OU took down Mississippi State 23-15 on the road with a dominant offensive performance on Saturday.
The Sooners (4-3, 2-2) recorded their highest yards in a game since joining the Southeastern Conference. They finished with 467 yards on offense against Mississippi State (4-3, 2-3).
Here are five things to take away beyond the scoreboard:
Clean Mateer can win OU games
It has been written before, but OU can win games as long as John Mateer stays turnover-free.
In both of its conference wins this season, the fifth-year quarterback has not committed a turnover, leading OU to wins over previously No. 1-ranked Texas and now Mississippi State. Mateer finished with 283 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero turnovers on a 76% pass completion rate against Mississippi State.
If Mateer consistently played like he did against Mississippi State, OU’s win-and-loss column might look different. The Sooners were in position to win against No. 9 Kentucky (7-1, 5-1) the previous week, but Mateer ultimately threw game-altering interceptions in the fourth quarter.
Mateer has turned the ball over in all but one of his losses as a Sooner, and he completed less than 55% of his passes in that one outlier (then-top-10-ranked Mississippi in 2025).
Mateer said that a late-night experience before the Mississippi State game altered his mindset.
“I woke up in the middle of night and something told me to ‘Forgive yourself,’” Mateer said. “Real powerful stuff. I only say that now because I hope everybody hears that. … The least important thing is whatever just happened. So the next play, (I) focus on being calm and believing in who I am. … That only comes from one, the almighty.”
OU needs Michael Fasusi
It is hard to overstate sophomore offensive lineman Michael Fasusi’s impact on OU’s offense.
OU rushed for 184 yards against Mississippi State, a stark contrast from its 92.5 average going into the game. Fasusi contributed to the success, providing protection for Mateer and the running backs. He recorded 39 pass block snaps, zero pressures allowed and a 88.3 pass block grade, according to Pro Football Focus.
He shined in his first game since OU’s season opener against UTEP. He had been sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Mateer was glad to have Fasusi back.
“It's awesome; I'm super happy for him,” Mateer said. “Like, I know how excited he is to play. He loves this game. He'll tell you about it all the time. He says, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ and he says, ‘I love American football’ all the time.”
Tate Sandell struggling
Fifth-year kicker Tate Sandell does not look like his 2025 self seven games into 2026.
Sandell won the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation’s best kicker, last season, but he has been inconsistent this year. That continued on Saturday, with Sandell missing three-of-six field goals.
Sandell is now 10-for-16 on field goals in 2026 after making 24 of 27 in 2025.
Regardless of his recent struggles, head coach Brent Venables trusts Sandell.
“Tate will be fine; I know that’s pretty perplexing, but he’ll be fine,” Venables said. “I felt like we kicked 30 of them and missed all 30. But yeah, Tate’s got a great body of work. He’s one of the most talented kickers in college football. … He’s got a great resume, both in-game and at practice. He’s a tough guy; he’s not a fragile-minded guy. … We’ve got other guys that can kick too, but Tate’s been our guy.”
Blaylock breaking out
Sophomore running back Tory Blaylock had his best performance of the season against Mississippi State.
Blaylock recorded a season-high 71 rushing yards on Saturday. He had the Sooners’ longest rush of the game, which also came as the team’s longest run on the season. He exploded for a 47-yard rush in the first drive of the third quarter, eventually leading to sixth-year tight end Rocky Beers’ touchdown.
Blaylock’s previous season-high in rushing total was 23 yards on the ground against Kentucky. He recorded a team-leading 480 rushing yards in 2025, including 101 against South Carolina.
He finally came into form after recovering from an offseason injury, helping the Sooners record 184 rushing yards as a team. Venables felt proud of the run game after the win.
“I love the toughness,” Venables said on the broadcast after the game. “I thought they had a good, physical mentality to them, and we did get that going. We needed to.”
Inconsistency could haunt OU
Although it is very unlikely, OU could find itself in playoff conversations, should it win out. However, it will need to escape its inconsistency to accomplish that.
There is much parity around college football this season, including four multi-loss teams in the top 15 of the latest AP Poll. A 9-3 SEC team might be in playoff consideration late in the season. Texas finished 13th at the end of the regular season in 2025 with a 9-3 record, placing it just outside the 12-team playoff.
OU would find itself at 9-3, if it won its remaining games, but that is a tall task with three ranked opponents remaining. OU’s inconsistency makes winning tough games difficult. The Sooners have shown promise against Texas and Mississippi State, but the loss to Kentucky in between brings concern.
Venables acknowledged the challenge.
“It's harder than it's ever been,” Venables said. “You're going to see more and more teams being inconsistent because of distractions, because of the space that we're in, and, because again, at the end of the day, good players are everywhere.”
