If Saturday night's game against Florida really was an audition for Jason Witten to be Oklahoma's next full-time offensive coordinator, then he'll be getting a callback.
OU head coach Brent Venables fired offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle at the start of this week, then, in a surprise move, promoted Witten from tight ends coach to interim OC, instead of Kevin Wilson, who is Assistant Head Coach for Offense and a longtime OC and former head coach. Witten is a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, but he was coaching high school football this time last year.
Although Wilson seemed like the obvious choice, Witten was clearly the right one. Props to Venables for making that call. It took just one quarter into the Sooners' 23-7 road upset of No. 24 Florida for Witten to prove Venables correct.
Sooners' upset of Florida gives hope for Jason Witten as OU's future OC
The Sooners put points on the board in their first two drives of the game, with a 41-yard field goal in the opening possession and a touchdown in the next, to take an early 10-0 lead. It was the first time since OU joined the conference in 2024 that it scored on the opening two possessions against an SEC opponent. That's the first time that's been done in 22 games.
That stat shows how far OU's offense has fallen from its Big 12 glory days, but while sipping on a glass half full of crimson Kool-Aid, it also hints that maybe the Sooners could solve their problems with Witten, as his new offense was responsible for a few bests on Saturday night.
The Sooners drove 15 plays for 84 yards into the end zone while erasing 7:11 off the clock on their second possession of the game. It was the longest drive of the season for OU, based on both yardage and time of possession, at least until later.
The drive ended with some smooth trickery that Witten had up his sleeve. Quarterback John Mateer, from under center, faked a handoff to running back Tory Blaylock, then another to a motioning Isaiah Sategna III, with tight end Rocky Beers coming across like he was blocking for Sategna. Mateer then flipped the pass to tight end Hayden Hansen, who got the TD against his old team in the place he once called home.
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OU was then forced to punt for the only time of the first half on its next possession before getting a field goal to head into the locker room with a 13-7 lead. The Sooners' 201 total yards were the most ever against an SEC foe in the first half.
When the offense was needed the most, it marched 89 yards down the field on 20 plays and drained a monumental 12:45 off the clock before Mateer's six-yard TD pass to Sategna left a drowning Florida team out of air. The Gators had only 4:56 to overcome a 13-point deficit.
Yes, OU is still far from being considered a potent offense, but it doesn't ever need to be with Venables leading an elite defense. The offense's job is just not to screw it up. After that prolonged drive, a fully charged defense sent Florida backward for eight yards on a four-and-out.
That's complementary football that Venables preaches.
The Sooners' offense simply made sense with Witten in control. It was dysfunctional under Arbuckle, but not on Saturday night.
Nothing felt forced, even when things weren't going their way during a scoreless third quarter. There were no mind-boggling calls at crucial times. The clock ticked to help the defense. Quarterback John Mateer was unlocked as a runner with a team-high 56 rushing yards on 14 carries and also looked comfortable when dropping back to throw with a pair of TD passes.
No offensive coordinator deserves credit for a win with 30 total points, but Witten also wasn't the reason the Sooners lost, and at this point, that's all OU needs to succeed.
Witten is apparently what the Sooners needed this whole time, and he made that immediately clear.
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