Will Stein doesn’t sound like a coach taking John Mateer lightly.
Ahead of Saturday’s SEC matchup, the Texas coach spent Tuesday giving Oklahoma’s quarterback a full-throated endorsement - and it came with plenty of respect for the player, the offense around him, and the man calling the shots.
Mateer arrived in Norman with Heisman buzz and a reputation as one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the country. Early in his second season at Oklahoma, the turnovers showed up and slowed things down. But Stein still sees the same kind of problem that can wreck a defensive plan in a hurry.
“This is a high-tempo air raid type offense, but with really good quarterback run game,” Stein said of the Sooners’ offense. “I think John Mateer can really run.
He’s really strong. Reminds me of a lot of the players that we faced up to this point, so he can beat you through the air and on the ground.”
Stein knows Mateer from the recruiting trail, having briefly recruited him out of high school in Texas while he was coaching at UTSA. He also knows what Mateer has already done with Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, who coached him at Washington State before the pair headed to Norman together.
“He’s won a lot with Ben as his coordinator,” Stein said. “Then they go to the playoffs last year.
You know, he’s a guy that can beat you through the air and on the ground. I know he’s had some turnover issues this year, but you can’t sleep on this dude.
Like, the guy’s been a winner his whole life.
“Obviously, he was a Heisman hopeful before the season. I still think he’s got elite and some rare talent in spots. Again, he can beat you through the air and can throw it deep, and he’s got a real real threat to run.”
Stein also has history with Arbuckle beyond this week’s game. The two matched up when Stein was at UTSA and Arbuckle was the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky, and Stein came out on top both times - 52-46 in 2021 and 31-28 in 2022.
That background has turned into a friendship, and Stein was quick to praise Arbuckle’s work.
“Known Ben for a while now,” he revealed. “We faced each other when he was at Western Kentucky, so we have some background with him.
He’s a good buddy of mine. I think he’s a really good football coach.
He’s smart. He’s aggressive.
He had a lot of success at Washington State before he got to Oklahoma, and you know he’s continuing to work with this unit.”
The odd part is that Oklahoma’s offense hasn’t exactly piled up eye-popping numbers. The Sooners are last in the SEC in total offense at 321.3 yards per game and 15th in scoring at 22.0 points per game. Their run game has been stuck in neutral, too, averaging only 99 yards per game.
But that stat line needs some context. Oklahoma has already played Michigan, No.
2 Georgia and No. 1 Texas, and all three games came away from home.
Even with those issues, the Sooners just took down the nation’s top-ranked team. That’s the kind of reason Stein isn’t dismissing Mateer - or the offense around him - for a second.
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Oklahoma brings the sort of profile that can punish a team if it starts slowly, and that is why this one has drawn more attention than a routine conference preview. Kentuckys outlook is tied to whether it can match the Sooners tempo and avoid the kind of mistakes that tend to decide games like this, which is also what makes the prediction angle so interesting: the gap between what people think and what actually happens could be smaller than it appears. [Read more 🡒]
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Kentucky's Linebacker Situation Just Took Another Unexpected Turn
Kentuckys inside linebacker picture got a little clearer, at least for the moment, when Alex Afari was granted eligibility to play by a temporary injunction from Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Brian Edwards. The ruling comes amid a lawsuit challenging how the NCAA is applying its new five-year eligibility rules to players who graduated high school in 2022, and it adds another twist to a situation that has already moved through multiple legal decisions.
For Kentucky, the timing matters because Afaris status directly affects a depth chart that has been under pressure at inside linebacker. His return gives the Wildcats another option in a spot where every available body counts, even as the larger eligibility fight continues to play out in court. [Read more 🡒]