Oklahoma Sooners OC Ben Arbuckle gives a little satire while taking about a play no one saw coming against South Carolina
Sooners’ QB John Mateer executed a punt perfectly against South Carolina and Ben Arbuckle loved it.
Against the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Oklahoma Sooners perfectly executed a play we hadn’t seen yet this season, from any team. In fact, I’m not sure we have seen it in a very long time. The punt by quarterback John Mateer pinned at the one-yard line was a play that, let’s just say, Ben Arbuckle and his QB have not had a ton of practice on.
“Yeah, we work on it every week,” Ben Arbuckle said with a giggle and some satire. “If it’s on the call sheet, you’d better be able to execute it, alright. He punted it really well today. He pinned it on the one, which was cool. No, I don’t think so. I think we had it in one week [at Washington State], but it never materialized. I’m really proud of him; that was probably his highlight of the day.”
You can tell that Mateer and Arbuckle have a special relationship, just in that clip there. I mean, Arbuckle isn’t too much older than Mateer when you think about where the two are in their stages of life. Mateer is only nine years younger, and usually OCs are much older than their quarterback. The two definitely have a brother-type of relationship, which is largely why what they have is working, and will only get better.
It helps that the offense is humming because the defense did its job.
Sooners’ defensive stats vs. South Carolina
- 54 rushing yards allowed, one rush was a busted play for 36 yards
- Six sacks
- 13 tackles for loss
- 3/15 on third downs
- 4/7 on fourth downs
- 224 total yards allowed
- Two turnovers forced
John Mateer played exactly how Arbuckle needed him to vs. South Carolina
Mateer didn’t have a great game. He didn’t make some amazing plays that make you think he is worthy of being a first-round quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft. But the Sooners didn’t need him to do that, like they did against the Michigan Wolverines and the Auburn Tigers. In this game, he didn’t play badly either, though.
Mateer, against a solid defense but one that was banged up, just kept it simple. He did what the defense forced him to do, and what the Sooners needed him to do. He didn’t have any turnovers, albeit two passes that should have been picked. And he didn’t have many negative plays in the pocket that were his fault.
Mateer hit his check downs, hit Isaiah Sategna for a touchdown, ran the ball a few times to help open up the zone-read option stuff with Tory Blaylock, and he got JaVonnie Gibson involved. Oh, and let’s not forget the punt, either. Mateer played fine, and the Sooners got the win.
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