Monday Down South: Oklahoma bought the hype. John Mateer’s first magic trick as a Sooner made it real

Takeaways, trends and technicalities from Week 2 in the SEC.

Him Mateer-ial

It was early in the 3rd quarter. Oklahoma ball at midfield. OU led, 14-7, but the momentum had shifted to Michigan following a 75-yard touchdown run by the Wolverines’ Justice Haynes on the first play after halftime. The Sooners faced 3rd-and-8, seeking to avoid their second consecutive 3-and-out to start the half. The capacity crowd in Memorial Stadium was on its feet, as it had been since well before kickoff, and uneasy. John Mateer received the snap, and before he could even finish his initial drop, the play was a disaster in the making: Fooled by Michigan’s pressure look, Oklahoma’s protection (in particular running back Jovantae Barnes) failed to shore up its right flank, leaving blitzing safety Brandyn Hillman with a free run at the quarterback.

Untouched, Hillman closed in for what by all rights should be a drive-killing sack. Instead, Mateer deftly glided out of the bullseye, into the pocket — the rest of which had held up, to his o-line’s credit — and out of Hillman’s grasp, not only managing to break his attempt at an arm tackle but using it as a kind of slingshot into open grass. Harried but alert, Mateer reoriented himself on the fly, scanned downfield, and casually let rip his first wow throw as a Sooner, an ad-libbed, 40-yard dime down the Oklahoma sideline to a streaking Isaiah Sategna.

Two plays later, Mateer was in the end zone on his 2nd rushing touchdown of the night to extend OU’s lead to 21-7, after which the outcome was never seriously in doubt again. The Sooners survived a muffed punt and a missed field goal down the stretch to win comfortably, 24-13, in a game they desperately had to have to set the tone for their season — that is, to distinguish it as early and emphatically as possible from the last one.

For the locals, the moment was a long time coming. Murmurs about the 2025 quarterback situation began as early as last October, amid a wholesale offensive collapse. Oklahoma had bet the farm on prized recruit Jackson Arnold, a former 5-star in the 2023 class alongside Arch Manning and Nico Iamaleava, going so far as to let incumbent starter Dillon Gabriel walk with a year of eligibility remaining in order to clear Arnold’s path to the top of the depth chart as a sophomore. But Arnold crashed and burned as QB1, quickly playing his way onto the bench in his first high-profile home start against Tennessee; by the time he was reinstated a month later, the Sooners were on a historically miserable pace under an interim offensive coordinator, the toughest part of the schedule still in front of them. Arnold, who ended the season ranked dead last among SEC starters in pass efficiency and Total QBR, played out the stretch with one foot out the door.

When Mateer emerged from the portal last winter, as far as Sooners fans were concerned, he was little more than a name orbited by a constellation of statistics. If the name was unfamiliar, at least the numbers were good. At Washington State, Mateer spent his first 2 years on campus biding his time behind future No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. In his only season as a starter at Wazzu, he filled the void left by Ward’s transfer to Miami and reshaped it around his own game, finishing in the top 10 nationally in total touchdowns (1st), total offense (4th), pass efficiency (8th) and EPA (7th). He was the only FBS player in 2024 with 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing (excluding sacks). He arrived in Oklahoma in January as part of a package deal with his precocious Wazzu offensive coordinator, 29-year-old Ben Arbuckle, and with an NIL package that reportedly matched Arbuckle’s salary. Dark-horse Heisman buzz followed from outlets whose criteria for filling out the preseason leaderboard begin and end with “starting quarterback at Oklahoma.”

That’s the version of Mateer Sooners fans were sold for the previous 9 months — one that existed more or less entirely on paper. Even for the ones willing to buy the hype sight unseen, they had no way of knowing exactly what they were getting IRL. After all, the last guy had no shortage of preseason hype himself. By comparison, Mateer was a relatively marginal recruit with only 2 FBS scholarship offers out of high school, and he’d faced mostly marginal competition in his lone season in the saddle at Washington State. The Cougars played essentially an independent schedule in 2024 after being abandoned by the rest of the Pac-12 in the last round of conference realignment. Oklahoma in 2025 was starting down arguably the most brutal schedule in the country, beginning with Michigan.

Not only the season is riding on this guy, but the fate of the Brent Venables administration after overseeing 2 losing seasons in Venables’ first 3 years as head coach. Does his size translate to the SEC crucible? His arm strength? His mobility? On a field full of 4- and 5-star specimen, is he an athlete, or an overachieving gym rat out of his weight class? Can he keep his composure and make plays under duress from a blue-chip pass rush?

As of Saturday night, all of those boxes have been checked and all lights are green as the SEC gauntlet looms. Already, Mateer accounted for more total yards (344) and touchdowns (3) against Michigan than Oklahoma’s offense as a whole managed in any SEC game in 2024 in either category.

