Sooners OC Ben Arbuckle lays out plan to maximize John Mateer for College Football Playoff run
Ben Arbuckle confident in plan to get John Mateer’s play to improve ahead of Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff run
The Oklahoma Sooners have punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff, and all that’s left is to see whether they will host a game in the first round and who their opponent will be. The Sooners have gotten to this point on the back of arguably the best defense in college football this season and some timely plays from the offense to pull out wins over Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and LSU.
The offense, despite being productive (and more productive than many give it credit for), hasn’t consistently turned drives into touchdowns, something that has many in the college football world bemoaning the Sooners as unwatchable. Part of that stems from the struggles of quarterback John Mateer, who has made plays to keep the Sooners undefeated in their last four, but has left yards and points on the field time and time again. However, the bowl game practices are some of the best time for development, and any coach will point that out.
Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, appearing on Oklahoma’s weekly coaching show, seemed confident in their plan to get Mateer “right” ahead of their postseason run.
Back to the Basics for John Mateer
Ben Arbuckle detailed the plan for Mateer and emphasized the importance of having multiple weeks of getting right instead of having to focus on game planning for a specific opponent. This time should be beneficial in getting Mateer ready to go, as it’s been a non-stop push ever since he returned from his hand surgery in the middle of the season.
“Clean up his footwork, I think that’s big for any quarterback. This is really a good time where we’re not focusing on individual drills translating to a game right now for a specific opponent, it’s more ‘Ok we get to worry about us’. So that’s going to be a big aspect of it. Just continuing to clean up his footwork and breaking things back down to the basics. Whether it’s getting the ball out quick to your first read because it’s right there or moving on from a progression and getting the ball to your checkdown, or our run game checks where it might be ok over here, but this run works a lot better if you get us to this [run] right now. So just peeling it back to the basics and working on things that make him a better quarterback so that that way he can be a better player for the team.”
I’m not expecting any miracles to happen here. It’s unlikely Mateer will instantly turn from what he has been to a suddenly elite quarterback in just a few weeks of practice. However, he doesn’t need to be for Oklahoma to have success. With the complementary skill position talents the Sooners have, the scheme, and their elite defense, he doesn’t have to be a superhero, he just needs to distribute the ball better.
I’ve maintained that if just two or three plays a game go differently for Mateer, we’re in a much better place mentally regarding his play. Is it quite what Oklahoma fans thought it might be over the summer? No, but those were always unrealistic in my opinion given what his Washington State film was. What it is, however, is exactly what the Sooners need at quarterback. Take care of the ball, keep the offense moving, make the right reads, and get the ball out cleanly. If Mateer can do that effectively, the Sooners have all the potential for a deep playoff run.
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