Postgame Thoughts: Oklahoma 23, Florida 7
The Oklahoma Sooners gave their best performance of the season on Saturday, knocking off the Florida Gators in their first trip to Gainesville, 23-7.
With interim offensive coordinator Jason Witten calling the shots, OU showed a dedication to the rushing attack that had been missing in its first seven games. Excluding sacks, the Sooners rushed the ball 39 times for 150 yards. They routinely drained the play clock in doing so, which yielded nearly 38 minutes of possession for the visitors.
Allow me to offer a very comments on OU’s victory, based on a live viewing of the television broadcast.
*Tough to imagine a better start to Jason Witten’s stint as interim offensive coordinator. Not surprisingly, the tight ends coach kept the offense in multi-TE packages throughout the game to assist with opening up holes for the running game. Grounding and pounding helped OU keep its possessions manageable, and it also opened up holes in the medium-range passing windows for quarterback John Mateer.
For his part, Mateer sprinkled in plenty of befuddling misses on his throws. He even tried to give the Gators life late in the game with a pass near the goal line in the fourth quarter that went through the hands of a UF defender and ended up in the possession of receiver Isaiah Sategna for a touchdown. Still, you can’t really complain about Mateer completing 21-of-33 pass attempts for 207 yards and two touchdowns – especially on the road. Witten also appeared to make Mateer’s easier by calling designed QB runs, rather than read plays.
*I don’t want to jam up anyone’s vibe, but this is the part where I gently remind you that the UF defense is not very good. The Gators ranked 49th in Defensive SP+ coming into the game, and getting whipsawed by OU means they will likely check in even lower when the numbers get run again. Additionally, UF was playing without arguably its best defensive player in defensive lineman Jeremiah McCloud.
Witten deserves kudos for adjusting on the fly to running OU’s show on offense, but UF definitely allowed him to ease into his new gig. Don’t take it as a given that the Sooners can survive in the coming weeks with similar offensive game plans.
*The receiving corps had a strange night.
OU was targeting sophomore Manny Choice early in the game; however, it looked as though a mistake on a route might have left him consigned to the bench in the second half. Elijah Thomas also got looks in the passing game early before disappearing.
On the other hand, Jacob Jordan returned from exile to chip in four receptions for 36 yards. They included an 18-yard catch that was pivotal to OU’s game-sealing drive in the second half. Parker Livingstone also made his first major contributions since transferring to OU from Texas, grabbing three passes for 26 yards. Mateer clearly likes targeting Livingstone on sideline fade routes.
*The Gators found intermittent success on offense by putting the ball in the hands of running backs Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark. The duo combined for about 70 percent of Florida’s total offense.
UF had less success behind center. The decision by head coach Jon Sumrall to bench veteran Aaron Philo in favor of Tramell Jones produced an uneven showing for the Florida O. Despite playing QB in UF’s upset of Texas earlier this season, Jones generally didn’t appear ready for the assignment.
*OU’s defensive front terrorized Jones and the Florida OL. The unit overall bounced back from a rough day at the office last week versus South Carolina. Edge Jake Kreul, in particular, continues to stand out.
*The same goes for the secondary. Aside from a handful of obligatory missed tackles, the defensive backs played solid ball. It’s especially encouraging to watch players such as Niko Jandreau and Jeremiah Newcombe gradually pick up snaps as the season wears on.
*Under head coach Brent Venables, the Sooners have shown a habit of rallying after bad showings like the one they put on last week against South Carolina. It seems as though easing up after a sharp performance tends to produce more problems for the program lately.
We’ll see if that holds true when Ole Miss visits Norman next week.