Mateer will play, OU should beat Texas, but can Sooners keep building on what's fueled their rise

The pageantry of it all.

THE HOME OFFICE — He’s playing.

John Mateer will play quarterback for Oklahoma on Saturday and we know it’s true not only because it’s been hinted at all week, but because the Sooners have already told us.

On Thursday, OU listed Mateer “probable” to face Texas inside the Cotton Bowl and the last time somebody got upgraded to “probable” and didn’t play might be never. There was also the contrarian indicator of just how hard Brent Venables sold Mateer as unlikely to play earlier in the week, emphasizing he’d yet to participate in any “good-on-good work.”

Presuming honesty’s required — it’s not — Venables likely would have kept Mateer out of such “work” if only to sow doubt in his return.

So, he’ll play.

We don’t know if there’s a pain-threshold to be faced, or if he has only so many throws in his surgically repaired thumb so quickly, or if his run-game availability will be limited to protect his thumb.

Good chance, Mateer will do everything he must.

Given he played three-quarters-plus against Auburn on adrenaline after suffering the injury in the first place, about 90,000 at the Cotton Bowl, half in burnt orange and the other half in crimson and cream meeting at the 50, surrounded by the Texas State Fair, ought to keep him pain free again.

So that’s one.

Here would be two:

College football games are not won on narrative alone, though it would be fabulous if they were.

Also, narrative’s not nothing and OU has it going its way.

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