He accounted for 84% of the team’s total output, serving as a workhorse runner whose 19 carries matched OU’s three-man running back rotation combined. (Notably, all of those carries were designed runs, per Pro Football Focus; Mateer scrambled to buy time, not to tuck and run.) He passed the eye test under pressure. He was productive throwing to every level of the field, including 3-for-5 passing on attempts of 20+ air yards. He wasn’t perfect, by a long shot — see his lone interception, on which he air-mailed an open receiver from a clean pocket at the end of the first quarter — but in a game the defense had well in hand, he was who the Sooners were banking on him to be.

Meanwhile, the oddsmakers have dropped the “dark horse” part from Mateer’s burgeoning Heisman campaign, capitalizing on his primetime profile boost to bump his name onto the shortlist of Heisman favorites, for whatever it’s worth in early September. (Next to nothing, especially in a wide open year for the award, but ESPNBet lists his Heisman odds at +900 as of Monday, Sept. 8, if you’re so inclined.)

Personally, before I even start thinking about the H-word, I’d like to see him in less friendly confines; Oklahoma doesn’t leave him in SEC play until mid-October, for its annual rivalry date against Texas. The first true road game falls a week later, at South Carolina, followed by November trips to Tennessee and Alabama. There’s a long way to go, and no rest for the weary after midseason. Until then, the Sooners can rest a little easier knowing their big-ticket offseason investment is one big, reassuring step closer to paying off.

Florida: Hello, Hot Seat, my old friend

Do we really have to do this again?

Scrutinizing Billy Napier’s rapidly shrinking job security after each and every Florida loss was already tedious when we were doing it at this time last year — so much so that his boss had to go out of his way last November to affirm that Napier would be back in 2025 just to get everybody to shut up about it. From that point on, the Gators pulled off a pair of season-saving upsets over LSU and Ole Miss, whipped the ghost of Florida State, and won their bowl game to cap a stunning 4-game winning streak. This was a team with “momentum.” They returned face-of-the-program QB DJ Lagway and opened at No. 15 in the preseason AP poll. No one was talking about the hot seat! And now here we are again? Already?

It is possible to argue, in an of itself, that a 2-point loss to South Florida is not a job-killing catastrophe. The Bulls have a legit quarterback in Byrum Brown, beat the tar out of G5 standard-bearer Boise State on opening day, and now look like the clear frontrunners to claim the automatic G5 Playoff slot themselves. Are Florida fans buying any of that? They are not. They watched the game, and what they saw was not a talented upstart whose time has come. What they saw was their team repeatedly shooting itself in the foot.

Penalties plagued the Gators on Saturday — 11 for 103 yards in all, before we even get into the timing. In the first half, 2 apparent Florida touchdowns were wiped out by penalties on the same drive. Later, back-to-back penalties kick-started USF’s eventual game-winning drive in the closing minutes, including a brain-dead personal foul for spitting in a USF player’s face with an official just steps away. Elsewhere, miscues piled up. A high snap on a punt resulted in a safety (ultimately the difference in the final margin). Lagway struggled to connect downfield, no thanks to multiple drops by his receivers. The offense had some success moving the ball against USF, but its only touchdown came as a result of a short field following a punt return.

It’s no wonder that the prevailing emotion on Saturday was disgust. It’s also no wonder that, looking at the rest of the schedule, the prevailing emotion is futility. Florida’s next 3 games are against opponents currently ranked in the top 10 (LSU, Miami, Texas), the first 2 on the road. That stretch is followed by a trip to Texas A&M, the annual neutral-site date against Georgia, and a closing run against Ole Miss (in Oxford), Tennessee, and a resurgent Florida State. That’s 8 ranked opponents in the last 10 games that, if kickoff was this weekend, would almost certainly be favored over the Gators. And that’s assuming a couple of perfunctory wins over Mississippi State (in Gainesville) and Kentucky (in Lexington), which as the locals know are hardly automatic.

Sound familiar? It’s verbatim the outlook after Florida’s depressing, 1-2 start in 2024, only with the order and locations of the upcoming games switched and no quarterback controversy to distract from the rest of the team. If you’re feeling generous, you might point out that Napier survived that gauntlet once already with his job intact, and there’s no reason the same team can’t do it again. On the other hand, you might point out that Napier dodged a bullet with his name on it last year, and he can’t keep dodging them forever. A month from now, the Gators could very easily be staring down the barrel of a 1-5 start. If it comes to that, there won’t be much left to argue.

