Hard to kill Sooners pull off 23-7 road win in Gainesville
A 20-play and nearly 13 minute drive that finished with a seven-yard touchdown toss from QB John Mateer to Isaiah Sategna closed the deal for the Sooners in their 23-7 win over Florida in Jason Witten’s debut as offensive coordinator.
The drive was emblematic of consistency and rhythm the Oklahoma offense had on Saturday night, perhaps for the first time of the season.
And one now wonders if indeed the problem that befell the Sooners offense all season long was not Mateer, but rather offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, who was fired on Monday, allowing Witten to go from last year’s high school coach to this late season’s play caller for Oklahoma.
The long drive left only 4:56 left for Florida’s first fourth quarter possession. The Sategna touchdown put the game out of reach, 20-7. The Sooners would later cap off the win with a Tate Sandell field goal.
“Just an incredibly efficient football game,” Coach Brent Venables said.
The Sooners had no turnovers in the game.
It was Oklahoma’s first ever game at Florida.
It was Witten’s first Gatorade bath.
It was a relief for Oklahoma fans, whose angst over the season turned into disgust at the Sooners collapse a week ago when South Carolina delivered them an embarrassing loss.
Mateer was 21 of 33 for 214 yards and also ran for 56 yards.
The defense held Florida to just 203 yards. Until the final drive Florida had less than 100 yards passing.
Although Witten will deservedly get the “game ball” for his play calling, he reminded everyone:
“There wasn’t one person doing this. This is about the team,” Witten said postgame.
The Sooners go to 5-4 on the season and 3-3 in SEC play.
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