WARNING: Why John Mateer Must DELIVER or the Oklahoma Sooners Will MISS the College Football Playoff

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Oklahoma's John Matier needs to take major steps forward in reading defenses, playing with

confidence and accuracy for the Oklahoma Sooners are not going to the playoffs.

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Locked on.

We'll be talking about Oklahoma's schedule, which is brutal.

We're going to be talking about the weapons for John Matier of the Oklahoma Sooners.

They added two that are really good, but is it enough and we're also going to be talking

about three main areas.

John Matier, can you read the defenses better?

Is he going to be more accurate and above all else?

Probably.

Can he be more confident in everything that he does?

Let's dive into that with a few main thoughts right now off the top.

First off, when he was on, he was on last year, but his confidence will go from high to

low very quickly.

And to be very, very honest, he did get banged up early in the year.

Of course, that wasn't in any shall we say injury report against Auburn.

He was never the same.

Coaches are never going to give honest answers about injury reports or quarterbacks.

Never going to happen at any level.

Yes, I'm sorry, Vegas, that's just the way that is, but maybe he's healthy this year.

But if he's not completely healthy, not only physically, but he believes in everything

that he does, it will not matter.

So again, does he redefinance is better because against Alabama, the second time they played

him, he looked like a deer and headlights in that second half?

Every through that pick six, he was in trouble.

Secondarily, it's about the ability to be accurate.

I'm assuming that being healthy, John Matier will be.

But that doesn't guarantee anything.

Number three, it's the confidence with those two things together.

If he believes in what he sees and he is healthy, he will be more accurate and they will

make more big plays to that in ironically, adding or Texas, my receiver, Parker Livingston,

that's one thing.

But they also went out and got many people may not know about this guy, but he's really

good.

A big receiver from Virginia and Tro Harris.

Another nice addition to the OU offense, but they don't have a lot of depth at wide receiver.

At least not proven depth.

Now they've got talent.

Somebody's going to have to step forward in probably two or three during the course of

the year.

That's not on Matier.

That's on Oklahoma to get those guys ready, whoever they may be.

This is a very big spring practice for the sooners.

We'll see how it goes to that end.

The run game should be even better.

I don't think that you could really say there's any chance that it won't be because the

offensive line, it's going to be a lot better.

You get a center that comes in who had two years straight of starting at Stanford in

Jake McCoolock and then you also have Edipier Lewis back in the starting line, Michael

Fassouci.

Ryan Foget, I'm not sure if he's playing tackle or guard.

We'll see Mary and Harris comes over from Arkansas.

That got other guys competing as well.

The O-line should be way better.

Ben Ball is a really good O-line coach, but now he's got some more experienced players

to work with.

That obviously helps.

The other thing that they have is a tight end that many people probably aren't talking

about.

That's Hayden Hanson.

He comes over from Florida, he's six seven, six eight, 265, 270 pounds.

That should help the run game as well.

They got Xavier Robinson, Tory Boylock.

That's a great combo.

I don't think there will be any problems running the football.

You've got to remember that Brent Vinneville is a defensive-minded coach, and that's fine.

I expect them to play to what should be a top 10 defense again.

They got the Bowen Brothers back, they got Jane Jackson in the middle.

That right there is a great start, but they have several other pieces as well.

I don't think they're going to be any worse than like 15th in the nation defensive.

That would be a low bar for them.

Taylor Line on the edge, David Stone at Detackle, they've got plenty of guys.

They will be fine.

My bigger question, again, is just the style on offense.

And to that, let's talk about the stats for Mr. Matier this last year.

They weren't that great, 249 to 402, 61.9%, 2884 yards, 14 touchdowns, 11 interceptions.

He would take the low-hanging fruit and kill you with it.

If you gave him the obvious throw, he would make it.

He's got a good arm.

He's very mobile.

He's tremendously gifted athlete, all those things.

But in crunch time, he wasn't always that guy,

especially after you lost some of his mobility.

Obviously, the hand injuries are part of that.

That's not his fault.

It is what it is.

But the lower body injury that he had against Auburn,

that probably didn't help much either to that end.

We need to see what he can do right off the bat,

because their schedule, I'll talk about that right after the break,

is brutal.

But 61.9% needs to be 65, 66% minimum.

He's a guy that's a graduate student.

He's seen it too many times now.

