John Mateer’s injury will be the ultimate test for Brent Venables’ ability as head coach of the Sooners
The burden of Oklahoma’s perfect record will fall onto Brent Venables with John Mateer’s injury
Brent Venables has had an up-and-down journey as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. When he arrived, the Sooners’ roster was in the dumps and at its lowest point in years thanks to former head coach Lincoln Riley’s roster management and sudden departure in the middle of the night.
The following year, Venables was able to take Oklahoma to a 10-3 record, restoring the positive feelings around campus before a slew of injuries and a bad coordinator hire caused the 2024 season to be a dumpster fire at 6-6. So far in 2025, Venables’ squad is 4-0 with some strong wins against the Michigan Wolverines and Auburn Tigers.
However, the injury to John Mateer is shaping up to be Venables’ toughest test yet, and the burden will fall on his shoulders while Mateer is out. He will have to guide Oklahoma through this period if he wants to remain its head coach.
The Burden Falls On Brent to Win
If Oklahoma want to remain undefeated in the time period that Mateer is out for, that will have to come on the heels of their defense. So far, Venables has been proven right on his decision to call plays for the Sooners as the de-facto defensive coordinator. He’ll have to continue that for the foreseeable future.
Oklahoma will have matchups against Texas, South Carolina, and potentially Ole Miss while Mateer is recovering. None of these project to be easy wins for the Sooners, and the defense will have to earn its stripes. Naturally, Red River will be a difficult battle as it always is, but keeping Ole Miss’s high-octane offense in check and corraling South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers are easier said than done as well.
Without the Mateer injury, we don’t quite know what the Sooners’ offense will look like, but there isn’t a lot of optimism. Through four games, the offense was Mateer. He was the engine that made it all go, and his absence will be felt keenly. Thus, it will likely be up to the defense to create turnovers and shut down offenses as much as they possibly can to give Oklahoma their best chance every week.
Here is where Brent Venables earns his stripes as head coach of the Sooners. This is his sink-or-swim moment. Swim, and he likely buys himself years of job security. Sink, and he’s poised to be out the door heading into 2026.
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