Kirk Herbstreit names player who’s been 'the story of college football’

Live from ESPN's College GameDay set in Miami ahead of a loaded Week 4 college football slate, Kirk Herbstreit labeled one player-coach combo as the story of the sport through four weeks.

As the crew discussed one of Week 4 Saturday's biggest matchups, Auburn visiting Oklahoma, Herbstreit butted in to laud the Sooners and the 180° flip they've made on offense this season vs. last, an especially relevant talking point with former Oklahoma starting QB Jackson Arnold coming back to Norman as the Auburn QB1.

For the Sooners this year, though, everything starts with John Mateer and new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle. Mateer already asserted himself as the Heisman front-runner with his performance in the Michigan win, and Kirk Herbstreit lauds him as the story of the season to date.

“John Mateer, Ben Arbuckle, to me, have been the story of college football the first three weeks," Herbstreit shared Saturday morning. "Mateer is unbelievable in what he’s doing.”

The Sooners have a fairly friendly schedule, all things considered. They got a Michigan team starting a true freshman QB on their home turf in Week 2, they get their former QB at home in their second big test of the year, and the Sooners don't play a true road game until the middle of October. Even then, they play just three true road games all year.

With the way Mateer has performed and Arbuckle has dialed 'em up, plus the consistency of a typical Brent Venables defense, combined with a friendlier SEC slate than most... there's no reason Oklahoma can't put themselves in the College Football Playoff or SEC championship.

In three starts in 2025, John Mateer has already thrown for 944 yards and five touchdowns while running for another four TDs and 161 yards. He currently leads the SEC in total completions (71), total yards and yards-per-game at 314.7. He is also the consensus Heisman Trophy favorite according to Vegas Insider.

Read more on College Football HQ