Oklahoma football comes off their bye week without their starting quarterback as John Mateer had surgery last week. But that doesn't mean we're not excited to see what Michael Hawkins Jr., can do in his absence. Let's face it, Kent State is not the story this week. It's Texas. At least for the fans. We're also looking forward to Javonnie Gibson's first game as a Sooner after working to make it all the way back from a broken leg suffered last spring. Can OU run the ball against what will probably be their worst opponent of the season? And Josh is here to talk some recruiting as the Sooners appear to be on the verge of getting another commitment soon. And the gang goes around college football where we see how everyone views Oklahoma nationally right now and what teams might deserve a little skepticism. Could OU have some skeptics in the studio? Find out more on this week's edition of the Unofficial 40.

THE FULL RUNDOWN FOLLOWS BELOW:

17:00 - Is Oklahoma really the 5th best team in the country? 

24:07 - Michael Hawkins takes over at QB1 

43:00 - Recruiting. 2027 recruiting is off to a great start in 2027

1:02:00 - CFB Roundtable

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John Mateer is out for at least the next few weeks and the guys are here to tell you how it all went down in the offices yesterday as we worked to track down the news and to share the context of what we have heard and what happens moving forward. It's the bye week. How will the Sooners use it to get better with Hawkins at QB? And the running game still needs a lot of work. Is Kent State the beginning or the end of Jaydn Ott as a productive member of the running back room? The SEC also released future schedules yesterday and no one saw Ole Miss landing as a permanent rival for the Sooners. We break down our thoughts on the schedule. We talk about some of the recruiting storylines coming off another good weekend of visitors and how much of a candidate is Ben Arbuckle going to be for head coaching jobs next season? All that and more on this week's episode of the Unofficial 40.

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0:00 - Welcome back to the Unofficial 40! John Mateer had surgery today. 

10:00 - What’s a realistic timetable for Mateer’s return? Could he really be back by Texas? 

18:00 - Regardless of QB, OU has to makes some strides in the run game: RB + OL combined need to play better

29:00 - CB Eli Bowen, WR Javonnie Gibson expected to return 

39:00 - Is Ben Arbuckle a serious head coach candidate when the carousel begins? 

49:00 - SEC Future Schedules

1:03:00 - Recruiting following Auburn weekend

1:30:00 - CFB Roundtable 

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It's another huge game week in Norman as No. 24 Auburn visits Norman along with former OU QB Jackson Arnold. We talk all things Arnold to Mateer. We're finding out a lot by the minute on the health of the offensive line. What options do the Sooners have if some of their starters aren't able to play? It's also the first week we'll have availability reports with OU's first SEC matchup. How bad is it going to look? Of course Josh is here to give us the latest on recruiting. He might even see a commitment to the Sooners happening soon. Josh also got out to see Bowe Bentley last weekend. How did he look? We're excited for another week of college football and big games. We're excited to see what happens to Oklahoma State, Texas and many others. Just talkin' ball for another week here at The Unofficial 40.

THE FULL RUNDOWN FOLLOWS BELOW

0:00 - Welcome back to the Unofficial 40! Jackson Arnold set to make his return to Norman on Saturday 

21:00 - What’s up with the health of OU’s offensive line 

26:00 - In light of the Troy Everett news, emergency back-up options at center?

39:00 - Don’t be spooked by the first availability report on Wednesday 

50:00 - What’s more likely: OU forcing a Jackson Arnold turnover or Jackson Arnold not turning the ball over? 

57:00 - Recruiting 

1:06:00 - Josh stopped down with 2026 QB commit Bowe Bentley 

1:15:00 - CFB Roundtable

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The gang is back together after the biggest Oklahoma football win in a very long time. Eddie and George are getting ready to take off to Philadelphia to cover the Sooners taking on Temple. How does this team respond after they have become national college football darlings? Will there be any let up? And Josh weighs in on OU's newest commitment along with the news that is still trickling out from last weekend's massive recruiting visits. Also, what does Josh see happening with the upcoming commitment of 2027 QB Peyton Houston? We're also wondering if the Sooners are careful with banged up players this week against Temple. Could a Michael Fasusi or Tory Blaylock sit this one out to be healthier against Auburn?

