If you thought Oklahoma's season-opening blowout of UTEP signaled a return to form, think again. The Sooners have scored just 24 points in their last two games combined—a loss to Michigan and a nail-biting, soul-crushing 14-6 victory over New Mexico on Saturday. That's not a typo. Fourteen points. Against a team they were favored to beat by three touchdowns.
The win is technically a win, but you wouldn't know it from the reaction of the Sooner faithful. Social media was flooded with frustration, with one fan summing it up perfectly: "This is a win in a technical sense that we scored more pts than Lobos, but it’s not an enjoyable win where you watch highlights on youtube and you listen to post game shows. It’s a win that ruined your night."
The culprit? An offense that has gone from explosive to anemic. Quarterback John Mateer turned the ball over multiple times, and the New Mexico defense—yes, New Mexico—had little trouble bottling up the Sooners' run game. Oklahoma managed just two touchdowns all day, and if not for a defense that has allowed a grand total of 23 points through three games, the Sooners might be staring at a 1-2 start.
Fans didn't hold back in their criticism. "What a joke of a team. We didn’t earn this win we stumbled in to it. Arbuckle is trash, Mateer couldn’t hit water from a ship. We suck. I’ll continue cheering but we are terrible," wrote one. Another lamented, "The worst Oklahoma team in program history just beat the mountain Wests top tier program SEC proving its the standard once again."
The frustration is understandable. This was supposed to be a tune-up, a chance to build confidence before the schedule turns brutal. Instead, it raised more questions than answers. Can Mateer protect the football? Can the offensive line open holes? And is this offense capable of competing in the SEC?
The answers may come sooner rather than later. Next week, Oklahoma heads to Sanford Stadium to face Georgia, arguably the toughest test in college football. The Bulldogs are a powerhouse, and the Sooners' offense as currently constructed looks ill-prepared for that kind of challenge. As one fan put it, "Mateer gets embarrassed next week at Georgia. You had to use this game to evaluate Newbauer/Bentley as QB1. BV’s addiction to starting bad QBs no matter what is killing the elite defenses we keep seeing on the field."
After Georgia, Oklahoma gets a bye week—a chance to regroup. But then comes a gauntlet: back-to-back games against arch-rival Texas and a surging Kentucky team. There's a very real scenario where the Sooners start SEC play with three straight losses, and the season spirals out of control.
For now, the defense deserves credit. They've been stellar, keeping the team in games that could easily have slipped away. But football is a two-phase game, and the offense's inability to score is putting immense pressure on the defense to be perfect every snap.
Oklahoma fans are used to winning, and winning big. This 14-6 slog against New Mexico feels like a loss because, in a way, it is—a loss of confidence, a loss of momentum, and a loss of patience. The Sooners have a bye week after Georgia, but they'll need to fix their offensive woes fast if they want to avoid a season that looks nothing like the storied history of the program. The officiating controversy from the Michigan game didn't help, but this performance was all on the offense. And with coaches already on the hot seat, the pressure is mounting. The Sooners need a spark, and they need it now.
