The Oklahoma Sooners are on the path to being a College Football Playoff participant this season. Ranked 7th in the country, the Sooners are 4-0 after a massive win against Auburn this past weekend. The vibes are supposed to be extremely high; however, an injury to starting quarterback John Mateer has quieted expectations a tad.
Oklahoma is a great football team. But without Mateer, it is hard to imagine they will keep their dominance up all year long. The good news is Mateer's injury isn't long-term, as he will be back at some point this season.
Kent State is next on the schedule, followed by Texas for the Red River Rivalry. That is the start of a gauntlet of games against South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and LSU. Only SC is not ranked as of right now.
Due to the schedule and uncertainty of when Mateer will return, the betting odds have lowered in the National Championship and Heisman discussion. Oklahoma's title odds take a hit, and Mateer, who was the Heisman betting favorite ahead of Week 4, saw his Heisman odds plummet as well.
Oklahoma is now a +2500 favorite on BetMGM. They were previously +1800, so they don't drop that far.
FOX's Joel Klatt got brutally honest when discussing Mateer's injury.
“I’m totally bummed for this guy because he was playing as well as anybody in the country, that’s a fact,” Klatt said. “They don’t beat Michigan without Mateer. They don’t beat Auburn without John Mateer. He was Oklahoma. Their defense has been sensational, but their offense has been terrific.”
It won't be easy to pick up what Mateer left, but backup quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. is more than capable of filling in and playing well. He took over last season for Jackson Arnold and passed for 783 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for north of 200 yards and had one rushing TD.
