Oklahoma coach Brent Venables has plenty of questions about his team heading into its season opener.
But Venables doesn’t worry about what he’s going to get out of quarterback John Mateer, who will make his first start as a Sooner against Illinois State in Norman, Oklahoma, on Saturday.
“There’s several other first-time players that you feel like maybe you don’t know a little bit more about them and how they’ll respond,” Venables said. “I haven’t thought about it other than I’m very confident in who he is, and maybe that’s because I studied a lot of game tape of Washington State — lots, two years worth, and certainly he was on there a lot. I felt like I knew him before he got here.”
Mateer followed former Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Oklahoma, hoping to restore the Sooners’ offense after a season full of struggles that led to the midseason firing of offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Seth Littrell and the transfer of Jackson Arnold to Auburn after the campaign.
Mateer threw for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns and ran for 826 yards and 15 more scores last season at Washington State.
He’s spent much of the offseason helping install Arbuckle’s offense and said he’s feeling confident in the progress that has been made.
“You’ve got to set the tone on the tape,” Mateer said. “There’s a story on the tape — what kind of team, what kind of people you are. Just out-effort them, out-effort whoever we play. Playing together, celebrate each other, block for each other. All those little things that really matter.”
The 18th-ranked Sooners have won eight consecutive season openers and 14 of their last 15. Oklahoma has won 18 consecutive home openers, with its last such loss coming to TCU in 2005.
The Sooners will be down several players expected to be regular contributors this season.
Defensive backs Eli Bowen and Kendel Dolby are expected to miss Week 1 due to injury, as are receivers Javonnie Gibson and Jayden Gibson.
Oklahoma’s offensive line has also had a couple players banged up in preseason camp, though Jacob Sexton and Derek Simmons could play against the Redbirds.
Running back Jaydn Ott, a Cal transfer, is expected to play after missing much of preseason camp, but he will be limited. Senior running back Jovantae Barnes will likely start.
While Venables said Saturday’s opener against the FCS Redbirds would be more about where the Sooners stand than their opponents, he did praise Illinois State.
“They know who they are, they’re good at what they do and it’s a team that when they opened up at Iowa last year, they moved the ball really well, particularly in the first half,” Venables said.
The Redbirds lost 40-0 to Iowa in last season’s opener after trailing just 6-0 at halftime.
Illinois State’s lone victory over a Power Four program came over Northwestern in 2016.
“A lot of our guys want to play beyond college, and these are the kind of players they’re going to be playing against,” Illinois State coach Brock Spack told Prairie State Pigskin. “We’ll see where you’re at very quickly.”
The Redbirds are coming off a 10-4 finish last season and their first FCS playoff berth since 2019.
