Saturday morning will be crucial for John Mateer. The Oklahoma quarterback is set to try and give it a go in the Red River Rivalry against Texas, just a couple weeks after surgery for a hand injury.
Mateer’s status has been the biggest storyline of the week, and he went from questionable to probable on this week’s availability reports. But as the situation unfolds, former Texas coach Mack Brown defended the “ethics” of it all.
College football injury updates entering Week 7: Latest on John Mateer
When asked about the gamesmanship behind keeping Mateer’s status in the dark, Brown pushed back on the idea OU was “lying” about where things stand. He said the Sooners are simply trying to avoid tipping their hand ahead of the marquee matchup.
“‘Lying’ is a strong word. … We used to call it, ‘situation ethics,’” Brown said on The Stampede podcast with Vince Young and Bob Ballou. “If it fit the situation, it was ethical, if you’re a coach during the week.
“It is definitely ethical. The more gray he can leave it, the more question marks you have as the opposing team.”
Mack Brown: ‘How different will the 2 schemes be?’
If Mateer is not able to suit up Saturday at the Cotton Bowl, Michael Hawkins would be in line to start. He started last year’s Red River Rivalry game, but struggled as Oklahoma scored just three points.
Mack Brown pointed that out, as well, and said the offense is sure to look different if Mateer – who was the Heisman Trophy favorite when he went down – is able to play. But regardless of who’s under center, he said Texas needs to make sure to keep Oklahoma quiet out of the gate and avoid allowing a similar start that DJ Lagway had for Florida last game.
“You say, you played Hawkins last year, he struggled. You sacked him six times,” Brown said. “So you’re thinking, if you play him, he’s still not where Mateer’s going to be. Mateer, he’s up for the Heisman. How different will the two schemes be? That’s what you’ve got to look at, as a staff. How different will the confidence be?
“And then, regardless of who’s out there, if it is Mateer and he’s got the bad hands, you’ve got to get after him. You don’t go after a hand, you’d on’t try to hurt a kid. But you go after him, man, and that’s what you do. You don’t let them get started like DJ got started Saturday. And Oklahoma’s really struggled running the ball. So this’ll be two teams that, again, the team that figures out a way to have the short passing game and runs the ball the best is probably going to win the game.”