Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer is expected by most industry experts to dice the Auburn Tigers' defense up enough to win on Saturday when the two ranked teams battle at Gaylord Memorial in Norman. Mateer is, after all, a Heisman winner with 944 passing yards in three games, with an average of 8.9 yards per attempt.
Not noted critic of the "Aubies," Bama Hammer's Ronald Evans, though. Evans sees the Sooners' injuries piling up enough to see a Mateer off-game with the Tigers in town.
Evans also believes it's best to get bets in on an underdog Auburn team before the odds shift ahead of kick-off.
"The Auburn Tigers remain an underdog in their match with Oklahoma on Saturday night. When the betting sites adjust to Wednesday's injury report, Auburn Football vs. the Sooners could see a shift. Auburn will miss a few players in Norman. Oklahoma will be nearly missing an entire position group," Evans wrote.
"Oklahoma's quarterback John Mateer is a sensational player and a legit Heisman contender. Mateer may well be less than great against the Tigers because his offensive line is seriously depleted. Owen Hollenbeck has also dealt with injury, but is listed as probable for Saturday. Another backup center, Stanford transfer Jake Maikkula, is listed as questionable. Oklahoma's former starter at center, Troy Everett, is out for the season."
Auburn's defensive front is elite, but the Montgomery Advertiser's Adam Cole sees serious issues for the secondary against Mateer after what South Alabama Jaguars QB Bishop Davenport was able to do with a Sun Belt offensive line in front of him.
"Auburn was thin against South Alabama, as Amaris Williams, Champ Anthony, Jay Crawford and Rayshawn Pleasant were all sidelined or limited. There's no telling how vital they could've been in slowing the Jaguar offense, but with what Auburn had, it struggled in a Group of 5 matchup," Cole wrote.
"South Alabama quarterback Bishop Davenport had 82 of his 170 passing yards on four completions, and he had another six passes go for five or more yards. Auburn managed to lock it down in the fourth quarter, when Davenport was 3-for-8 passing for just six yards, but the coverage problems against Baylor that were rendered moot the following week have returned in full force.
This could come down to whether Auburn's big bodies can catch Mateer before he creates from broken plays. Mateer's speed against the likes of Keldric Faulk, Xavier Atkins, Keyron Crawford, and Robert Woodyard Jr.
Cinema. A battle to keep their head coach off the hot seat and stay afloat in the shark-infested SEC waters.
Auburn-Oklahoma airs at 2:30 PM C.T. on ABC.