John Mateer has high praise for Oklahoma's defense after beating Alabama
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The Oklahoma Sooners rode an excellent second-half performance from their defense to a 23-21 upset win over the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday. It’s a win that is one of the biggest for the program under fourth-year head coach Brent Venables, and it has OU two wins away from a berth in the College Football Playoff.
The Sooners have established a formula for winning on the road over quality opponents over their last two games against Tennessee and Alabama. That formula has looked like Venables’ defense locking in during the second half of the game, and getting stops on the opposing offense, while the Oklahoma offense makes just enough plays to get the win. It’s not a foolproof formula, as we saw in losses to Texas and Ole Miss that the Sooners can’t always rely on the defense for absolutely everything, but it’s a formula that has worked out in close wins over the Volunteers and Crimson Tide.
That’s why, when interviewed postgame after the Sooners won on the road, Oklahoma starting quarterback John Mateer was quick to praise the defense for stepping up in a big way again to get the victory.
“Yeah, I mean, they give us a spark whenever we need it,” Mateer said. “They didn’t get a whole lot of turnovers at the beginning of the year, but the football gods loved them back because of how hard they play. I love those guys and I’m so proud of them.”
Oklahoma struggled to force turnovers early in the year, but in the last two games, the defense’s ability to take the ball away has played a major role in helping win games. After three defensive turnovers against Tennessee (two interceptions and a strip-sack that was returned for a touchdown), the Sooners forced three giveaways again against Alabama, with a fumble on a punt return, a strip-sack, and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. The floodgates have opened, after eight games of low turnover numbers.
The Sooners still have two pivotal games left, against Missouri and LSU at home over the next two weeks. They can’t let their guard down against either team, or they’ll lose. Mateer also spoke on that, and it’ll be something Sooner Nation will be watching very closely, as a spot in the CFP is still very much reliant on winning out.
“Yeah, we got two more regular-season games, and we’re going to play our hearts out,” Mateer said. “We know what we have in front of us … Tonight we’re going to celebrate this one, but we’ll go back to work.”
That’s the mentality that OU will have to have over the next two weeks, because one slip-up would be disastrous for the team’s playoff hopes. Luckily, Mateer and the rest of the offense have a really good defense to lean on, as the pursuit of the CFP continues.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: OU’s John Mateer praises defense for effort against Alabama
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