0:00 - Welcome back to the Unofficial 40! Eddie & George headed to the city of Brotherly Love 

18:00 - Storylines going into Philly 

24:40 - Javonnie Gibson getting close to return, per Brent Venables on 

30:00 - Deion Burks looks different; this is good news

40:00 - Sooners big recruiting weekend wrap-up; 2027 WR Demare Dezeurn

43:00 - 2027 QB Peyton Houston announcement coming Sept. 15

47:00 - Did OU make up ground on anybody this weekend? Big impressions? 

1:00:00 - CFB Round Table

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This is the one we've all been waiting for. Michigan is headed to town and Brent Venables gets another chance to put Oklahoma back on the national map. We're breaking it all down. Who is starting on the offensive line. What are we hearing on Jaydn Ott's health and "headspace". Why didn't Elijah Thomas play? Is it even that big of a deal that he didn't right now? Josh gives the latest on the recruiting trail after OU lands their first 2026 in-state commitment last evening. And we preview the big recruits coming in for the Michigan game this weekend. It's go time for Michigan. It's football time in Oklahoma!

THE FULL RUNDOWN FOLLOWS BELOW:

0:00 - Welcome back to the Unofficial 40! Michigan Week. Big week. Massive week. Gargantuan week. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe headed to Normandy 

14:00 - Massive recruiting weekend ahead; kicked off by commitment of 2026 WR Xavier Okufulueze 

22:30 - Door back open for 2026 OT Daniel McMorris 

24:00 - Names to know this weekend on Michigan Visitor List 

38:00 - OU-Michigan Talk 

50:40 - Who starts on the offensive line this weekend? 

1:02:00 - WR rotations; Weird Elijah Thomas didn’t play? 

1:14:00 - Special teams could play a factor

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It was a big day at the University of Oklahoma as the university unveiled their new tailgating initiative at the North Oval. SoonerScoop was invited to see it for ourselves and to record a podcast for the fans in attendance. OU President Joe Harroz dropped by and discussed the new tailgating area and we got to chat about the search for a new athletic director, Brent Venables giving up $1 million for revenue sharing/NIL, the west side stadium expansion and what is the deal with this Randall Stephenson guy? We also made Gabe Ikard sit down and talk about his impressions of the new tailgating area and we talked a little bit of football as well. The Oklahoma Breakdown co-host also talked with Carey about maybe doing a crossover episode in the North Oval for the Michigan game. Anyone interested? George and Carey are back together! We edited this down and left out a lot of the Illinois State commentary but you will get our thoughts on Jackson Arnold's first game at Auburn last night.

THE FULL RUNDOWN FOLLOWS BELOW:

0:00 - Welcome to the brand new North Oval tailgating scene. Our thoughts.

11:33 - Talking Jackson Arnold's debut with Auburn

21:32 - OU President Joe Harroz joins us on the Unofficial 40

40:11 - The Oklahoma Breakdown's Gabe Ikard

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It's game week and all the media duties are over. We've talked to Brent Venables, Ben Arbuckle and all the team captains for Team 131. We don't know exactly what this is going to look like Saturday but we're interested to see how it goes down. Depth Charts? We're not too caught up in who is sitting where. There are reasons. We talk about some of that. We also talk about Ben Arbuckle's debut. Will he go through some of the same issues that guy out west went through early in his Oklahoma playcalling career?

THE FULL RUNDOWN FOLLOWS BELOW:

0:00 - Welcome back to the Unofficial 40! Game week so Carey starts the pod talking about things we don’t care about but Eddie does send his best to Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift on the engagement. GEORGE HAS LEFT THE PODCAST. Carey says that a lot of people make their wives listen to the podcast with them so he's taking a bullet so the husbands will be able to keep listening.

26:00 - Brent Venables met with the media on Tuesday to kickoff game week 

34:00 - Feel better about CB or WR? 

