Oklahoma keeps John Mateer at quarterback after firing its offensive coordinator

Oklahoma changed the man calling its offense this week, but it is not expected to change the quarterback running it. The Sooners fired offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle on Monday. According to Sooners Wire, John Mateer is still in line to start Saturday at No. 25 Florida.

CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz, who broke the news of Arbuckle's firing, reported late Monday that Oklahoma plans to stay with Mateer this week. He added that Mateer took his usual share of first-team snaps in Monday's practice. Brent Venables would not talk about the depth chart on his coaches show that night, but he made his support clear. "I think our guys believe in John (Mateer)," Venables said, as relayed by Sooners Wire, adding that some of the staff's recent decisions reflect that belief.

The case for a quarterback change came out of Saturday's 42-25 home loss to South Carolina. Mateer threw for 44 yards through three quarters of that game. For the season he has 1,835 passing yards, sixth in the SEC, with 13 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Moving on from Arbuckle puts the blame for the offense on the scheme and the play-calling for now, not on the passer. It also gives Mateer a new voice in his ear to work with for the second half of the season.

What it means for Florida

The offense is the reason Oklahoma is 4-4 and 2-3 in SEC play. Outside a 51-0 opening win over UTEP, the Sooners have not topped 27 points. Across the other seven games they have scored 125 points, under 18 a game. They managed 10 at Michigan, 14 against New Mexico and 13 in both the Georgia and Kentucky losses. The defense has kept them in most of those games. It held Mississippi State to 15 and beat No. 1 Texas 27-24, but South Carolina got to 42 when the offense stalled. Oklahoma has also lost both of its last two home games. Now it goes on the road to face a ranked team with a play-caller who has had one week to put his mark on the offense.

The board on this site reflects that. Florida is favored by 6.5 points at Novig, priced at -104, with Oklahoma +6.5 at -108. The best Florida spread anywhere is BetRivers at -5.5 for -122, which pays less to get the extra point. On the moneyline, Novig has Florida at -217 and Oklahoma at +213. The total is 45.5 at Novig, -108 on the over and -106 on the under. Fanatics has the best under price at 46 for -110. Across the 12 venues tracked, sportsbook hold runs from about 3.7% to 7.0% depending on the market. The full board is on the Oklahoma at Florida odds page.

The game kicks off Saturday on SEC Network. If Oklahoma is going to beat that number, Mateer and the new play-calling arrangement will need a better first three quarters than they had against South Carolina.