Isaiah Sategna III Opens Up on John Mateer, Oklahoma's Struggles Ahead of Red River Rivalry

The Red River Rivalry is always one of the biggest — if not the biggest — games on the schedule for longtime adversaries Texas and Oklahoma. That is especially true for the Sooners this season.

Oklahoma is in a rut heading into Saturday game against the top-ranked Longhorns. The Sooners are teetering on the verge of collapse at 2-2 with one of the worst offenses in the SEC. And even when Oklahoma has been rolling as of late, like last season when it made the College Football Playoff, it has struggled against Texas.

The Sooners are 1-3 against the Longhorns in their last four meetings, and they have been outscored them 136-43 during that stretch.

Oklahoma wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III — a native of Austin, Texas — made his Red River Rivalry debut a season ago. Ahead of Saturday’s game against the pride of his hometown, Sategna spoke with Athlon Sports about the Sooners’ struggles, the rivalry and the play of his quarterback John Mateer. Sategna also shared information about his partnership with Casey’s, which provides fans with pizza promotions to gear up for game days.

(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.)

Kyle Wood: I understand you’re partnering with Casey’s to help power fans through tailgate season. Can you tell me a little bit about that partnership and what you’re doing?

Isaiah Sategna III: You know, Casey’s, they’re near and dear to my heart. They helped me out a lot in the past. I’ve had camps in Arkansas, so they’ve helped me there, and, you know, they’ve been a big sponsor over there, so just getting the opportunity to work with them again has been pretty fun.

KW: And when fans are tailgating, they’ve got their traditions. What are your pregame habits kind of entail? Like, what does that look like for you on a game day?

IS: Shoot, if I wasn’t playing ball, I would be at Casey’s getting the 40% off pizza, but since it’s game day really just stretching is a big part of my routine.

KW: That’s important, gotta stretch, especially a position like yours where speed is important.

IS: Gotta keep my legs warm.

KW: Definitely. And switching over to OU football, 2-2 to start the season, I’m sure maybe not the record you and your teammates envisioned. What’s the vibe around the team right now?

IS: Like you said, 2-2 is not where we wanted to be, but that’s part of — it’s part of life, it’s part of football, and shoot, we’re gonna keep punching, we’re gonna keep fighting. And you know, I like the team morale right now, because we know that we got a lot to work on, but it’s really just the details, and I feel like it’s the self-inflicted wounds that’s stopping us. So we all know that, and we’re in a good place right now, you know? We gotta bye week, and then shoot Texas, so that’s what we got our sights on right now, just taking it one week at a time right now.

KW: That’s actually what I was going to ask you about next, the Texas game, Red River Rivalry. I imagine this is a well-timed bye week for you and the team to get right, fix some of those, like you said, mental mistakes. How can you and the team use this time off heading into a big game — and a pivotal game for the season — to figure things out and maybe go on a run?

IS: You know, like I said, just clean up the details, that’s the biggest thing I think that’s holding us back right now. Just get our bodies right in this bye week. We only get one a year, so just use it the right way, and just use it — don’t take this week off. Really just execute and just do the little things right this week.

KW: You mentioned the little things. Is there anything that you can elaborate on?

IS: I feel like this offense is holding us back right now as a team. We’re not putting up the amount of points that we need to, and we’re not putting the defense in a good position. So [we] just gotta look at ourselves in the mirror, and just figure out what we can do better and how we can add to the team and just what we can fix.

KW: I’m interested to hear the experience of playing in a marquee rivalry game like Oklahoma-Texas, the Red River Rivalry, a famous game. And what does Oklahoma have to do to turn the tide of a rivalry that has favored Texas for the most part in the last couple of years? How can you change that this year?

IS: This rivalry is very special to me because obviously Texas is our biggest rival, but I actually grew up in Austin, so this rivalry hits a little different for me. So I’m gonna have a lot of family there and I’ve always been excited for this game. Last year, we didn’t get to do exactly what we wanted to, but this year, sure, we got a great opportunity to go out there and just show what we can do. And I think it’s just all about ourselves. It’s all about Oklahoma.

KW: What would you say what went wrong offensively against Georgia and Michigan? And what were the things that went right against UTEP, and maybe to a lesser extent, New Mexico that you can build on and repeat in SEC play?

IS: I think finding our identity is the biggest thing. We’ve kind of had a different game plan going into each week, but I feel like we’re really starting to find our identity and what we’re best at. I feel like we were moving the ball very good against Georgia, we just gotta execute in the clutch situations. And Georgia, they’re a really good team, they were really dialed in and detailed and stuff. They’re a very disciplined team, so you can’t hurt yourself and have a lot of self-inflicted wounds and expect to win that game, honestly. So, I feel like that’s the biggest thing. Our offense is just holding us back, so we got to be better going forward.

KW: Speaking of being better going forward, the team was able to do that last season. In November, your backs are against the wall and you guys win four straight games to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. Is there anything that you can take away or channel from that run last season?

IS: Sure, I mean, we got one of the best defenses in the country. We did last year, and we do again this year, so I think it’s just our offense putting the defense in a good position. We can’t leave the defense out there The whole game, and we can’t have costly turnovers that puts the defense in bad positions.

KW: Is there a greater sense of urgency just around the team already having those two losses? Just kind of a conversation as far as College Football Playoff, things of that nature, like, “This is it, we’ve got tough games ahead, but the margin of error for error is kind of gone now already.”

IS: I mean, sure, we know that we got two losses right now. We got a chip on our shoulder back against the wall, and the whole world is against us. But sure, we got each other, so that’s all we need.

KW: John Mateer has drawn some criticism recently, the turnovers against Georgia, and his comments about the touchdown against New Mexico. What’s your confidence level in him going forward as Oklahoma’s quarterback, as your quarterback?

IS: He’s one of the reasons why I came here, and he’s a dog, so he just gotta unlock that trait again. Just be himself.

KW: I’ll be watching against Texas and the rest of the season. Isaiah, I really appreciate the time.

IS:
Yes, sir. I appreciate you.