NORMAN — For how inconsistent Oklahoma’s offense has been in the back half of the season, Isaiah Sategna has established himself as an explosive playmaker.
Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, has caught 56 passes for 827 yards and six touchdowns as a Sooner. The wideout is fourth in the SEC in receiving, behind only Tennessee’s Chris Brazzell II, Mississippi State’s Brenen Thompson and Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion.
Most recently, Sategna caught three passes for 109 yards and a touchdown in OU’s 17-6 win over Missouri on Saturday.
Sategna was once the No. 4 track and field prospect in the nation, but he decided to play football in college instead of running track. But his track speed makes him a scoring threat any time he gets a sliver of space.
Sategna’s sprinter speed was on full display against Mizzou.
The Sooners logged minus-7 total yards in the first quarter against the Tigers and desperately needed a spark. Sategna provided that.
On third-and-7 from OU’s own 13-yard line, quarterback John Mateer found Sategna in stride on a slant route. The speedy Sategna already had a few yards of space when he caught the pass. And, unsurprisingly, Sategna had gained even more separation from Missouri’s defenders by the time he burst across the goal line.
“(You) gotta make big plays,” Sategna said. “The ball came my way, so that’s what I had to do.”
As soon as Sategna secured the catch, Mateer knew he was gone.
“Oh, bye, see ya,” Mateer said. “He’s really fast.”
Sategna’s touchdown aside, OU’s offense didn’t find much of a rhythm against the Tigers. Not including Sategna’s 87-yard TD, the Sooners logged only 189 offensive yards.
The silver lining? Oklahoma’s offense didn’t need to be a juggernaut.
The Sooners’ defense held Ahmad Hardy — the nation’s leading rusher — to just 57 yards on 17 carries. OU also intercepted Mizzou quarterback Beau Pribula twice, as the Tigers ended the game with only 301 offensive yards of their own.
Oklahoma’s defense is good enough that the Sooners don’t need to have a high-flying offense. But they need to be able to produce explosive plays to both reach the College Football Playoff and make a run when they get there.
That’s where Sategna is so valuable.
Sategna has led Oklahoma in receiving in four of the Sooners’ last five games. And in the lone game that he didn’t lead OU in receiving — the Sooners’ 23-21 win at Alabama — he made a crucial catch on third-and-long to extend a second-half drive.
Sategna’s speed and consistency makes him someone the Sooners can lean on as they continue to look for an offensive identity.
“The kid knows what he’s supposed to do, when he’s supposed to do it, how he’s supposed to do it,” OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said last week. “Is he perfect? No. But does he do pretty dang good? Yeah, he does.”