And 14 to 11, I'm sorry, especially with Trial Harris and Livingstone coming in.

Satania is going to be really good.

He's probably still their number one.

That's a good one, two, three.

Not sure about the depth,

but they should be able to throw it around a little bit if they really have to.

Again, I still think ball control is the way there we go.

So with that, when we come back,

we're going to talk about questions and the schedule.

Can they get over the top?

Can they make that move?

Because if they don't, this is team like,

they're not going to the playoff, because I know OU fans don't want to hear this,

but there's a reason the fan duo has them at seven and a half for the winter.

But so about that next right here on the portal podcast.

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All right, let's talk a little bit about the opportunity for mature.

We kind of went over the health situation.

We think he's healthy, but he needs to be.

To that end, does he read defenses better?

Is he going to be accurate and then confident?

Well, here are the questions that I have kind of in general.

I've already talked about health number one for those of you watching on YouTube,

but if you're not, number one is, is John Matier just flat out healthy?

Are we 100% sure of that?

Number two, is he making on-time reads and throws from the pocket?

When the entire stadium knows on 3rd and 10, you've got to throw it.

Can he make the on-time decision in the on-time delivery?

It's not something that he was consistent with last year.

Number three, how much will Matier need to run?

This is the one I'm not really sure on.

It's not an easy question to answer, but when he ran the ball, I think he gets Michigan

last year. It was like 19 times.

He took a beating, but he's really good at it.

He is an adept runner.

He said, fearless guy, getting all the credit.

But are they going to risk him getting beat up again?

That's a great question.

They may have to mitigate that as much as they can, and it's a fine line.

We'd like to the OU staff.

I do not envy him for that.

Number four, how does he play?

At Michigan, at Georgia, and against Texas in the Red River rivalry.

Those are their three big games early in the year.

They've got a couple of basic games that they're going to win.

But three of their first five are teams that potentially could make

the college football playoff in Georgia and Texas,

almost assuredly well.

If he does not play at a high level,

the chances of the Oklahoma suitors going to the college football

playoff and going to the dumpster.

Because the back end of their schedule is also something that's not very friendly.

They've got Florida on November 7th.

That's on the road.

Ole Miss and A&M, the next two weekends in Norman,

and then to finish out the year, they go to Missouri.

Now, Missouri, they should beat.

I will give you that.

But that schedule is still very, very difficult.

And I see why a fan duel went with seven and a half.

I think I'll go over, but you need nine wins.

Minimum to get the playoff.

I'm not sure how that's going to work out.

Now, finally, connecting with Trial Harris and Parker Livingstone.

I don't know how well that's going to happen.

But he needs to hit the ground running again because of that schedule.

They've got the run game.

The line should be better.

If they can stay healthy, this might be as much as their importance.

Materials stay healthy.

And to otherwise proven, that is not a deep wide receiver rule.

They cannot get banged up.

That's not a fair thing to say, but

Oklahoma and their fans probably know this better than anyone.

Anything can happen in a year.

Two years ago, everybody got hurt at receiver in O.I.

and pretty much too.

They're due something on the other side of that.

They've had so many injuries the last couple of seasons.

We'll see.

But that schedule is brutal.

I don't think they're going to make the playoff just because

even though they're rosters, maybe top 10 in the nation.

The defensive particular is it's loaded.

Their schedule is not fun.

I don't like the depth at wide receiver.

And I need to see no offense.

I need to see mature make plays in the clutch after he's had a failure in the game.

Everybody fails, but he had 11 picks last year.

And sometimes he just really went down.

He wasn't the same guy when they had a problem.

So against Georgia, who's going to show him different looks.

Is he able to make those adjustments on the fly and do so with confidence?

He's got to show me.

Tell me what you think.

Comment down below and thank you once again.

This has been the portal podcast.

I love doing these previews on the quarterbacks.

Material is one of the most intriguing players in Oklahoma,

especially with that schedule and that defense.

It is also very interesting.

We will see you again soon right here on the portal podcast.

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Few things are as uplifting as the greatest moments in sports.

And nothing brings us together quite like Team USA

at the Olympic Winter Games.

From NBC Universal's iconic storytelling

to the innovative technology across Exfinity and Peacock,

Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America,

sharing every moment with millions.

When Team USA steps onto the world stage,

we're not just watching.

We're cheering together.

This winter, we're all on the same team.

Comcast, proud partner of Team USA.

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