How Does the Sooners On SI Staff Think Oklahoma Will Fare Against South Carolina?

The Sooners On SI staff offers their predictions for the No. 14-ranked Sooners’ road contest against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer celebrates a touchdown run against Temple. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Sooners On SI staff — John Hoover, Ryan Chapman, Carson Field, Ryan Aber and Brady Trantham — logged their score predictions for Oklahoma’s first-ever trip to Williams-Brice Stadium to clash with the South Carolina Gamecocks.

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John Hoover

First things first, in this space last week was a prediction of an Oklahoma blowout over the Texas Longhorns. We sold short how much practice time John Mateer actually needed after three weeks off, and we underestimated the Texas offensive line, and we overestimated the Oklahoma defense. Now that all that’s been worked out, we won’t see any such problems in Columbia, right? Mateer said he was a full go this week at practice, but does that mean his thumb is fine and everything else is back to pre-surgery levels? South Carolina’s offensive line has been so bad Shane Beamer fired his o-line coach midseason. Imagine that. And with the OU running game bound for more mediocrity against a stout Gamecocks defense and Mateer probably not back to all that silly Heisman talk, it’ll be on the OU defense to rise up and dominate LaNorris Sellers and Co. Asking too much? Probably so.

Final Score: South Carolina 20, Oklahoma 17

Ryan Chapman 

This road trip is not as daunting as perhaps it looked in July, but the Sooners must get back on track in South Carolina. John Mateer made no excuses for last week’s showing, but he clearly needed a week a full participation at practice to get back up to speed post-surgery. Oklahoma won’t magically be able to find a rushing attack, but the Gamecocks have struggled mightily in 2025, even with quarterback LaNorris Sellers and star edge rusher Dylan Stewart. Nothing will come easy the rest of the way with this schedule, but OU’s defense should be able to fix the few mental lapses from last week’s loss and get after Sellers. Mateer will be back to doing just enough for the Sooners to survive, but style points mean nothing in this year’s SEC. Winning is all that matters. 

Final Score: Oklahoma 23, South Carolina 16

Carson Field 

Saturday’s game feels like it falls into the “must-win” category. Oklahoma had all of its momentum squashed in the Red River Rivalry loss. Still, the Sooners have a good path to the playoff, now 5-1 and currently ranked No. 14. But a win against South Carolina is necessary to stay in the hunt. The Gamecocks, though not a bad squad, are the worst opponent remaining on OU’s schedule. Columbia is a hostile environment and will test the Sooners’ resolve after a brutal loss to Texas. Even if quarterback John Mateer is much better than he was at the Cotton Bowl, the offensive line needs to protect him and open up holes for the Sooners’ tailbacks. Oklahoma’s ability to do so was minimal against Texas, and that doesn’t set them up well for a matchup with South Carolina’s stout front seven.

Final Score: South Carolina 23, Oklahoma 20

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Ryan Aber 

While South Carolina has certainly taken a step back this season, the Gamecocks' demise has been a bit overblown. All three of the Gamecocks' losses have come to teams ranked in the top 17 in this week's Associated Press poll, with only the loss to Vanderbilt being decided by more than 10 points. But South Carolina has struggled on the offensive line, and the Sooners' defensive front figures to take advantage — not only in creating plays themselves but in forcing mistakes. The Gamecocks had five pre-snap penalties from their offensive front last week against LSU, leading to a coaching change on the offensive line. OU should be able to do just enough offensively to pull this one out in a difficult environment.

Final Score:  Oklahoma 26, South Carolina 21

Brady Trantham 

The expectation is that John Mateer will be sharper than what we saw last week. His lack of timing and awareness had to do with a lack of practice time, and of course, a great Texas defense. With a game and a week of practice under his belt, Mateer and the offense should capitalize on scoring opportunities against a less-talented defense. South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers is special, but if you expect Mateer to be back to his normal self, that should be enough to balance out anything Sellers brings to the table. The Gamecock offense is somehow worse at running the ball than Oklahoma. That plays well into the OU defense having a bounce-back game against a talented quarterback. 

Final score: Oklahoma 31, South Carolina 21