43:00 - Josh believes win the talent on this roster

51:00 - Carey’s biggest question of Ben Arbuckle

1:00:00 - Kendal Daniels could be the most intriguing player on the defense 

1:13:00 - 2026 DL T-Ron Richardson commits to Oklahoma con’t. good news on the recruiting trail

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It started out like just another Unofficial 40 podcast in studio. And then after 30 minutes, Al Eschbach just decided to drop by the studios unannounced. So we did what we always do when people come into the studio during a pod. We put him on the air and talked some OU football and the future of OU's offense along with the future of Brent Venables.

What is going on in Auburn with their offense and Jackson Arnold? We of course get into some recruiting with Josh McCuistion, but we're still a little bit in awe of The Legend, Al Eschbach coming on the pod with us for the first time. We even hit on the state of media, Al's vacations and how much longer he's going to keep doing this radio stuff.

0:00 - Welcome back to the Unofficial 40! OU kicks the season off in 10 days! Rejoice. Week Zero is an appetizer 

15:00 - Congrats to Auburn winning a national title! Eddie would like to personally congratulate head coach Tommy Tubberville! 

29:00 - George wants to doom pod

33:50 - *SPECIAL GUEST* Al Eschbach in studio 

1:01:35 - George welcomed back to the program 

1:09:00 - Recruiting Report; Sooners get DL commit with 2026 Tank Carrington + 2027 Sooner State Rankings 

1:20:00 - Update on 2027 QB Peyton Houston

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Bill Bedenbaugh spoke this week about his offensive line and Carey, Josh, Eddie and George are here to give it all a hard look. Bedenbaugh has to find the right mix of experience versus talent on the offensive line if he wants to play two star freshman. We examine all the options and give our two cents on what we could see happening. The secondary also intrigues us with the talent and the buzz coming out of camp surrounding corners who haven't played a lot. And Peyton Bowen isn't a bust. He's just been hurt most of his career. Are we going to see Bowen step up at some point and take over with Billy Bowman type play in the secondary? We are ready for the John Mateer Venmo controversy to be over and we think that it is. And stop yelling at us for writing about it! It's our job! And the wide receiver spot might be a little concerning as far as quality depth now that we look at it closer. And of course we talk more recruiting with Josh and how big the official weekend will become for the Michigan game.

THE FULL BREAKDOWN FOLLOWS BELOW:

0:00 - Welcome back to the Unofficial 40! Week three of the preseason includes a little drama! Sooners offensive line at the very least has good options

21:00 - That John Mateer. What a character! 

36:00 - WRs talk; anyone emerging? 

46:00 - Defensive backfield talent is somewhat overwhelming 

60:00 - Recruiting 

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It's been a great preseason for the Scoop crew to get out and watch portions of practice thanks to Brent Venables' media friendliness this August. Carey and Josh get to weigh in on what they've been seeing and hearing from fall camp as we break down the standouts, the injured and maybe some disappointments so far. Josh updates us on the recruiting trail and whether OU fans should be worried about Jake Kreul moving up his commitment date. We also look at what's left for OU in recruiting. While we also get breaking news about a first commitment for 2027 as the pod is recording. A little bit of talk about OU hiring the Athlete Group to help with the Athletic Director search as well.

0:00 - Welcome back to the Unofficial 40! Week Two of the preseason. George’s family expands 

8:00 - Plenty of team talk ahead but what’s up with OU recruiting … why so quiet? Jake Kreul? Elijah Golden? 

20:00 - What’s the concern level for 2027 OT Cooper Hackett? 

24:40 - T-Ron Richardson set to announce Aug. 26; Sooners in good shape? 

27:00 - Small update on Sooners AD search; Jake Rosenberg’s Athlete Group joining the fold 

35:00 - FOOTBALL TALK FINALLY. Let’s start with the great Josh McCuistion & his thoughts on early portions of camp

44:00 - Anybody making a move at MIKE linebacker? How’s Sammy Omosigho doing? 

1:00:00 - There’s been some scare but minor injuries ONLY so far for Sooners

1:18:00 - One week into camp do you feel better or worse about the season?

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