Venables lauds Witten as Sooners shine in play caller debut - ESPN

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — John Mateer did just enough with his legs and arm under new playcaller Jason Witten, and Oklahoma's tough defense took care of the rest Saturday night as the Sooners throttled No. 25 Florida in a 23-7 victory.

Mateer threw a pair of short touchdown passes, the last one to Isaiah Sategna III that capped a 20-play, 89-yard drive and put the Gators in a position of having to rally in the final five minutes when they had trouble scoring all game.

The Sooners (5-4, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) fired offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, and Witten, the Dallas Cowboys' former tight end who was coaching high school in suburban Texas last year, took over on an interim basis.

«Bragging on his ambition, and his excitement for the opportunity, you can't fabricate that,» Sooners coach Brent Venables said of Witten. «And I certainly didn't want someone to put a toe in the water, when willing to do it. I wanted someone who saw how good we could be.»

Under Witten, the Sooners didn't dazzle — they had only one play longer than 20 yards — but they were efficient, particularly on the clinching drive that took 12:45 off the clock. They converted five third-down plays on the drive.

«Really complete performance,» Venables said. «Just really clean football game, with complementary football. Thought we really dominated the line of scrimmage.»

The Gators (5-4, 3-4) appeared in the College Football Playoff ranking for the first time since 2020 and won't stick around. The offense looked anemic under quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. The Gators' longest play from scrimmage was a 33-yard pass to Duke Clark in the flats.

That drive ended when Florida coach Jon Sumrall went for it on fourth-and-3 from the 17 with Oklahoma up 13-7 and