GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — John Mateer did just enough with his legs and arm under new play-caller Jason Witten and Oklahoma's tough defense took care of the rest Saturday night as the Sooners throttled No. 25 Florida in a 23-7 victory.
Mateer threw a pair of short touchdown passes, the last one to Isaiah Sategna III that capped a 20-play, clock-eating, 89-yard drive and put the Gators in a position of having to rally in the final five minutes when they
had trouble scoring all night.
The Sooners (5-4, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) fired offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and Witten, the Dallas Cowboys' former tight end who was coaching high school in suburban Texas last year, took over on an interim basis.
The Sooners didn't dazzle — they had only one play longer than 20 yards — but they were efficient, particularly on the clinching drive that took 12:45 off the clock. They converted five third-down plays on the drive.
The Gators (5-4, 3-4) appeared in the College Football Playoff ranking for the first time since 2020 and won't stick around. The offense looked anemic under Tramell Jones Jr. The Gators' longest play from scrimmage was a 33-yard pass to Duke Clark in the flats.
That drive ended when coach Jon Sumrall went for it on fourth-and-3 from the 17 with Oklahoma up 13-7 and 6:27 left in the third quarter. Jones was on his back foot and threw across the field to an open Eric Courtland Jr., but Courtland Guillory caught up with it and picked it off in the end zone.
Mateer was 21 of 33 for 214 yards and had 56 yards rushing.
The defense held Florida to 203 yards. Jones was 10-of-22 for 133 yards, 34 of those on the final drive when Oklahoma was giving him room.
Following the Sooners' 89-yard scoring drive, Florida went four-and-out, with Jones getting sacked on fourth down for the third time. The Swamp quietly emptied.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables wanted more offense, as quickly as possible, and instead saw what amounted to a defensive struggle for so much of the game. The Gators’ longest play in the opening half was a 31-yard punt return by Bailey Stockton.
The Sooners scored on their first two possessions. Mateer found tight end Rocky Beers for 41 yards down the sideline to set up a field goal. Oklahoma converted a fourth-and-one from the Florida 46 to extend a drive that ended on a clever play by Witten. Mateer faked a handoff and a reverse to Sategna and quickly flipped it to a wide-open Hayden Hansen for a 3-yard TD pass and a 10-0 lead.
Jayden Baugh cashed in on Stockton’s punt return with a 15-yard touchdown run in which he stretch for the pylon on a play first ruled to be out-of-bounds.
The Sooners ended Florida's streak of winning 48 consecutive games at home against teams visiting the Swamp for the first time. Their only other meetings were in bowl games, including a national title Florida won against Oklahoma in 2008.
Oklahoma: Hosts Ole Miss on Saturday.
Florida: At No. 8 Kentucky on Saturday.
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