9-Florida Winners & Losers

There was Jacob Jordan. There was Hayden Hansen. There was Rocky Beers. There was Lloyd Avant. There was Tory Blaylock. There was Parker Livingstone. There was Manny Choice.

They all contributed to Oklahoma’s upset victory at Florida on Saturday night in Gainesville — especially on OU’s historic, game-clinching touchdown drive in the final minutes.

But when the Sooners needed one final big play, it was their usual duo of quarterback John Mateer throwing to wide receiver Isaiah Sategna.

On third-and-goal, Mateer cashed in a 20-play drive that took nearly 13 minutes off the clock by slipping a sidearm throw to Sategna, who beat his man to the football, then cut up inside and stretched the football over the pylon.

Game over.

Oklahoma bounced back from last week's disaster with a 23-7 victory over the No. 24-ranked Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, a win replete with patience and precision and, in the end, passion.

With new offensive coordinator Jason Witten calling the plays, OU’s offense committed no turnovers while performing at its balanced best.

Three of the Sooners’ first four scoring drives (two touchdowns, two field goals) went 10, 15 and 20 plays, and covered 61, 84 and 89 yards. Oklahoma enjoyed an edge of some 15 minutes in time of possession — a stark contrast to an OU offense that has majored in three-and-outs or catastrophic turnovers all season. 

The Sooners came in ranked 96th in the nation in third down conversion (36 precent), but behind Witten, converted 11-of-19 third downs at The Swamp.

Witten, who got an iced Gatorade shower from his players as time expired, showed patience and belief in both his embattled quarterback and his struggling ground game, and both answered his trust.

OU ran for 145 yards and averaged 4.0 yards per carry before their final possession netted Tate Sandell’s third field goal, and Mateer threw for 207 (21-of-33) and two touchdowns as the Sooners compiled 352 yards total offense. Mateer led the Sooners with 56 yards rushing as well.

Meanwhile, Brent Venables’ defense was back to its usual ferocity, holding the Gators and first-time starting QB Tramell Jones to 203 total yards, just nine first downs (2-of-9 on third down) two interceptions by Courtland Guillory and Peyton Bowen.

OU improves to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in Southeastern Conference play ahead of next week’s home game with Ole Miss, while the Gators fall to 5-4 and 3-4.

Here are Oklahoma’s winners and losers from Saturday:

WIN: QB John Mateer

There were times when Oklahoma’s quarterback looked like he had received some kind of spiritual enlightenment — or maybe just a shot of confidence from his new offensive coordinator and a dash of clarity from a more focused if not slimmed down game plan.

Mateer was mostly very good on the Sooners’ first four possessions of the first half, completing 13-of-19 passes for 135 yards as the Sooners scored on drives of 10 plays and 61 yards (5.:29) and 15 plays, 84 yards (7:11).

He threw the ball downfield a handful of times, drawing a pass interference on Elijah Thomas on one and enjoying a 41-yard gain by Rocky Beers on another. He also led the team with 27 yards rushing at the break.

Mateer’s second half was considerably slower as Oklahoma penalties began to stack up and poor field position shrunk the playbook.

Also, the Gators ramped up the defensive pressure up front and clogged Mateer’s throwing lanes, and OU’s first three possessions after halftime ended with a punt.

Mateer finished 21-of-33 for 207 yards with two touchdowns and zero turnovers.

WIN: OC Jason Witten

The Sooners had 201 yards at halftime and scored points on three of their four possessions.

Witten, who replaced Ben Arbuckle on Monday as Brent Venables’ interim offensive coordinator, drew up an offense that had 17 running plays and 19 passing plays — and 201 total yards — at halftime. Going into the final, two-minute possession right before half, the split was 15-15.

OU averaged 5.6 yard per play in the first half as well, a figure which projected over an entire game would easily rank second this season against a Power 4 opponent.

Witten, the Sooners’ tight ends coach, seemed to favor bigger formations with extra TEs — 12 and 13 personnel — and it paid off as former Gator Hayden Hansen scored the Sooners’ first TD on a pass from Mateer and Rocky Beers hauled in four passes for 72 yards.

One thing that will endear Witten to this fan base was his play-calling on the clinching drive in the late third and early fourth quarter when, nursing a 13-7 lead, Witten called a running play on 10 out of 11 snaps before Mateer’s TD throw to Sategna.

LOSE: Ben Arbuckle

We won’t pile on a guy who just got fired. But whether it was play-calling, game-planning or just plain chemistry with the rest of the staff and the players, Oklahoma’s former offensive coordinator clearly didn’t get the kind of steady production out of his unit that took place on Saturday night — the kind that might have otherwise saved his job.

WIN: DE Danny Okoye

There were times in the first half when Oklahoma’s junior edge rusher looked almost unblockable with a quarterback sack and a tackle for loss.

Okoye finished his night with five total tackles.

WIN: TE Hayden Hansen

The former Gators tight end transferred to Oklahoma last offseason, then made his return to The Swamp a special one by catching the Sooners’ first touchdown of the night.

The 3-yard scoring grab in the second quarter gave OU a 10-0 lead and was Hansen’s second TD (and eighth reception) of the season.

WIN: LB Owen Heinecke

In the offseason, Heinecke was the subject of a court battle against the NCAA, successfully landing a fifth year of college football.

But Saturday night in Gainesville, it was Heinecke who presided over a much-improved Oklahoma defense. 

Already the team’s leader in tackles — he came in with 64; safety Peyton Bowen was second at 41 — Heinecke racked up six tackles in the first half alone, including half a quarterback sack with a TFL. He finished with a game-high nine tackles.

Heinecke also pressured QB Tramell Jones into a goal-line interception by Courtland Guillory to end a promising Gators drive midway through the third quarter.

The Sooners were bad in last week’s home loss to South Carolina, giving up 42 points and 521 yards of offense. But Heinecke spearheaded a vastly improved unit against the Gators.

LOSE: WR Elijah Thomas

Thomas has been open a lot this year and most times was never seen or just plain ignored by Mateer.

But in the second quarter, Mateer hit him right in the hands with a perfect intermediate throw, only to watch the ball slip through his hands.

WIN: WR Jacob Jordan

On the next play after Thomas’ second-down drop, Jordan caught a short Mateer throw over the middle to convert on third down and keep the drive alive — a drive that culminated in Mateer’s TD pass to Hansen.

Jordan was at his best late, converting a huge third-down on a crossing route on the final play of the third quarter, then converting a third-and-7 with an 18-yard catch and run to give the Sooners a first-and-gaol.

After catching three passes for 25 yard last week, Jordan had four catches for 36 yards against the Gators, his fourth game in a row with a reception after not catching a pass in the first five games.