'Go get 20 Yards': Oklahoma's Brent Venables Puts Faith in Ben Arbuckle, John Mateer to Pull off Stunner

DALLAS — Brent Venables’ instructions to Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle were clear Saturday night after Courtland Guillory’s interception gave the Sooners another chance in the Red River Rivalry.

“Go get 20 yards,’” Venables told Arbuckle after Guillory’s pick gave OU the ball at their own 39 with just 19 seconds remaining.

Oklahoma’s offense has been called every pejorative imaginable over the last few weeks.

John Mateer had been run down every which way since the Sooners’ struggles of the previous three games.

But when they needed it most, when it would’ve been easy to take a knee and play for overtime, Venables placed his faith in Arbuckle and Mateer.

The confidence was rewarded, as Mateer hit a pair of big completions — for 33 total yards — to Isaiah Sategna and Tate Sandell converted to give the Sooners perhaps their most unlikely win in the series’ storied history.

Oklahoma won 27-24, stunning top-ranked Texas and turning what had been the narrative of their season on its head.

Mateer said all the right things leading up to Saturday’s showdown.

He talked of a confidence that wasn’t shaken by his three interceptions and two lost fumbles over the last two games.

Venables and Arbuckle gave Mateer votes of confidence since the loss to Georgia.

When words have to turn to action, though, it’s sometimes difficult to live up to those expressions of faith.

But in the closing seconds against the Longhorns, as dusk started to descend on Fair Park, Venables and Arbuckle had a chance to prove their words with actions, and they took that opportunity.

“It’s exactly the confidence I have in John, Coach Venables has in John,” Arbuckle said. “It’s an example of how we want to play. We want to go play to win. We don’t want to be passive in anything.

“That moment came. Two really good players made two really good plays.”

That confidence helped fuel Mateer.

“Obviously the last two weeks everybody in the facility told me how much they believe in me and I appreciated it,” Mateer said. “I knew I just needed to come play confident and they let me do that.”

Arbuckle thought he had an idea of some plays that might work against the Longhorns’ defense.

“In that moment, we knew their tendency, they were going to play man and we had good plays set up for that,” Mateer said. “I knew the way the nickel was going to play it, so I knew the back shoulder was going to be there and Isaiah’s a great player, so I was confident. We were all confident in that huddle.”

Arbuckle had expressed support for Mateer throughout his struggles but that support was verified throughout the game.

Mateer was far from perfect, but he was able to settle down after an early fumble, which was recovered by Ryan Fodje, and generally keep the ball out of harm’s way.

Then there’s Sategna, who had just three catches for 32 yards to that point.

Sategna has been Oklahoma’s most consistent offensive weapon over the last two seasons and if the Sooners’ offense was going to succeed or fail, Arbuckle thought, it would be because they trusted in their two biggest offensive playmakers.

“That’s who you look for to go win the game and Isaiah came up big again like he has a ton of times before,” Arbuckle said.

The first play, a 13-yard throw to Sategna on the sideline opposite the Sooners’, was initially called incomplete but that call was overturned on review.

Then Sategna caught a ball near Oklahoma’s sidelines for a 20-yard gain that was upheld through another review.

That’s when Venables and Arbuckle had Mateer set up Sandell’s field-goal attempt that ultimately finished off the game.

“It takes a great deal of mental toughness, physical toughness to keep showing back up,” Venables said. “That’s the hardest part, is just showing up with the right mentality.

“For them to be able to validate their hard work coming down to Dallas and beating a really good team (is rewarding).”

Venables was talking about the whole team there, as he closed his postgame press conference, but it was particularly true of Mateer and Arbuckle.

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