Oklahoma Beats Mississippi State 23-15 in Flu Game as Mateer Throws for 283

Dozens of Oklahoma players spent the week sick. Brent Venables missed his own Tuesday press conference with flu-like symptoms. On Saturday, John Mateer had a few plays where he started coughing and his teammates told him to back up.

Then the Sooners went to Starkville and put together the best offensive day they have had since joining the SEC.

Oklahoma beat Mississippi State 23-15 at Davis Wade Stadium in the first meeting ever between the two programs. The Sooners improved to 4-3 and 2-2 in the SEC. Mississippi State dropped its third straight game and fell to 4-3 and 2-3, and it lost its starting quarterback along the way.

Mateer called it exactly what it was. "It's a flu game for everybody," he said, per Sooners on SI. Then he walked it back. "Not actually, but it was fun. It's just another challenge that we got to do together."

A slow burn, then a 96-yard statement

For most of the first half, the Oklahoma defense did everything and the offense did just enough. Tate Sandell put the Sooners up 3-0 with a 42-yard field goal with 11:10 left in the first quarter, and the score stayed that way deep into the second.

Mississippi State had a chance to change that late in the half, but quarterback Billy Puckett fumbled deep in Oklahoma territory and the Sooners recovered. Oklahoma made the Bulldogs pay. The Sooners went 96 yards in 14 plays, and Mateer capped it with a 36-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Sategna III with 39 seconds left before halftime. It was 10-0 at the break.

The Oklahoma defense, meanwhile, was suffocating. Mississippi State had 126 yards in the first half and converted one of 11 third downs, according to Sooners on SI.

The third quarter that settled it

Oklahoma needed only three plays to open the second half. Mateer hit Rocky Beers for a 32-yard touchdown with 13:44 left in the third quarter to cap a 75-yard drive, and the lead was 17-0.

That was the Sooners' best stretch, and it nearly put the game away. It also produced their only turnover. Beers fumbled while trying to hurdle a defender, and Kendel Dolby recovered at the Mississippi State 49.

Jeff Lebby, Oklahoma's former offensive coordinator, then dug into the bag. The Bulldogs ran back-to-back trick plays, and the second one was a double pass that ended with tight end Sam West throwing an 18-yard touchdown to Camden Capehart. The Associated Press noted it was Mississippi State's first touchdown in eight quarters, dating to its Oct. 3 game against Alabama. Suddenly it was 17-7 with 6:55 left in the third, and Davis Wade Stadium had a pulse.

Oklahoma answered the way it often has this year, with its kicker. Sandell hit from 30 yards with 3:33 left in the third and from 38 yards with 4:24 to play for a 23-7 lead.

Puckett gave the home crowd one more moment. He found Sanfrisco Magee for a 42-yard touchdown with 2:10 left, his first career touchdown pass, and the Bulldogs converted the two-point try to make it 23-15. Oklahoma then took the ball and ran out the clock.

The turning point

Mississippi State's best chance came and went in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs never really recovered from that 96-yard drive. A team that had just lost the ball inside the Oklahoma 10 watched the Sooners march the length of the field and score before the break. It turned a 3-0 rock fight into a two-score game.

Lebby saw it the same way. "Their chunk plays, offensively, to me was the difference in the game," he said, per the AP. Oklahoma had five pass plays of 15 yards or more, and those five plays accounted for 191 of its 283 passing yards.

Mateer and Sategna run the show

Mateer finished 22-of-29 for 283 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran nine times for 37 more. Venables was not shy about the praise. "I'm proud of John and the way he played," he told the AP. "Today when we needed him to be his best, he was able to do that," he added, per News 9.

Sategna did the most damage. He caught eight passes for 164 yards and the touchdown that broke the game open before half.

The surprise was the running game. Oklahoma entered the day averaging 92.5 rushing yards per game, according to the AP, and it ran for 184. Tory Blaylock gained 71 yards at 5.9 per carry, including a 47-yard run that was the team's longest of the season, per Sooners on SI. Oklahoma also got lineman Michael Fasusi back from injury, and he started at left tackle for the first time since the season opener.

For Mississippi State, Fluff Bothwell was the bright spot with 111 yards on 17 carries. Puckett, a former walk-on who started at LSU, went 17-of-24 for 158 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he added 37 rushing yards. Magee caught three passes for 65 yards. Tyler Lockhart and Fatt Forrest each made 10 tackles.

The stats that matter

Third down told the story. Mississippi State converted one of 11 tries. Oklahoma went 7-of-16, and the AP had the Sooners at 8 of 17 on third and fourth down combined to the Bulldogs' 3 of 16. Venables said his defense also stopped Mississippi State three times on fourth down.

Oklahoma outgained the Bulldogs 467-352 and held the ball for 33:16. The Sooners' defense added four sacks and six tackles for loss, according to Sooners on SI. Mississippi State turned it over twice to Oklahoma's once and was flagged eight times for 90 yards. The full numbers are in Mississippi State's official box score (opens in a new tab).

It could have been much worse for the Bulldogs. Sandell missed twice in the fourth quarter, and Puckett threw an interception in the end zone in the fourth. Venables put it plainly. "That should have been, probably a four or five-score win. It wasn't," he said, per the AP.

What it means and what's next

For Oklahoma, this was the offensive breakthrough the season has been waiting for. News 9 called it the Sooners' most productive offensive performance since they joined the SEC, and Venables said the work had been there all along. "To be able to have some success lends credibility to all the work they've been putting in," Venables said. Next on the schedule was a home game against South Carolina on Oct. 31.

For Mississippi State, the week got worse after the final whistle. Starting quarterback Kamario Taylor went 2-of-5 for 10 yards and was sacked twice before leaving late in the first quarter after a hit on a fourth-down play. It was the second straight game Taylor exited with an injury. Lebby explained the decision simply: "He felt it a little bit, and so it felt like the right thing to do was get him out of the game." The school issued statements on Taylor's status three days later. Mississippi State's official recap (opens in a new tab) has the full rundown, and next on the Bulldogs' schedule was a trip to Austin to face Texas on Oct. 31.

The last word

Venables missed a press conference with flu-like symptoms, and illness ran through his roster all week. What he took away from Starkville had nothing to do with the stat sheet.

"Our guys were heavily invested," he said, per Sooners on SI. "So, to see our guys continue to stick together, dig in and fight for each other, fight for victory is really rewarding."

A flu game in October will not make anyone's highlight reel. But for a team that badly needed proof its offense could carry a road win, a fever and a 467-yard day will do just fine.

Sources: Mississippi State Athletics recap and box score, The Associated Press, Sooners on SI, News 9 and WLBT. More college football coverage on Undrafted.