Things are about to get much tougher for Oklahoma.
After a pair of underwhelming offensive outings, the Sooners head to Athens to face No. 2 Georgia on Saturday at Sanford Stadium, and the pressure lands squarely on OU’s offense and quarterback John Mateer to turn things around fast.
Oklahoma enters at 2-1, while the Bulldogs are 3-0 and 1-0 in SEC play after a convincing road win at Arkansas. The Sooners, meanwhile, had to grind out a narrow win over New Mexico at home.
The matchup is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, on ESPN. Georgia is a 14-point favorite, and the over/under is 44.5.
Georgia’s defense and quarterback play give the Bulldogs a clear edge on paper. Third-year safety KJ Bolden has already made his presence felt with seven tackles this season, and he comes with a strong résumé after earning SEC coaches All-SEC Second Team honors last year.
In 2025, Bolden finished with 76 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and five pass breakups. For an Oklahoma offense that has struggled to find its footing, that’s a major problem waiting to happen.
Then there’s Gunner Stockton, who looks more settled in his second season as Georgia’s starter. He needed only 13 completions to put away Arkansas, and he’s playing with the kind of confidence that makes the Bulldogs dangerous.
Add in Kirby Smart’s defense, which has again been one of the best in the country, and Georgia looks capable of overwhelming teams. Of the 40 points allowed by the Bulldogs, 28 have come in the fourth quarter against backups.
Still, there is a path for Oklahoma if the Sooners can force Georgia into a real test. The Bulldogs’ first three wins have come against Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and Arkansas, and the Razorbacks may be one of the weakest power conference teams in the country, if not the weakest. That leaves some room for OU to benefit from a step up in competition.
The Sooners also have something they can lean on: their defense. It appears to be elite again, and that gives Oklahoma a chance to hang around in a hostile setting. If Mateer and the offense can clean things up, avoid costly mistakes and hit a few big plays, the Sooners could make this one interesting.
In Other News...
John Mateer Didn't Hide Oklahoma's Biggest Offensive Concern
John Mateer did not try to sugarcoat what went wrong for Oklahoma after the New Mexico game. The quarterback took responsibility for both interceptions, said his mistakes bled into the Sooners performance and pointed to his faith as part of how he reset after the rough night at Michigan. He sounded focused on moving forward, but not in a way that let him off the hook for what happened.
The bigger issue, though, may have been the one he flagged before the conversation even drifted away from his turnovers: Oklahomas running game. Mateer said the Sooners need more there and admitted he missed some run checks, a small detail that can have a big ripple effect on an offense still trying to find its rhythm. For a team with bigger goals, those are the kinds of corrections that matter long before the final score does. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Gets An Early Chance To Answer Its Biggest Concern
The early stumble against Michigan gave Oklahoma a quick reminder that September can expose flaws as fast as it reveals strengths. Brent Venables has made the film work sound straightforward enough: clean up the fundamental mistakes, learn from what went wrong, and keep the confidence intact as the Sooners turn the page to New Mexico.
For a team trying to steady itself after an opening loss, this matchup offers more than just a chance to pile up a win. It is an immediate test of whether Oklahoma can translate practice corrections into sharper execution, and whether the lessons from Michigan show up before the schedule gets any less forgiving. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas Offense Just Became A Huge Problem Before Georgia
Oklahomas slide out of the AP Top 25 after a close call with New Mexico has put a sharper spotlight on an offense that never quite found its rhythm. Brent Venables made it clear he was not satisfied with what he saw, and the concern is not limited to one bad night. The Sooners have had trouble getting much going on the ground, and that has made the unit feel far more fragile than a program with this much talent usually should.
Now the timing gets tricky. Georgia is next, and facing the No. 2 team in the country tends to expose whatever is already shaky, especially when the quarterback play and the staffs willingness to adjust are under the microscope. For Oklahoma, this is no longer just about cleaning up a sluggish start. It is about finding answers quickly enough to keep the season from getting defined by one problem that keeps showing up at the worst possible time. [Read more 🡒]