Oklahoma’s John Mateer led the Sooners to a blowout win over UTEP, 51-0, on Friday night at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. It was the season opener for both teams. Oklahoma was ranked 10th in the country coming into the game.

It was the first time these two teams have met since 2002, and the Sooners extended their undefeated all-time record against UTEP to 6-0, with five of those wins in Norman.

The Sooners quarterback completed 11-of-17 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Mateer connected with touchdown passes of 40 yards to Rocky Beers, 34 yards to Isaiah Sategna III and 48 yards to Trell Harris. He was replaced late in the third quarter by second-string quarterback Whitt Newbauer.

“He played like you want your quarterback to play,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said. “Just do what we need the quarterback to do. You know, manage things, take what’s there, make good decisions, protect the football, get us out of negative plays. He did a lot of really good things.”

After the Sooners scored on their opening drive of the game, the OU defense forced UTEP to punt on the Miners’ first possession. Sategna returned the punt 88 yards into the end zone. It was the first punt return for a touchdown by the Sooners since the 2023 season opener. Sategna finished the game with 215 all-purpose yards.

The Miners were able to get across midfield on three out of five drives in the first half and held Oklahoma’s defensive line to only one sack. The UTEP kicker missed two field goals in the first half; from 33 and 50 yards.

OU led 27-0 at halftime.

The Sooners dominated the entire game. The Sooners scored on their first eight possessions and totaled 401 yards on offense while limiting UTEP to 198 yards.

Lloyd Avant led the OU running game with 79 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Oklahoma sacked the UTEP quarterbacks four times in the game.

UTEP head coach Scotty Waldon said seeing the Sooners in person was different than watching the team on video.

“I give a ton of credit to OU; that’s a really good football team,” Walden stated. “Watching them on tape and then seeing them live in person, I think this is a better version of what they were last year. I think they’re going to be a force. Kudos to coach Venables, a ton of respect for that football team.”

Waldon went on to say he thought his team played well, but they have a lot of work to do.

“I thought at times we moved the ball well, our kids fought and competed, but it will be a big week to clean it up,” Waldon said.

Oklahoma will play at No. 16 Michigan on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. CDT on FOX.