Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer has been upgraded to “possible” for Saturday’s sport in opposition to Arch Manning’s Texas, in keeping with the SEC availability report launched on Thursday. It marks an enchancment from his earlier “questionable” standing on Wednesday.
Throughout Josh Pate’s “Faculty Soccer Present,” analyst Cole Cubelic analyzed how a lot Oklahoma’s efficiency will depend on Mateer’s availability.
“I simply do not know what the baseline offense goes to be for Oklahoma on this sport if John Mateer would not go,” Cubic mentioned (1:06). “Now, if John Mateer goes, it utterly adjustments the dynamic of what this sport is and what this sport may be.
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“I’d love Oklahoma on this sport if we had a 90% John Mateer that was going to play as a result of the ball distributn, the power to function the offense at a excessive stage, none of that could be a actual concern anymore.”
Mateer has been coping with a hand damage that sidelined him in final week’s 44-0 win over Kent State.
This season, Mateer has thrown for 1,215 yards and 6 touchdowns, whereas including 190 speeding yards and 5 scores in 4 video games. In his absence, Michael Hawkins Jr. began however struggled, because the Sooners managed solely three factors.
Cubelic praised Mateer’s playmaking capability.
“(Mateer) can simply create, and he has that it issue, and he has the power to only make issues occur,” Cubic mentioned (1:37). “I could not imagine my eyes after I was watching Michael Hawkins Jr. final week in opposition to Kent State. It did not look good.
“It regarded sporadic. It regarded panicked. It regarded rushed. It by no means regarded comfy.”
Oklahoma is unbeaten this season at 5-0.
Mack Brown defends Oklahoma’s secrecy on John Mateer’s damage
John Mateer injured his proper hand throughout a 24-17 win over Auburn on Sept. 20 and had surgical procedure in Los Angeles 4 days later with famend hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin.
Early rumors advised a couple of month of restoration for this type of damage. But when Mateer takes the sphere on Saturday, it will mark simply 17 days because the process.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables declined to debate Mateer’s situation through the SEC teleconference earlier within the week. However the Sooners later upgraded Mateer’s standing from “questionable” to “possible” on the most recent availability report.
Former Texas coach Mack Brown defended Oklahoma’s strategy to maintain Mateer’s well being replace a secret.
“‘Mendacity’ is a powerful phrase,” Brown mentioned on “The Stampede” podcast with Vince Younger and Bob Ballou. “We used to name it, ‘state of affairs ethics.’ If it match the state of affairs, it was moral, when you’re a coach through the week.
“It’s undoubtedly moral. The extra grey he can go away it, the extra query marks you’ve got because the opposing crew.”
Mateer had been among the many main Heisman contenders previous to the damage.
Edited by Maliha