Rapid Reaction: John Mateer goes off as Oklahoma rolls Illinois State
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In his Oklahoma debut, John Mateer was brilliant.
The Washington State transfer completed 30 of his 37 pass attempts, threw for 392 yards, ran for 24 yards, and scored 4 total touchdowns. Mateer was everything for the 18th-ranked Sooners in a 35-3 season-opening victory over Illinois State.
OU’s run game never quite got going — the Sooners averaged just 3.5 yards per carry, adjusted for sacks — but the passing attack shredded Illinois State. Keontez Lewis, a transfer from Southern Illinois this offseason, brought in 9 receptions for 119 yards and 2 scores in his debut. Deion Burks made 7 grabs for 88 yards and a score. And Jaren Kanak made 5 catches for 90 yards.
Six other Sooners caught passes as Mateer sprayed the ball around the yard.
It took 2 drives to knock the offseason rust off, but once OU got rolling, it didn’t stop. The Sooners went 3-and-out on their opening possession and then fumbled 3 plays into their second possession. From then on, OU found the endzone on its next 3 possessions and on 5 of its next 8.
On the other side, OU completely dominated the Redbirds. Illinois State crossed midfield on its own just twice in 11 possessions. The Redbirds’ only score of the night came after an interception off Mateer set the offense up at the OU 22.
Illinois State averaged 3.3 yards per play and gained just 34 yards through the air on 20 pass attempts.
The Sooners (1-0) now get to turn their attention to a massive matchup next weekend with No. 14 Michigan. The Wolverines come to town for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC.
Oklahoma 35, Illinois State 3
Here’s the Oklahoma-Illinois State box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
John Mateer vs Tommy Rittenhouse
A statistical breakdown of how Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer compared to Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