Hail State (of chaos)

For obvious reasons, the defining highlight of Mississippi State’s wild, 24-20 upset over Arizona State was the game-winning, 58-yard touchdown heave from MSU QB Blake Shapen to WR Brenen Thompson with less than a minute to play. They’ll be replaying that one on the hype video in Davis Wade Stadium for years to come. But the turning point was the goal line stand by Mississippi State’s defense — a unit that stank out loud in 2024 — that immediately preceded it.

Earlier in the second half, Arizona State had already marched down the field on an 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that didn’t feature a single pass. Midway through the 4th quarter, score tied 17-17, the Sun Devils embarked on an even more epic march, this one ultimately covering 95 yards in 17 plays — again, all but 1 of them runs. This time, though, the Bulldogs held when they had to, stuffing the Devils on 3 consecutive runs inside the MSU 3-yard line with less than 2 minutes to play. Facing 4th-and-goal at the 1, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham blinked and sent out his kicker. An easy field goal put Arizona State in front, 20-17, but left 1:38 for Mississippi State to do … well, you know. The 4 points Dillingham left on the field with his decision to kick instead of going for it (or pinning MSU’s offense at its own half-yard line if the 4th-down attempt failed) turned out to be the difference in a loss that will potentially haunt the Devils if they wind up on the CFP bubble.

Now, is it worth making hay over the fact that the reigning Big 12 champs bit the dust against an outfit still riding a 12-game SEC losing streak? If you’re a committed SEC supremacist, sure, go ahead. Me, I’m chalking this one up to good old randomness. Given the strangeness of the game and Starkville’s reputation as a kind of Bermuda Triangle, the only thing I’m taking away from the Bulldogs’ big win is this: Mississippi State is a live chaos agent that is going to ruin another ranked team’s season sooner rather than later. They’re going to have plenty of chances.

Enter Sandman? Vandy opens a can

The first half of Vanderbilt’s 44-20 win at Virginia Tech was standard Vandy: The defense allowed multiple extended scoring drives; the offense committed multiple turnovers; the ‘Dores trailed at halftime, 20-10. The second half must rank among the most straight-up dominant half-hours of Vandy football in … well, let’s just say a long time. If you were some unfortunate old-timer who has somehow endured the futility of the past, say, 50 years, you’d be well-acquainted with being on the business end of some truly ghastly box scores. You probably wouldn’t be able to recall many, or perhaps any against an ostensibly competitive opponent, that looked like this:

Thirty-four unanswered points. Five possessions on offense, 5 touchdowns. (The last one overseen by the backup quarterback while the starter chilled on the sideline.) Five possessions on defense yielded 3 consecutive 3-and-outs, a 4-and-out, and a turnover following Virginia Tech’s lone first down of the half, in the final minute of garbage time. By that point, Lane Stadium was mostly empty, the home crowd having already streamed out en masse in disgust. Our hypothetical ‘Dores diehard has witnessed his fair share of upsets over the years, sure, including much more dramatic ones than this. (Vanderbilt was a mere 1.5-point underdog on Saturday, effectively a toss-up.) But when is the last time he watched Vandy literally run the other team out of its own stadium?

The hater economy dictates that, if this wasn’t a devoted SEC space, no doubt I’d be writing an obituary for Hokies’ head coach Brent Pry, now 16-23 in Year 4 with no light at the end of the tunnel. Granted, the forecast in Blacksburg is as bleak as ever. On the other side of the coin, though, Vanderbilt’s trajectory since Clark Lea‘s narrow escape from the gallows a year ago is all the more remarkable by comparison. Last year’s opening-day win over over Virginia Tech in Nashville was a legitimate stunner decided in overtime, a plucky, feel-good effort by an outfit with a 3-33 record vs. Power 5 opponents over the previous 5 years. A year later, essentially the same team administered an across-the-board beatdown for its 6th win over a power conference opponent in its past 11 tries.

Nor was it one reducible to QB Diego Pavia getting excessively turnt. Pavia was his usual efficient self on Saturday, accounting for 254 total yards, 2 touchdowns and a stellar 88.7 QBR. But the difference between another forgettable win over a mediocre opponent and an emphatic one was a team effort in all phases. The o-line kept Pavia clean, allowing 2 pressures on 19 drop-backs; running backs Makhilyn Young and Sedrick Alexander went off for a combined 168 yards on 9.3 per carry; the wideouts made plays; the defense as a whole turned in easily its best performance of Lea’s tenure. Even including the competitive first half, the Commodores outgained the Hokies by a nearly 2-to-1 margin overall (490 yards to 248) and by nearly 4.5 yards per play — on paper, their best outing on both sides of the ball since well before the pandemic. The 24-point margin of victory was Vandy’s largest in a true road game since a 55-21 thumping of Wake Forest in November 2012, under coach James Franklin.

