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By Aman Sharma
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Jason Witten had one week to steady an Oklahoma offense that had just cost a coordinator his job.
Promoted from tight ends coach after Ben Arbuckle was fired, Witten guided the Oklahoma Sooners to a 23-7 road win over No. 24 Florida in his first game running the offense. SoonerScoop caught his reaction afterward.
“Tonight was pretty special. In all the years I’ve been around football, maybe the greatest moment I’ve had,” Witten said.
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That’s saying something for a player many rank among the NFL’s all-time great tight ends. Before Oklahoma hired him in January, Witten had never worked on a college staff.
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The shakeup came after South Carolina left Oklahoma’s home stadium with a 42-25 win, dropping the Sooners to 4-4. Head coach Brent Venables made the call, explaining that “we need a change.”
Witten said he opened his first meeting with the offense by conceding, “we haven’t coached very well.” Then he turned to his assistants.
“Hey, listen if you don’t want to be here I understand that. Go see Coach Venables. But here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to figure it out.”
His message seemed to land. Three of Oklahoma’s opening four possessions ended in points, including John Mateer’s 3-yard touchdown toss to Hayden Hansen in the second quarter.
Florida answered with a 15-yard scoring run by Jadan Baugh but never led. Tate Sandell’s 48-yard field goal pushed the margin back to six at halftime.
Mateer delivered the dagger with the fourth quarter winding down, finding Isaiah Sategna from 6 yards out. That score made it 20-7 and capped a 20-play, 89-yard drive that ate 12:45.
Oklahoma sits at 5-4 overall and 3-3 in SEC play, with No. 10 Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Missouri still on the schedule. One win in that stretch makes the Sooners bowl-eligible for a 27th year in a row.
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