OU football report card vs LSU as Sooners avoid disaster to keep CFP dreams alive

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

NORMAN — As Brent Venables likes to say, football is “not a beauty contest.” 

That’s good, because the OU offense is unsightly. You should see the defense, though. 

OU beat LSU 17-13 on Saturday, and the Sooners are almost certainly headed to the College Football Playoff. 

Let’s get to the grades: 

More: OU football dodges LSU upset bid, likely secures CFP bid | 5 takeaways

Isaiah Sategna III: A+  

Think this offense is lifeless? Imagine what it would look like sans Isaiah Sategna III. 

The transfer from Arkansas is the only explosive playmaker the Sooners have.

Sategna’s 35-yard punt return late in the third quarter set up the Sooners in plus territory. Two plays later, OU scored its first touchdown. 

Sategna was on the receiving end of OU’s go-ahead touchdown with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Tigers picked the wrong guy to lose track of. Sategna ran wide open for a 58-yard score.

Sategna was John Mateer’s safety blanket. He was targeted 14 times, hauling in nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.  

Seriously, where would the Sooners be without him? Probably not in the CFP. 

More: How former OU football coach Barry Switzer made his Airbnb 'Switzer Pigskin Palace'

John Mateer: D+  

John Mateer’s two best plays were tackles. 

After throwing an opening-drive interception on a ball that was tipped, Mateer chased down LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. and pushed Perkins out of bounds 4 yards shy of the end zone. Perkins’ 44-yard interception return was that close to a pick six. 

Mateer’s hustle play saved the Sooners six points, because on the very next play, OU safety Peyton Bowen intercepted LSU quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. 

The tipped-ball interception wasn’t Mateer’s fault. The other two were. 

On Mateer’s second interception, he made another tackle after another long LSU interception return (42 yards). 

Mateer had long touchdown passes to Deion Burks and Sategna, but Burks’ came off a screen and long run and Sategna’s was the result of busted coverage. 

Mateer’s line — 23-of-38 passing for 318 yards — looks better on paper than it did on the field. 

OU defense: A+ 

From Peyton Bowen’s early interception to his game-sealing tipped pass, the OU defense was remarkable. 

What more can you say about these guys? They got stop after stop while repeatedly getting hung out to dry by their offense. 

The Sooners limited the Tigers to 198 yards. LSU went 2 of 14 on third down. OU averaged 6 yards per play compared to LSU’s 3.6. 

Ben Arbuckle: D  

How do you divide the blame for OU’s poor offense? Mateer gets a big slice of the pie. Then the lack of playmakers outside of Sategna at receiver. And the lack of depth at running back. And the so-so play of the offensive line. 

But Ben Arbuckle has to shoulder the lionshare. That’s the burden of being the coordinator of an inept offense. 

On fourth-and-1 from midfield late in the third quarter, Brent Venables opted to take a delay-of-game penalty rather than trust his offense to gain 1 yard despite the Sooners trailing 10-7. 

Putting Jaydn Ott into the game was a joke. (The Sooners did score on the first play he entered — a 45-yard touchdown pass from Mateer to Deion Burks — but come on). The Sooners didn’t even honor the guy on Senior Day and yet they turned to him at the most desperate of times. 

Uniform matchup: A+ 

The LSU whites are my favorite uniform in football. Pair those with OU’s classic crimson tops and you’ve got yourself a world-class uniform matchup. 

Second time we’ve said that this season. The Michigan game also featured two iconic looks. 

What’s next? OU-Notre Dame?

Gerald McCoy entrance: A+ 

Gerald McCoy is the hype man emeritus at OU. 

Need to fire up 83,000 Sooner fans? Just send out the pride of Southeast High School. 

“We win and we in,” McCoy screamed into a mic as he strutted across Owen Field before kickoff. “Let’s goooooooo!” 

By the end of the game he was calling for Michael Hawkins to replace Mateer. What a turn, huh?

The former Sooner All-American played 11 NFL seasons. He was a six-time Pro Bowler with the Buccaneers. 

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football report card vs LSU as Sooners likely secure spot in CFP

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos