Paul Finebaum takes shot at Arch Manning in reaction to Texas being favorites over Oklahoma

When the opening line for Saturday’s Red River Shootout came out, many were surprised to see Texas favored over Oklahoma. Yes, there are questions regarding the health of Sooner quarterback John Mateer. But ESPN’s Paul Finebaum knows what Arch Manning has done in recent weeks.

“I think that probably has everything to do with John Mateer being in the game,” Finebaum said via McElroy and Cubelic on Jox 94.5 on Monday. “I don’t really know why that’s such a big deal considering where Texas is at the quarterback position.”

Offensive line issues or not, Manning still had his poor moments during the Florida loss. He threw for 263 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in total. Only 55.2% of throws wound up being completed, struggling to find receivers consistently. Facing pressure from the Florida defensive line on nearly half the snaps certainly did not help.

Even so, BetMGM is still offering Texas up as a 1.5-point favorite. Nothing has changed on their end in the past few days. Mateer’s health continues to be a storyline almost the entire country is following, getting listed as questionable on Wednesday’s SEC injury report.

Cole Cubelic gave an explanation as to why Oklahoma is not getting a little more love from the oddsmakers. It’s not about whether or not Mateer is going to play. The stuff shown by backup Michael Hawkins does not bring enough confidence, in his opinion.

“Well, I’ll tell both of you — because I have an idea you didn’t watch it,” Cubelic said. “If you took a peek at Michael Hawkins against Kent State, you might have an understanding of why Texas is favored in this game. Because it’s not pretty, I’ll just say that… The quarterback situation is maybe a little more dire than some people anticipated for the Sooners.”

Exactly who steps out there as OU’s quarterback in the Cotton Bowl is not known. Mateer is reportedly attempting to work his way back on time. Finebaum does not appear to think it will matter due to his thoughts on Manning’s play through five games.

Kickoff from Dallas is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT. Texas can get back on the right track with a win, earning its first SEC win of the season, and getting back to .500 overall at 3-3. Oklahoma would move to 3-0 in conference play, while still staring a daunting schedule over the next few weeks.

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