Paul Finebaum nit-picks Oklahoma HC Brent Venables’ questionable decisions against Arch Manning’s Texas: “They did two terrible things”

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables lost 26-3 to the beleaguered Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry in Week 7 of college football action. The loss dropped the previously unbeaten Sooners to 5-1 for the season and flipped the narrative of the rivalry game to 1-3 since Venebales took over as Oklahoma coach in 2022.

The big story of the game was the return of Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, who had surgery on his right hand 17 days before the rivalry clash, but was ruled fit enough to start instead of backup Michael Hawkins. Mateer had a shaky game on his return and went 20 of 38 for 202 yards and three interceptions against a rabid Longhorns defense.

During Sunday's segment of the "Matt Barrie Show," popular ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum blasted Brent Venables for his decision to start Mateer so soon after his injury. He also pointed out the decision's potential ramifications for the Sooners' playoff hopes (20:18).

"It was a terrible decision by Brent Venables to play John Mateer,” Finebaum said. “I didn’t like it going in, because here is the reason why it was such a bad decision: They had to know Mateer was going to be severely limited. So, they did two terrible things. They put him in harm’s way, which he shouldn’t have been in.

"Secondly, they cost themselves a great argument to the CFP if they ended up going 9-3, by saying, ‘Hey, listen, our biggest game of the year, we didn’t have our best player.' It's a similar argument that FSU did not win on but they might have won on. And they got nothing out of it. I hope Mateer is okay, but Michael Hawkins couldn't have been any worse.”

Brent Venables doubles down on John Mateer decision

Despite the decision by Brent Venables to play John Mateer over Michael Hawkins Jr., the Oklahoma Sooners could only muster 258 yards of offense against a stout Texas Longhorns defense. Across four matchups in the Red River Rivalry against the Longhorns since he became the Sooners' coach, Venables has been outscored by 93 points.

During his postgame news conference, Venables doubled down on his decision to play Mateer and praised the quarterback's toughness to suit up for the game.

"He epitomizes the guts and the toughness," Venables said. "Loves to compete. A week ago playing Kent State, he wanted to put the pads on. He didn't want to be in shorts and a hat and sunglasses and jewelry and everything else.

"He wanted to be with his teammates in pregame and every other part of game day. He's incredible. He went through all the protocols and those kinds of things. Everybody's body heals and responds different. No surprise whatsoever who John is. The doctors cleared him officially on Thursday."

Brent Venables will have to deal with one of the toughest remaining schedules in college football as the Sooners face five ranked sides before the season ends and as they bid to reach the college football playoff.