A must-watch ballgame in the SEC this weekend features Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners taking their top-10 defense to No. 2 Georgia for an old-fashioned throwdown in Athens.
The oddsmakers favor the unbeaten Bulldogs as a 13.5-point favorite this weekend following a 3-0 start, including a 45-17 trouncing of Arkansas last week in Fayetteville. Oklahoma hardly moved around New Mexico 14-6 last week, courtesy of a 53-yard John Mateer touchdown pass putting the Sooners up by two scores midway through the third quarter. A week earlier, Michigan escaped from the Sooners in the fourth quarter despite Bryce Underwood finishing just 9 of 17 for 111 yards.
The Sooners aren’t limping into SEC play, but Saturday’s test sure looks daunting considering the road they’ve traveled through Week 3. Is this the smackdown it appears to be, or just the right chance for Oklahoma to pull off a much-needed upset in one of college football’s biggest venues?
A Low-Scoring Affair is a Winning Affair
Oklahoma’s defense is allowing just 7.7 pooints per game and 104.3 passing yards per game entering this contest. Those are winning numbers if this unit, led by defensive back Peyton Bowen and linebacker Owen Heinecke, can slow Georgia’s ground game (253.3 yards per game) down enough to force this contest into a chess match.
Which John Mateer Will the Sooners Get?
Mateer is coming off his best game in the pocket, throwing for 238 yards and a 76% completion rate against New Mexico. That same win saw Mateer throw an interception on the game’s opening drive.
Without a rhythm, something the Sooners have yearned for since Week 2’s loss at Michigan, he’ll be outshone by Georgia’s Gunner Stockton for sure.
Georgia is Full of Playmakers
The Bulldogs enter the matchup with a question at running back, with Nate Frazier listed as questionable, but without a doubt, Georgia has the skill level to confidently come out and win this ballgame with Oklahoma.
Stockton alone is averaging 73% through the air this season with 583 yards and nine touchdowns (two to Talyn Taylor). He’s also picking up roughly 12.5 yards every time he runs the ball. Backup tailback Chauncey Bowens has 16 carries for 67 yards and three different touchdowns already, too.
Defensively, sack leaders Raylen Wilson (LB) and PJ Dean (DL) will be doing everything they can to get to Mateer on Saturday.
It’s hard to roll with the Oklahoma offense in this one when so much is unproven now, three weeks into the regular season. I can see a world where Georgia slowed down, but not where they lose this one at home to the Sooners.