One sign of just how far Lea’s rebuilding effort has come is that, as far as the rest of the country was concerned, turning a raucous road environment into a graveyard in the span of a few minutes wasn’t worth getting too worked up about. No one bothered with the patronizing “good for you Vandy!” routine. Frankly, no one seemed to notice: Vanderbilt earned a single vote in the updated AP poll, in keeping with the consensus that the second-half rout said more about the side getting routed than it did about the one doing the routing. (It didn’t help that, for voters just glancing at the result, the final score obscured just how lopsided it was in the end.) Maybe the hive mind is right; maybe this is just an example of the 13th or 14th-best team in the SEC just being that much better than the 13th or 14th-best team in the ACC. We’ll find out this weekend in the conference opener at South Carolina, where the Gamecocks opened as 5.5-point favorites at ESPNBet. Beyond that, with the possible exception of a November visit from Kentucky, Vandy still projects as an underdog in every game.

But then, that distinction keeps counting for less and less. If nothing else, the ‘Dores have every reason to expect to be competitive on a weekly basis, and you can see in the narrow point spread at South Carolina that the oddsmakers are starting to expect it, too. And if it wasn’t already, it’s officially safe to say they’re done with doormat duty until further notice.

Dude of the Week: Cashius Howell

Howell played just 29 snaps in Texas A&M’s 44-22 win over Utah State, and rushed the passer on just 15 of them. But he only needed 3 to accomplish a full day’s work:

There’s an old saying in journalism: 2 is a coincidence, 3 is a trend. Cashius Howell wrecking opposing backfields is most definitely a trend.

Goat of the Week: Brendan Bett

Dan Mullen’s demise at Florida was set into motion by a player who picked the worst possible moment to throw a shoe. For Billy Napier, the beginning of the end could be Bett’s decision to hock a loogie in the face of a USF lineman within literal spitting distance of an official.

Egregious as it was, it’s hard to argue that the Bulls’ game-winning drive hinged on this penalty or likely would have unfolded differently otherwise. (Unlike the infamous shoe toss, which pointlessly gave LSU a fresh set of downs following a 3rd-down stop, Bett’s gaffe came on first down. And a free 15 yards ultimately did not mean much when it came down to a chip-shot field goal snapped from the UF 2-yard line.) But as a symbol of the Gators’ larger dysfunction and lack of discipline with the game on the line, its role in the outcome was unmistakable.

Notebook

1.) Coming off a week of scrutiny following its opening-day loss at Ohio State, Texas got off to another nervous start offensively against San José State: A big gain on the first play of the game was wiped out by a holding penalty; Arch Manning‘s first attempt was a badly overthrown deep ball; the Longhorns’ next series ended with a flat-out drop on 3rd down. The home crowd in Austin was palpably on edge. Of course, the nerves didn’t last. Manning got untracked on an 83-yard touchdown pass to his new favorite target, Parker Livingstone, while the defense made the offense’s life as easy as possible by forcing turnovers on each of SJSU’s next 3 possessions. The ‘Horns turned all 3 takeaways into short-field touchdowns — a net of 28 points in a little under 5 minutes.

2.) This week’s Catch of the Year of the Week goes to San José State’s Leland Smith, whose high-rising effort at the expense of Texas’ Kobe Black was not respected by the officials upon further review but certainly is here at MDS on principle. One of our highest principles, in fact: Too Cool to Overturn.

The decision to rule the pass incomplete on a technicality (Smith didn’t fully possess the ball until part of his torso had skidded across the chalk) had no effect on the outcome, only of robbing Smith of what was rightfully his. The only thing wrong with this catch and ones like it is that every time a dude comes down with one people keep defaulting to David Tyree in the Super Bowl as their point of reference. Real ones remember the true originator of the modern helmet catch: Tyrone Prothro.

3.) Ole Miss has a keeper in talented sophomore QB Austin Simmons, but he’s got a lot of sophomore to work out. He air-mailed a pair of interceptions in the Rebels’ 30-23 win at Kentucky, and even one of his biggest plays — a crucial 4th-down completion that set up Ole Miss’ first touchdown — was accompanied by a chorus of the entire fan base shouting No! No! Yes!

4.) Every aspect of Missouri’s offense was firing on all cylinders in a wild, 42-31 win over Kansas, but a special nod is order for the Tigers’ thunder-and-lightning running back combo of Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts. Hardy, a much-anticipated transfer from UL-Monroe, did most of the dirty work, grinding out 111 yards on 4.4 per carry; his 12 missed tackles forced against the Jayhawks tied for the most of any FBS back in Week 2, per PFF. Roberts got less work, logging 13 carries, but made the most of them, averaging 11.0 yards per pop with a 63-yard dagger in the 4th quarter to put the win on ice.

Moment of Zen

Matt Hinton

Matt Hinton, author of 'Monday Down South' and our resident QB guru, has previously written for Dr. Saturday, CBS and Grantland.