Oklahoma Sooners have over a week to ask themselves several important questions that could change the future of their program
The Oklahoma Sooners are in a very bad situation. They are a bad team with a bad offense, and the fan base is demanding change. Will they move on from John Mateer or Ben Arbuckle? They have the bye week to ask themselves.
The Oklahoma Sooners have a bye week this week. They’ll likely use it to prepare for the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry. However, they could be, and should be, figuring some other things out.
Some questions need to be asked about this team. And they need to ask those questions themselves, because the answers need to come from them, too. Some decisions need to be made. Those decisions could affect the program’s entire future.
If they do decide to move on from offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, does that change some of the recruiting they have already done for the 2027 and 2028 classes? They have some really good players on that side of the ball that likely committed because of Arbuckle. He is a magnificent recruiter.
If they move on from Arbuckle midseason, the offense doesn’t get fixed. Arbuckle is not a bad offensive coordinator. Does he call some bad plays every once in a while? Yes. Which coordinator doesn’t? Even Andy Reid, one of the greatest offensive minds of all time, calls some bad plays for the Chiefs every once in a while. If you let him go during the bye week, who takes over?
This is not an OC or scheme issue. This is an issue of the players not playing well. They also aren’t doing their assignments, and as a result, John Mateer has played badly. As a result, Arbuckle has had to call the offense differently. There’s just no trust or faith anywhere. I don’t think they will move on from Arbuckle at all this season.
Sooners still have to make a John Mateer decision
Now, this is the big one. This is the decision almost everyone wants an answer to. Do they keep Mateer as the starting QB? I think they do. Mateer will start when they play Texas. Now, will he finish the season as the starter? I’m not sure.
Mateer has been awful, one of the worst QBs in college football. But it’s not all his fault. The team around him isn’t playing well either. When the Sooners were down 28-0 at halftime against the Georgia Bulldogs, Brent Venables and Arbuckle discussed benching him. They obviously stuck with him. Everyone was clamoring for Whit Newbauer. That’s the discussion they have to have this week, and the decision they have to come to.
Mateer is likely the highest-paid player in NIL on the team. So, there’s another reason why they could hesitate to pull him. But if they’re not looking like a team that can compete, why not get a guy like Bowe Bentley ready, since he’s set to be the guy of the future?
