NORMAN — Oklahoma survived.
The No. 11-ranked Sooners were pushed to the limit by No. 22 Auburn and former quarterback Jackson Arnold, but Brent Venables’ defense stood tall when it mattered most.
John Mateer’s 9-yard touchdown run put OU on top 22-17 with 4:54 left in its SEC opener. Arnold, who led a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to put the Tigers on top with 7:08 left, had to piece together one last long scoring drive.
The former 5-star recruit was unable to get the job done.
Oklahoma’s defensive line thrashed Auburn’s offensive line one final time. The game effectively ended with a sack by R Mason Thomas, which resulted in a safety.
OU’s defensive line totaled a school record 10 sacks in the 24-17 victory.
Here are three takeaways from the gritty victory.
At SEC Media Days, ESPN analyst Cole Cubelic predicted that Oklahoma would have the best defensive line in the league.
The Sooners needed just one half of conference play to prove Cubelic right.
Oklahoma sacked Arnold seven times in the first half alone — all without star defensive end R Mason Thomas.
Venables’ defense held the Tigers to minus-2 rushing yards in the first half, completely nullifying one of the nation’s best ground games.
Thomas got his first sack of the year on Auburn’s first possesion of the second half, ensuring there would be no letdown in the game’s final 30 minutes.
The Tigers finished with 67 rushing yards, mostly thanks to the massive day by the defensive line.
Sophomore Jayden Jackson led the way with 2.5 sacks, and Thomas was just behind him with his pair of sacks.
Owen Heinecke, Taylor Wein, Gracen Halton, Marvin Jones Jr., David Stone and Kip Lewis all joined in on the party in the backfield as well.
Oklahoma and Auburn combined for just two more rushing yards (17) than accepted penalties (15) in the first half.
The Sooners’ SEC opener was far uglier than it had to be, but OU overcame a slew of first half miscues to stay unbeaten.
Quarterback John Mateer fumbled the ball at the mesh point to abruptly end the most promising drive of the first half for the OU offense. Instead of taking a two-possession lead, Oklahoma’s defense was again forced into action.
On the other side, the Sooners dropped a pair of interceptions gifted to them by Arnold.
Auburn finished the first half with minus-2 rushing yards, but somehow ran to the locker rooms tied 10-10.
The Tigers’ only touchdown drive of the second half was aided by a few OU defensive miscues, but Venables will be able to start correcting the mistakes over next week’s bye with an unbeaten record still intact.
Overall, Saturday was touch-and-go for Mateer and the Oklahoma offense.
But the new OU quarterback showed up when it mattered the most.
Auburn’s 17-16 fourth-quarter lead lasted just one drive.
Mateer took to the skies with the game on the line. He hit Jaren Kanak for a 15-yard completion, then followed it up with a 31-yard connection to find Isaiah Sategna on the sideline.
Sategna’s catch set OU up with first-and-goal from the 9-yard line, and Mateer did the rest.
He powered into the end zone on the next play, extending his streak of scoring a rushing touchdown and logging a passing touchdown to 10 consecutive games.
Mateer finished 24-of-36 through the air for 271 yards and one score. He rushed the ball 10 times for 29 yards and one touchdown as well.
The final stat line won’t wow anyone, but Mateer has another early “moment” to start the 2025 season.
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