Florida Gators' 2026 Schedule Preview: Oklahoma Sooners
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The 2026 college football season is right around the corner, which means it's time to examine the Florida Gators' regular season schedule.
This offseason, the Gators hired former Tulane Green Waves head coach Jon Sumrall in hopes of him returning the program to its prestigious ways. However, Florida's schedule for the upcoming season is loaded with top-tier SEC opponents, including the Oklahoma Sooners and head coach Brent Venables.
Here's everything you need to know about the Gators' regular season contest against Oklahoma.
Other previews:
Game Information
- Week 10
- Nov 7 at Home
- Betting lines: TBD
Offense
The Sooners' offense will once again be led by quarterback John Mateer for the 2026 season.
After spending the first part of his college career with the Washington State Cougars, Mateer eventually transferred to Oklahoma for the 2025 season. During his first year with the program, the dual-threat playmaker recorded 2,885 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, while simultaneously rushing for 431 yards and eight touchdowns. Fans were unable to see Mateer in full effect for the majority of the season after he suffered a hand injury that limited him in Week Four against the Auburn Tigers. Now, with the rising star fully healthy in 2026, Mateer will look to build off his early success from last season.
Alongside Maater in the run game is the Sooners' dynamic duo of Tory Baylock and Xavier Robinson. Oklahoma's rushing attack in 2025 was one of the worst in the SEC, averaging 123.8 yards a game and 3.7 yards per carry. Still, the duo of Blaylock and Robinson combined for 901 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 203 carries. Fortunately for the Sooners, the return of Mateer will take a massive load off the ground game in 2026, as the passing game will better complement the program's efforts while running the ball.
Outside of an improved run game this season, Oklahoma did an excellent job of retaining offensive weapons on the perimeter in Isaiah Sategna, while also adding former Texas Longhorns' wideout Parker Livingstone in the transfer portal. Sategna was the team's leading pass catcher in 2025, as he ended his junior season with 67 receptions for 965 yards and eight touchdowns. The addition of Livingstone gives Mateer another target alongside Sategna, as the former three-star high school prospect tallied 29 catches for 516 yards and six touchdowns with the Longhorns.
Defense
On defense, the Gators will have to deal with the wrath of star defensive tackle David Stone during the Week 10 contest.
The junior interior defender was nothing short of impressive throughout the 2025 season, recording 42 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. Stone was a key reason why Oklahoma allowed the second-fewest rushing yards per game in the SEC last year (81.4 yards per game), finishing with an 80.7 PFF defense grade. If the talented defensive tackle can improve as a pass rusher, Stone could be the main difference-maker within the trenches against Florida.
While the Sooners' defense will heavily rely on Stone to be the anchor up front, the program's linebacker unit of Owen Heinecke and Kip Lewis is in line for another massive season in 2026. Last year under Venables, the one-two combo notched 150 tackles, 15.5 tackles for losses, eight pass deflections, and seven sacks. Oklahoma's top pass rusher from last year, R Mason Thomas, was recently selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, which means Heinecke and Lewis will have much larger roles in the pass rush this season.
Looking at the secondary unit, Venables' defense features a pair of brothers in safety Peyton Bowen and cornerback Eli Bowen. The duo played a key role against opposing teams' passing games in 2025, combining for 71 tackles, 10 pass breakups and four interceptions. In addition to the Bowen brothers on defense, sophomore cornerback Courtland Guillory also contributed to the stout efforts by recording 41 tackles and seven pass breakups last year.
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