By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
NORMAN, Okla. – When you listen to Frank Wilson, you’re hearing two coaches in one.
First, there’s the interim coach Frank. He’s 2-1 with a pair of wins by a combined margin of four points, trying desperately to keep LSU’s sinking 2025 football season from plummeting further after the firing of head coach Brian Kelly.
As the Tigers (7-4, 3-4 SEC) end the regular season at No. 8 Oklahoma (9-2, 5-2 SEC) here on Saturday, he’s doing his best to ignore his team’s extensive injury list as well as the fact the Sooners are trying to clinch a College Football Playoff in a game expected to be played in the worst weather LSU has seen this year.
There may be temperatures in the 40s, winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour with higher gusts possible, and a 70 percent chance of rain.
“Whatever the weather may be, it’ll be LSU weather,” Wilson said. “We’re gonna make the most of it. We’re gonna show up, we’re gonna prepare, and we’re gonna play. We’re gonna play hard.”
Then, there’s running backs coach Frank, the one who looks for the tiniest bit of weekly improvement despite the scoreboard.
Like true freshman running back Harlem Berry’s odyssey in the last two games.
First, he bounced outside for a victory-clinching 13-yard first down vs. Arkansas on Nov. 15, purposely sliding to the ground inbound with 1:45 left to keep the game clock running.
And then last week, Berry fumbled trying to pick up another first down to salt away a win vs. Western Kentucky, which resulted in a 71-yard scoop and score TD return by WKU’s Dylan Flowers with 1:05 remaining.
“It’s a learning experience,” Wilson said. “That’s the beautiful thing about this, right? Ugly as it may be, they’re our babies, they’re my babies. So, I accept them. I love them for who they are, the good, the bad, the indifferent.
“All the things that happened throughout the game are teachable moments. If you don’t learn from them, it’s in vain. But if you’re making these mistakes and you’re growing and you’re learning from them, then there’s merit in it.”
Which, as Wilson said, is why Oklahoma is a prime example of a team that looked in the mirror after last season’s 6-7 finish.
“They were a different team a year ago,” Wilson said. “They learned from their mistakes, and they became a better team.
“That’s the grand scheme of this thing, learning from your mistakes, growing from it, and not all wallowing in `woe is me, we shoulda, we coulda.’
“It happened. Fix it, and let’s move on so that we can be better because of it or from it.”
Though Oklahoma’s offense isn’t spectacular – it ranks 12th in the SEC in scoring (27.3 ppg compared to LSU ranked 15th at 22.6) and 14th in total yards (350.1 ypg compared to the Tigers ranked 15th at 344.9) – it’s gotten enough big plays from starting quarterback John Mateer.
Mateer, a Washington State transfer, has thrown for 2,260 yards, 10 TDs, 7 interceptions, and rushed for 389 yards and 7 TDs.
He broke a bone in his right hand (his throwing hand) on Sept. 20. He underwent surgery and returned 17 days later against Texas.
Though he’s only averaging 174 passing yards since returning from injury after averaging 304 passing yards pre-injury, Mateer has made timely plays.
In last week’s 17-6 win over Missouri, he jump-started OU’s slumbering offense with an 87-yard TD pass to Isaiah Sategna that ignited the Sooners’ 13-point second quarter.
“The first quarter didn’t go well,” Mateer said. “But we didn’t get down, we still believed. We believe in each other, and we know when we get an opportunity, we’ve got enough players that we can break a game open, and that’s what happened.’
LSU linebacker Whit Weeks said Mateer is the Tigers’ defense’s biggest challenge.
“A lot of quarterbacks in college look at their first read, and then take off and scramble,” Weeks said. “He’s a guy who will look at his first read, and if it’s not there, he’s looking at his second read. And he’s ripping it.”
Weeks revealed on Tuesday that he broke his ankle in week five vs. Ole Miss (LSU repeatedly said he had a bone bruise on his ankle). He will try to increase his minutes vs. the Sooners after returning last Saturday from missing four games or a few series vs. WKU.
“It cracked right down the middle,” Weeks said of his ankle. “Once it’s healed, it’s healed, but it’s going to take just a couple more weeks. I’m trying to turn that corner, but just struggling.
The Sooners have had the luxury of winning despite their mediocre offense because they have one of the best defenses in the nation. The defense is coordinated by head coach Brent Venables.
OU is ranked No. 6 in scoring defense (14 ppg), No. 11 in total defense (280.5 ypg), 3rd in rushing defense (81.1 ypg) and first in tackles for loss (111) and sacks (41).
Sooners’ defensive ends Taylor Wein and Mason Thomas have a combined 23½ TFL and 12 ½ sacks.
For an LSU offense on track to finish as one of the lowest scoring in school history (22.6 ppg, tied for 104th nationally, just avoiding a shutout would be a minor victory.
“We just got to play better as offense so that we can play complementary football.” said LSU quarterback Michael Van Buren, who’s set to get his third start in place of injured starter Garrett Nussmeier. “I’ve got to play better as a quarterback. We always shouldn’t have to depend on our defense.”
Wilson acknowledged his team’s biggest distraction on Saturday is the pending decision by Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin to accept the LSU offer.
“They live in a social media world where it comes toward them, but that’s the uncontrollable,” Wilson said. “We can’t control those things, and so I encourage them to control what you can control, and what we can control, and what this game will become, even not so much about Oklahoma, but about us.”
GO FIGURE
12-2: LSU’s record in regular-season finales in the last 14 seasons. The only losses were to Texas A&M in 2018 (74-72 7 OT) and in 2022 (38-23).
7 for 7: OU’s redshirt junior placekicker Tate Sandell’s perfect percentage on field goal tries of 50-plus yards this season. The FBS single-season record for 50-plus-yard makes is eight (Tennessee’s Fuad Reveiz in 1982).
8: TD passes allowed by LSU this season, second in the SEC behind Alabama (7).
47: Percent of Oklahoma opponent plays this season (341 of 728) have yielded one or fewer yards. Forty-one percent have gone for zero or negative yards.
47-3: OU’s record in November games going back to the start of the 1998 season. The .960 winning percentage is the best nationally during the stretch (Oregon is second at .863; 46-7 record).
257: Rushing yards for LSU true freshman running back Harlem Berry since entering the starting lineup four games ago.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com