Oklahoma’s 51-0 rout of UTEP opened the season the way a ranked team is supposed to open the season: fast, decisive and with very little drama. But for all the fireworks in front of a sold-out Palace on the Prairie, Brent Venables still had a few rough edges to point out after the dust settled.
That’s the reality of a blowout like this. The Sooners did a lot right in their first game as Team 132, especially on offense, where the focus all offseason had been on quarterback John Mateer and a unit that struggled a year ago.
Oklahoma finished with 51 points, 225 passing yards from Mateer and a defense that never let UTEP sniff the end zone. Still, with Michigan coming next and Georgia and Texas waiting in the weeks after that, the opener also showed exactly what needs to be cleaned up.
Mateer was efficient in his season debut, completing 11 of 17 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns before coming out late in the third quarter. He missed a few throws, but the ones he did connect on were sharp, and his 234.1 pass efficiency rating was one of the best of his OU career.
The run game, which had been a problem area last season, gave Oklahoma something to build on. After averaging just 118 yards on the ground a year ago, the Sooners ran for 170 against UTEP.
Three players who were not on the roster last season accounted for 140 of those yards. Colorado State transfer Lloyd Avant looks like the early leader at the top of the depth chart, finishing with 79 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Freshman Jonathan Hatton Jr. added 21 yards on three attempts, and Incarnate Word transfer Ben McCreary picked up 40 yards on six carries.
The receiving group also gave Oklahoma real production. Isaiah Sategna, now the Sooners’ top target at wideout, caught four of five passes for 48 yards after the catch and a 34-yard touchdown. He also ripped off an 88-yard punt return for a score and was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Two other newcomers made strong first impressions. Trell Harris had two catches for 61 yards and a touchdown, while tight end Rocky Beers turned in one of the night’s most memorable plays with a 40-yard touchdown catch that included a hurdle over a UTEP defender.
On defense, Oklahoma looked every bit like a group that could be even better than last season’s unit, which led the SEC and finished in the national top 10. The Sooners held UTEP to 198 total yards and no points, marking their first season-opening shutout since 2013, when they beat Louisiana-Monroe 34-0. It was also the third shutout of Venables’ tenure.
Even in a game that lopsided, Oklahoma still found a way to show some discipline issues from the past have not fully disappeared. The Sooners were penalized just three times for 30 yards, but one of those flags - a 15-yard personal foul on safety Michael Boganowski late in the second quarter - stood out as unnecessary with Oklahoma already up 27-0.
The offensive line did enough to keep Mateer clean and help produce 170 rushing yards, even with three starters unavailable. But the bigger concern is what comes next.
Starting center Jake Maikkula and right guard/center Ryan Fodje were out with injuries, and former five-star recruit Michael Fasusi left the game with an undisclosed injury. Against UTEP, Oklahoma could absorb that kind of turnover.
Against the teams coming up, it may not be so simple.
Venables also made clear he was not satisfied with the defense’s overall performance, even after the shutout.
"There's plenty of things we got to clean up," he said. "They didn't make us pay, but good teams are going to make us pay going forward."
The biggest issue was tackling. Venables said plainly, "I thought we were sloppy tackling on defense," and added, "I didn't like that at all."
The Sooners recorded four sacks and 10 tackles for loss, numbers that fit with what they did so well a year ago. But that was undercut by a missed-tackle count that one tally put at as many as a dozen.
Against UTEP, that didn’t cost Oklahoma. Against better offenses, Venables knows it can turn a routine stop into a long touchdown in a hurry.
In Other News...
Oklahomas Backfield Picture Changed Faster Than Sooners Fans Expected
Oklahomas backfield has already taken on a different shape after the season opener against UTEP, with transfer Lloyd Avant quickly moving into the lead role. The Colorado State import gave the Sooners a steadier presence than many expected heading into the year, while Xavier Robinson and freshman Jonathan Hatton Jr. were used sparingly as the staff sorted through options behind him.
Brent Venables also said Tory Blaylock could be back soon after sitting out Week 1 with a hamstring issue, which adds another layer to a rotation that still looks unsettled. For Oklahoma, the early takeaway is not just who carried the load in the opener, but how quickly that depth chart could keep shifting once the rest of the backs are fully available. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Gets O-Line Boost But One Worry Looms At Michigan
Oklahoma is trending toward getting some needed help up front just in time for a marquee trip to Michigan, with injured starters Jake Maikkula and Ryan Fodje both taking full reps in practice. For a team still trying to settle in along the offensive line, that kind of reinforcement matters, especially with a nonconference test that will demand cleaner protection and more stability than the Sooners have had at times early.
The one concern hanging over the group is left tackle Michael Fasusi, whose shoulder injury left his status uncertain after he did not practice fully. Oklahoma is even weighing the possibility of holding him out not just for this game, but for the next one as well, a sign the staff is thinking beyond one matchup and toward the conference stretch that follows. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Nagys Latest OU Adds Could Matter More Than Fans Realize
Jim Nagys latest work for Oklahoma has been a little different from the usual transfer-hunt hustle. The Sooners landed four additions in Danny Saili, Braxton Fely, DYoni Hill and Jaydon Southard after each gained eligibility through temporary restraining orders against the NCAA, and the common thread in all four cases is that they were part of legal efforts seeking a fifth year on the field. For Oklahoma, the move was less about chasing headlines than identifying players who could fit what the program needs while adding depth in spots the staff had already kept open.
Nagy said the evaluation went beyond talent, with cultural fit part of the equation and the roster construction done with intent rather than impulse. The bigger question now is how quickly, or even whether, those newcomers will be pushed into action once they settle in with the Sooners. For a team that has been willing to be patient with its approach, the next step is seeing which of these late additions becomes more than just a name on the summer board. [Read more 🡒]