No. 14 Oklahoma will face off against South Carolina on the road in an important SEC contest on Saturday. The Sooners will look to keep pace in the SEC standings after suffering their first loss of the 2025 season.
Oklahoma fell at the hands of No. 21 Texas by a 23-6 decision last Saturday. The Sooners mustered just 258 yards of total offense against the Longhorns as star quarterback John Mateer struggled in his return following hand surgery. Oklahoma finishes the season by facing five consecutive ranked opponents, which makes coming away with a win in this spot absolutely essential.
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Meanwhile, South Carolina has had an up-and-down start to the 2025 campaign. The Gamecocks have dropped three of their last four contests, including losing 20-10 to No. 11 LSU a week ago. Gamecocks star quarterback LaNorris Sellers has struggled as of late with just two touchdown passes over the past four games.
Where to watch Oklahoma vs. South Carolina
Date: Saturday, October 18 | Time: 12:45 p.m. ET
Location: Williams-Brice Stadium — Columbia, South Carolina
TV: SEC Network | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina: Need to know
Mateer looking to get back on track: The Oklahoma star has been one of the more electrifying signal-callers in the country this season. However, Mateer clearly wasn’t himself against Texas as he completed just 20 of-38 passes and tossed three interceptions in Oklahoma’s first loss. He was also sacked on five occasions, which was a season high. It was Mateer’s first game in several weeks, so it’ll likely take time to get back to form. South Carolina is a tad more vulnerable against the ground attack, so it won’t be surprising if the Sooners have some designed running plays for their star quarterback this time around.
Sooners win is essential with tough schedule looming: The schedule makers weren’t exactly kind to Oklahoma this season. After this week, Oklahoma will face No. No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 6 Alabama, No. 16 Missouri, and No. 10 LSU to finish out the regular season. That makes it absolutely essential that the Sooners put one in the win column this week. Obviously, Oklahoma stands a great chance to win some of those daunting matchups, but a 5-0 mark across that stretch probably isn’t happening. A win against an underachieving South Carolina team to vault Oklahoma to a 6-1 start is paramount.
South Carolina defense has to continue to show up: If the Gamecocks want to knock off the Sooners, it’s going to start on the defensive side of the football. The Gamecocks defense is one of the more underrated units in the SEC as they’re allowing just 19.0 points per contest. South Carolina is also coming off a performance in which they held LSU to just 20 points in Baton Rouge. The Gamecocks rank in the middle of the pack among SEC teams in sacks (14), but are going to need to dial up the pressure against Mateer in this matchup. If they can make life difficult for the star quarterback, it’ll go a long way towards deciding the outcome.
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina prediction, pick
This has all the makings of a low-scoring affair in Columbia. This is a battle of two of the top defenses in the entire country with Oklahoma boasting the nation’s top unit that allows just 211.2 yards per game. Mateer is still working his way back from hand surgery, while Sellers hasn’t been himself this season. I still think the Gamecocks keep this one fairly close, but the under is the safe play. Pick: Under 42.5
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