There is a motive coach Brent Venables made it a precedence to carry former Washington State quarterback John Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to No. 18 Oklahoma this season as a package deal deal. He wanted a spark on that facet of the soccer, and the combo delivered in record-setting trend to open Saturday evening towards Illinois State.
Mateer’s 392-yard, three-touchdown efficiency through the Sooners’ 35-3 victory eclipsed former Heisman winner Baker Mayfield’s earlier program passing report in an opener — 388 — set in 2015.
“Discovered the fellows within the holes. Made good selections. Fast selections,” Venables mentioned of Mateer’s efficiency. “Had the endurance when he wanted to. … Exterior the one ball on the scramble that was intercepted, he made quite a lot of good selections. His command of every thing tonight was actually good. … I believed that he did quite a lot of actually good issues.”
After sputtering to open the sport on their first two possessions, the Sooners scored touchdowns on their ultimate three first-half drives. First, Mateer capped a 10-play, 94-yard drive with a 7-yard landing run for Oklahoma’s first factors of the season; he then discovered Deion Burks from 27 yards out a couple of minutes later; lastly, Mateer led a clock-churning landing drive punctuated by three chain-moving completions earlier than the tip of the second quarter.
It was a rhythmic exhibiting alongside Arbuckle that Mateer was accustomed to final season as one of many nation’s main passers on the West Coast. Mateer, who accomplished 30 of 37 makes an attempt, mentioned it was a “super-good feeling” to get into the report books after his first begin with the Sooners.
Michigan awaits subsequent week
Subsequent week’s showdown with No. 14 Michigan shall be a check for the Sooners and their up to date offense. True freshman Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 participant within the 2025 recruiting cycle, completed 21 of 31 for 251 yards and a landing within the Wolverines’ 34-17 win over New Mexico.
Underwood’s a featured menace, together with former Alabama switch Justice Haynes within the backfield for Michigan. Subsequent weekend’s sport can be seemingly one of many ultimate nonconference showdowns for Oklahoma with the SEC’s latest transfer to a nine-game convention schedule starting in 2026.
It is a marquee alternative for 2 packages anticipated to be within the thick of the School Soccer Playoff image this fall.
“Clearly, Michigan is a superb soccer crew,” Venables mentioned. “They are a soccer crew that has elite stage success over the past a number of years. It is actually cool to have these two iconic packages to satisfy subsequent Saturday. They’re a pair years faraway from the nationwide chamiponship and taking part in with quite a lot of momentum going into the season.
“As we speak was the largest sport of the yr for Oklahoma. Some individuals don’t love that. And that is cool. This subsequent sport would be the largest sport of the yr,” he continued. “I’ve coached in quite a lot of video games that had been the largest video games of my profession. I will run out of fingers and toes that I’ve had that very same perspective. … The method and preparation is all the identical. Some individuals do not wish to reside there. That is the place we reside. That is the place I reside. Individuals that do not reside there, they don’t seem to be on this place.”
