Steve Curtis - Oklahoma’s Offense Must Reestablish Its Identity vs. New Mexico

Steve Curtis | September 18th, 2026

Oklahoma’s offense left Ann Arbor looking nothing like the unit it spent the offseason trying to build.

The Sooners abandoned their running backs, moved away from heavier personnel packages and placed nearly the entire burden of creating offense on John Mateer.

That approach produced 10 points, two turnovers and Oklahoma’s first loss of the season.

Saturday’s matchup against New Mexico gives the Sooners an opportunity to correct it.

The Lobos are 2-0 after allowing Central Michigan and Mercyhurst to score a combined 14 points. Despite the early success, those victories don’t prove New Mexico can compete with Oklahoma for four quarters.

But the Lobos have already shown how they can make the game uncomfortable.

New Mexico’s pass rush comes almost entirely from the same two positions where Oklahoma has struggled most in protection: off the edges.

Brett Karhu has produced eight pressures and three sacks on 31 pass rushes. Darren Agu has added five pressures and another sack from the opposite side.

Together, New Mexico’s two defensive ends have generated 13 pressures on 64 pass rushes.

That places the first responsibility on Oklahoma’s offensive tackles.

E’Marion Harris has allowed six pressures and two sacks through two games. Ryan Fodje has surrendered five pressures and another sack.

Between them, Harris and Fodje have been responsible for 11 of the 18 pressures and all three sacks Oklahoma has allowed this season.

Each has also drawn an accepted penalty.

That is the one matchup New Mexico can reasonably expect to win.

The Lobos are not as talented as Oklahoma across the entire defense. They do not need to be if Karhu and Agu can consistently collapse the pocket and force Mateer to operate under pressure.

A quarterback under pressure is one of the easiest ways for the better team to lose to the worse one.

With Harris and Fodje remaining the starting tackles, Oklahoma’s two lowest-graded offensive linemen will be matched against the two players responsible for most of New Mexico’s pass rush.

The interior should give Oklahoma stability.

Jake Maikkula has not allowed a pressure through his 43 pass-blocking snaps, while Oklahoma’s interior linemen have surrendered only four pressures across 198 combined snaps.

New Mexico has not generated the same threat inside. Its three interior defensive linemen have combined for six pressures on 46 pass rushes.

That gives Oklahoma a clear picture of where the danger will come from.

Now Ben Arbuckle must help his tackles handle it.

Hayden Hansen and Rocky Beers can provide additional support along the line of scrimmage, whether by staying in protection, chipping New Mexico’s defensive ends or forcing them to account for the run.

Oklahoma used those heavier looks throughout its season-opening victory against UTEP.

Against Michigan, they largely disappeared.

That can’t happen again.

The best way to prevent Karhu and Agu from taking over the game is to keep them from knowing when they can attack Mateer.

That requires a legitimate commitment to the running backs.

Lloyd Avant, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock combined for only 13 carries and 44 yards against Michigan. Mateer matched their workload by himself while attempting 33 passes.

The imbalance allowed Michigan’s defensive front to rush without hesitation.

New Mexico’s defensive ends have been much more effective attacking quarterbacks than stopping the run.

Karhu has been the most productive pass rusher on the defense, but has not shown the same consistency setting the edge. Behind him, linebackers Nick Wheeler, Jaxton Eck and Mercury Swaim have been New Mexico’s most reliable run defenders.

That structure gives Oklahoma an opportunity to use its tight ends the way it intended.

Hansen has been the better run blocker through two games, particularly on zone concepts. If he and Beers can reach New Mexico’s linebackers, the Lobos will be left with fewer defenders capable of preventing modest gains from becoming explosive ones.

Beers also gives Oklahoma another reason New Mexico cannot sell out against the run.

He leads the Sooners in targets, receptions and receiving yards, catching eight passes for 137 yards and a touchdown through two games.

That is the role Oklahoma expected him to occupy entering the season.

It is also one of the most encouraging developments surrounding the offense.

Beers’ production makes heavier personnel packages more difficult to diagnose. Oklahoma can run behind him, leave him in protection or release him into the secondary without changing who is on the field.

The Sooners should make New Mexico defend all three possibilities.

The running backs must take advantage when their opportunities arrive.

Avant has gained 114 yards on 24 carries while forcing eight missed tackles. Oklahoma’s entire backfield forced only 23 throughout the 2025 season.

However, the direction of those carries will matter.

Oklahoma has averaged 5.3 yards per attempt running left, 3.8 running right and only 3.2 up the middle.

The Sooners cannot spend the entire night avoiding the right side of the formation.

New Mexico presents an opportunity for Oklahoma to establish confidence running behind the right side before SEC play begins. If the Sooners can consistently create four or five yards in that direction, the Lobos’ defensive ends will have to respect the handoff instead of racing toward Mateer on every snap.

That balance should also create the cleaner passing opportunities Mateer needs.

Through two games, Mateer has completed 28 of 50 passes for a 56% completion rate. His adjusted completion rate, which removes drops, throwaways and passes delivered while being hit, sits at 59.6%.

Oklahoma’s receivers have not been charged with a drop.

The inaccuracy belongs to Mateer.

Against Michigan, his feet became unsettled, his decisions slowed and several manageable completions were left on the field.

New Mexico will give him opportunities underneath.

The Lobos have generally kept the football in front of them, allowing only 20 completions for 167 yards. But nearly three-quarters of those yards have come after the catch.

Cornerback Drew Speech has allowed five receptions on nine targets, but those catches have produced just 14 yards.

New Mexico is willing to concede the short completion if it can immediately finish the tackle.

Mateer must be willing to take it.

Oklahoma does not need every possession to produce a downfield shot. Completing the available throw, staying ahead of the chains and forcing New Mexico to tackle in space can gradually pull apart a defense built around preventing explosives.

The larger plays should follow.

Isaiah Sategna has caught six of 13 targets for 85 yards, leaving room for Oklahoma’s most dangerous receiver to become more involved.

Trell Harris’ absence will place more responsibility on Elijah Thomas and Parker Livingstone.

Thomas has already shown he can win along the sideline, while Livingstone gives Mateer another downfield target. New Mexico’s cornerbacks stay close enough to challenge receivers at the catch point, giving both an opportunity to replace some of the size and physicality Oklahoma loses without Harris.

The Lobos’ coverage numbers look imposing until one play breaks the structure.

A 75-yard touchdown accounts for nearly half of the receiving yardage New Mexico has allowed.

That tells the story of the defense.

The Lobos will keep the ball in front of them, rally to short throws and wait for the pass rush to force a mistake. But if one tackle is missed or one coverage assignment breaks down, there is room for Oklahoma’s playmakers to turn an ordinary completion into a touchdown.

The Sooners do not need to chase that play.

They need to build toward it.

Run the football. Help the tackles. Give Mateer simple completions and allow Sategna, Thomas and Beers to create after the catch.

New Mexico’s path to making Saturday competitive begins with Karhu and Agu controlling Oklahoma’s offensive tackles.

If the Sooners prevent that, the Lobos do not have another matchup capable of dictating the game.

Saturday is not simply about Oklahoma producing a comfortable victory.

It is about whether the offense can return to the identity it abandoned in Ann Arbor.

The running backs must receive opportunities. The tight ends must become part of the structure again. Mateer must play efficiently without feeling responsible for creating everything himself.

Oklahoma spent the offseason assembling those pieces.

Now Arbuckle must use them.