.

And against this backdrop, you need to keep your best weapon healthy for the bigger games. “Their offensive line had another injury today. They’re banged up. They don’t win a ton out wide. Like Mateer has to be 100% Mateer if Oklahoma wants to continue to win….If I were the coach, I’d have been like, especially late in the game, I would have absolutely taken him out,” advised Pollack.

Mateer completed just 20 of 38 passes for 208 yards and threw three interceptions. He carried 14 times for 5 yards, being sacked five times to lose 32 yards of offense. Before Mateer was sidelined for recovery, he completed 1,215 passing yards and six touchdowns, with three interceptions, and rushed 190 yards and five touchdowns. He had an average of 351.3 yards per game and was the second-favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. However, in the game against Texas, Oklahoma’s overall yards were cut short to 258 yards, proving how Mateer’s factor impacts the Sooner’s gameplay.

Venables stresses consistency as Sooners face tough schedule

 The Sooners registered 12 tackles for loss against Texas, their fourth straight game hitting double digits in that category. Over that span, the unit has produced 49 tackles for loss, including standout efforts of 11 against Temple, 13 versus Auburn, and another 13 in the rout of Kent State. It marks the first time since the 2003 Bob Stoops era that Oklahoma has accomplished such a streak, proof that Brent Venables’ defensive identity is taking firm hold.

Reflecting on the loss, Venables said, “At the end of the day, we need to tackle better on defense. We need to get off the field on defense on third down and take the pressure off the offense, and be able to complement one another. The ability to run the football? When it is all said and done, you have to be able to do that consistently to win.”

“Consistently” is the key attribute they need to demonstrate in the coming games. Next up, the Sooners will test their front against a South Carolina offense that averages 308.6 total yards per game, including 208.8 through the air. The Gamecocks rank 44th in completion percentage (66.4%) and are averaging nearly nine yards per attempt.