Oklahoma Opens 2026 with a 51-0 Shutout of UTEP
Three fumbles lost between the two teams, and two of them were UTEP's. In a 51-0 game that is the footnote, but it tells you which sideline was giving the ball away. Oklahoma (1-0) took the opener from UTEP (0-1) without ever being threatened, and the scoreboard never had a number other than zero next to the Miners' name.
It was 14-0 with 7:27 still left in the first quarter. Lloyd Avant punched in a one-yard run, and then Isaiah Sategna III took a punt 88 yards to the house, which is the kind of play that makes a game feel decided in the opening minutes. A 40-yard touchdown from John Mateer to Rocky Beers made it 21-0 with 1:01 left in the first. Two Tate Sandell field goals (33 and 32 yards) padded it to 27-0 by halftime.
The third quarter was Mateer's. He hit Sategna from 34 yards and Trell Harris from 48 inside of four minutes, and it was 41-0. Liam Evans added a 34-yard field goal, and Whitt Newbauer finished things with a three-yard run in the fourth for the 51-0 final. Mateer needed only 11 completions on 17 attempts to throw for 225 yards and three scores.
The stat sheet is just as lopsided. Oklahoma outgained UTEP 401 yards to 198, and the Sooners sacked UTEP's quarterbacks four times against none allowed. UTEP threw for 86 yards on the day. Raymond Moore III and Tavorus Jones each lost a fumble, which is two of the three giveaways mentioned up top.
For fantasy, the lesson is that the touchdowns were spread around. Mateer led everyone with 27.7 Promethium points, but Sategna, Harris and Beers all scored on receptions, and the only two rushing scores went to Avant and Newbauer, one apiece. One week in, Oklahoma looks like a team with a lot of mouths to feed.