Football question

[WTSooner]

I thought Mateer made good decisions in the read option, but the line can’t run block.

Exactly.

The OL has been grading out pretty well in pass protection. Their run blocking is not good at all.

OU lining up and running the ball down anybody's throat right now isn't an option with this OL. Maybe next year.

 

[BoulderSooner]

also just going to put out there that the LSU Defense is also fantastic .. so don't expect any explosion on O this weekend ..

on the other side the lsu O is among the worst OU has played all season (in real games)

 

[Sooner04]

The OL has been grading out pretty well in pass protection. Their run blocking is not good at all.

Do you think we'd be better served by run-blocking a different way? A few quick hitters when we've got the D spread out a bit instead of being married to RPOs the vast majority of the time? X has been pretty good at getting yards when he's given north-south opportunities.

 

[WichitaSooner]

also just going to put out there that the LSU Defense is also fantastic .. so don't expect any explosion on O this weekend ..

on the other side the lsu O is among the worst OU has played all season (in real games)

No one expects an explosive offense. Some of us do expect competence. Something outlandish, say, over 300 yards of offense. And if that means the coaches swallowing their pride and playing guys they don’t like rather than playing the entire game without a healthy running back, so be it.

 

[hoopsaustin]

That isn't the kind of program BV is running, AND I think Mateer will look a lot better next year. I could be wrong about that, but I think most of his issues are fixable, and likely somewhat driven by the injury. I don't really see a world where he isn't our starting QB next year, so clamoring for a replacement is a wasted exercise.

It SHOULD be the program BV is trying to run. We owe no loyalty to any player (lord knows they're asking for raises every. single. year. regardless of production or not). Every position should be an open competition every year. If bv doesnt try to find a better QB, he will feel the consequences

Hopes and wishes wont make mateer a better QB. You have no reason to expect a substantial improvement unless you subscribe to the weak sauce "thumb injury is preventing him from making reads" theory

 

[hoopsaustin]

Do you think we'd be better served by run-blocking a different way? A few quick hitters when we've got the D spread out a bit instead of being married to RPOs the vast majority of the time? X has been pretty good at getting yards when he's given north-south opportunities.

X needs 20+ min. carries a game no matter what. I think hes our best RB since mixon/perine imo.

 

[WichitaSooner]

It SHOULD be the program BV is trying to run. We owe no loyalty to any player (lord knows they're asking for raises every. single. year. regardless of production or not). Every position should be an open competition every year. If bv doesnt try to find a better QB, he will feel the consequences

Hopes and wishes wont make mateer a better QB. You have no reason to expect a substantial improvement unless you subscribe to the weak sauce "thumb injury is preventing him from making reads" theory

Yea the program Brent should be running is one where you constantly try to bring in and play the best players, who give you the best chance to win a championship. Crazy to suggest otherwise. Mateer doesn’t get special treatment because he is a quarterback. Guys at other positions have to play well enough to keep their starting job. And as for loyalty, the Barnes situation is exhibit A. Dude was treated incredibly well by the coaches and played far more than he should have due to DeMarco’s man crush and his love affair with his pass protection. End result? When he finally started losing playing time, he quit, and hasn’t revisited that decision even though his team is one win from the playoff and the two guys in front of him are hurt to varying degrees.

 

[WTSooner]

It SHOULD be the program BV is trying to run. We owe no loyalty to any player (lord knows they're asking for raises every. single. year. regardless of production or not). Every position should be an open competition every year. If bv doesnt try to find a better QB, he will feel the consequences

Hopes and wishes wont make mateer a better QB. You have no reason to expect a substantial improvement unless you subscribe to the weak sauce "thumb injury is preventing him from making reads" theory

How'd that work out running Gabriel out of town?

OU doesn't need to be the kind of program that is experiencing constant turnover at the HC, assistant coach, or player levels. We don't have the resources to overcome that and maintain a consistent program.

I'm not saying NO turnover, but folks wanted to replace all of the offensive assistants last year, knowing BV could have been fired this year as well. They want to run off a QB that has played most of the season with a significant injury. They also want to replace several assistant coaches this year, while now, what, running off Mateer, possibly still having to pay him for next season (we don't know what that contract looks like), replace him with somebody definitively better (how much will that cost with all of these new HC's looking for QB's?), and maintaining the defense we have, which includes possibly buying a few guys out of leaving for the NFL.

My point is this, I'd just about guarantee the coaches think Mateer will be MUCH better next year. And if that is the case, you can't run him off. We're already going to struggle recruiting a few positions because of how we've done people. We don't need QB to be one of them. We don't need the reputation of having run off Gabriel, run off Arnold, and now we're going to run off Mateer, a Heisman front runner UNTIL HIS INJURY.

 

[WichitaSooner]

How'd that work out running Gabriel out of town?

OU doesn't need to be the kind of program that is experiencing constant turnover at the HC, assistant coach, or player levels. We don't have the resources to overcome that and maintain a consistent program.

I'm not saying NO turnover, but folks wanted to replace all of the offensive assistants last year, knowing BV could have been fired this year as well. They want to run off a QB that has played most of the season with a significant injury. They also want to replace several assistant coaches this year, while now, what, running off Mateer, possibly still having to pay him for next season (we don't know what that contract looks like), replace him with somebody definitively better (how much will that cost with all of these new HC's looking for QB's?), and maintaining the defense we have, which includes possibly buying a few guys out of leaving for the NFL.

