John Mateer's legs might be the key to success for Oklahoma

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The Oklahoma Sooners will need offensive success if they hope to pull off a major upset on Saturday against the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs. The Sooners have one of the worst offenses in college football this season.

Quarterback John Mateer has struggled, completing 62.7% of his passes for 652 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions. However, the surprising stat has been his lack of success running the ball. He's run for 69 yards and no scores on 2.7 yards per carry. Just two seasons ago, Mateer ran for 826 yards and 15 scores on 4.6 yards per carry.

College football analyst David Pollack believes the key to Oklahoma's success this weekend will be using Mateer's legs to their advantage.

"I saw some things that if I'm Oklahoma, I know what I'm going to do to Georgia," Pollack said on 'See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack.' "I'm going to use Mateer. I've got to use Mateer… I know he has to run the football, and he has to be a part of the play, fake helping slow people down."

Mateer's rushing production has dropped significantly from what Oklahoma expected when it brought him in. Last season, he rushed for 431 yards and eight touchdowns, but his production has been much more limited through three games this year.

That has taken away one of the most important elements of Mateer's game. His ability to escape pressure, extend plays and create yardage with his legs gives defenses another problem to solve, but Oklahoma has not consistently gotten that dimension from him early this season.

The Bulldogs know Mateer can hurt them as a runner, so Oklahoma could use that threat to influence how Georgia's defense attacks the offense. Oklahoma's challenge is finding the right balance. Mateer cannot simply abandon the passing game and become a running quarterback.

If the Sooners can get Mateer involved as a runner while protecting the football through the air, they could make Georgia's defense use the full range of his skill set. For an offense searching desperately for a spark, that could be the difference between another stagnant performance and a legitimate chance to challenge the No. 2 team in the country.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: John Mateer's legs might be the key to success for Oklahoma

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