My point is this, I'd just about guarantee the coaches think Mateer will be MUCH better next year. And if that is the case, you can't run him off. We're already going to struggle recruiting a few positions because of how we've done people. We don't need QB to be one of them. We don't need the reputation of having run off Gabriel, run off Arnold, and now we're going to run off Mateer, a Heisman front runner UNTIL HIS INJURY.

The problem was that Gabriel was a really good, if not great, college quarterback, and he ran him off for an unproven freshman. Mateer is an average to below average quarterback and no one is suggesting he be run off for a freshman. The issue with the Gabriel decision was the massive evaluation miss. How Brent or anyone in the program could have watched Arnold for a full year in practice and thought he was the better option is beyond me. Arnold has now shown he isn’t even in the same class as Gabriel.

 

[CoachTalk]

Its been stated many times... Gabriel was leaving either way. No one ran him out of town.

 

[WTSooner]

Its been stated many times... Gabriel was leaving either way. No one ran him out of town.

Eh. He thought he was going to the NFL. When that fell through OU didn't try to keep him, so he (Gabriel) gave the line of getting out of the way for Arnold.

Had OU fought to keep him, they could have kept him. But everybody (fans included) didn't appreciate what Gabriel did and thought Arnold would bring so much more to the table. It would have been bad PR, but the OU staff should have kept Gabriel. We'd have been at least 2 games better in the win column last year.

 

[Boom Soon]

Why does Mateer have to he run off? Why can’t BV and crew find another guy who is willing to compete with Mateer and Hawkins? I think there’s a middle ground between Mateer is guaranteed starter or he’s run off. Unless, those days of true competition are over.

One thing has to happen though. Take some of Mateer’s NIL money and put it towards Oline

 

[CoachTalk]

Why does Mateer have to he run off? Why can’t BV and crew find another guy who is willing to compete with Mateer and Hawkins? I think there’s a middle ground between Mateer is guaranteed starter or he’s run off. Unless, those days of true competition are over.

One thing has to happen though. Take some of Mateer’s NIL money and put it towards Oline

Who is that guy? Mateer was the #1 qb out of the portal.

 

[Boom Soon]

Who is that guy? Mateer was the #1 qb out of the portal.

Good question. Transfer portal hasn’t opened yet.

 

[CoachTalk]

Good question. Transfer portal hasn’t opened yet.

Tell us who you would go get... realistic choice. Names. Portal is yours to pick. Who you taking?

 

[Eielson]

Do you think we'd be better served by run-blocking a different way? A few quick hitters when we've got the D spread out a bit instead of being married to RPOs the vast majority of the time? X has been pretty good at getting yards when he's given north-south opportunities.

I'm not an X's and O's guy, but X seems to have what Kennedy Brooks had. He knows when to hit the hole immediately and he know when to be patient and give the hogs a second to open up that hole. Doesn't really compute that X has somewhere to run and that Blaylock and Barnes don't. Major used to run into his OL no matter what. Wild how much "better" the blocking gets when the RB knows what to do.

I also think pass blocking is 50% OC and QB, so one of them deserves credit for this band of freshmen being serviceable. Jackson Arnold would get sacked with an all-pro NFL line, because BV had no respect for him and sent the house repeatedly.

 

[Boom Soon]

Tell us who you would go get... realistic choice. Names. Portal is yours to pick. Who you taking?

Okay. Fair question. I’ll get back to you.

 

[WTSooner]

Why does Mateer have to he run off? Why can’t BV and crew find another guy who is willing to compete with Mateer and Hawkins? I think there’s a middle ground between Mateer is guaranteed starter or he’s run off. Unless, those days of true competition are over.

One thing has to happen though. Take some of Mateer’s NIL money and put it towards Oline

I'm all for letting Hawkins leave and bringing in a guy with two years left that has some upside.

You tell this guy that he can compete with Mateer, but it's likely Mateer's job in 2026.
2027 - You tell the new guy he's the front runner to start, assuming he earns it.
Bentley - You tell him the plan is to redshirt in 2026, be the primary backup in 2027, and it's his job after that.

But finding a guy with two years left in the Portal that wants to come here under those conditions isn't easy. Might have to go find a kid at a small school like Ole Miss did. There guy ended up being better than the starter. I think he only had this year though, as far as eligibility goes.

 

[Boom Soon]

I'm all for letting Hawkins leave and bringing in a guy with two years left that has some upside.

You tell this guy that he can compete with Mateer, but it's likely Mateer's job in 2026.
2027 - You tell the new guy he's the front runner to start, assuming he earns it.
Bentley - You tell him the plan is to redshirt in 2026, be the primary backup in 2027, and it's his job after that.

But finding a guy with two years left in the Portal that wants to come here under those conditions isn't easy. Might have to go find a kid at a small school like Ole Miss did. There guy ended up being better than the starter. I think he only had this year though, as far as eligibility goes.

I agree with you in theory, but I don’t think you tell anyone, including Mateer, that it’s likely his job in 2026. I don’t think he’s played well enough to be guaranteed anything. 8 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. That’s not the OU standard.

 

[Eielson]

I agree with you in theory, but I don’t think you tell anyone, including Mateer, that it’s likely his job in 2026. I don’t think he’s played well enough to be guaranteed anything. 8 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. That’s not the OU standard.

He has 17 touchdowns.