Oklahoma seemed to get away with some illegal trickery in their win over Auburn on Saturday.
Early in the second quarter, Sooners receiver Isaiah Sategna acted like he was walking off the field and to the sideline. Before he left the field, Oklahoma quickly snapped the ball and quarterback John Mateer delivered a 24-yard touchdown pass to Sategna, who was left uncovered by the Tigers. As officiating analyst Matt Austin pointed out, teams are not allowed to use substitution as deception, and doing so should result in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, not a touchdown.
A little trickery from the Sooners 👀
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 20, 2025
Isaiah Sategna pretended to head to the sideline before bursting free for the touchdown.
Watch Auburn-Oklahoma on ABC and the ESPN App 🍿 pic.twitter.com/tqvstbi5Ym
Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was naturally upset by the touchdown, and addressed the play after the game.
"I guarantee you, well, I better be quiet," Freeze said. "Said they didn't hear us trying to call a timeout. We were instructed all offseason about deception plays and things, so we'll see what's said. I really don't know what'll be said about that."
Hugh Freeze on the Sategna “deception” touchdown: pic.twitter.com/l6WkOv1U7G
— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) September 20, 2025
With that touchdown, Oklahoma took a 10-3 lead over Auburn. The Tigers would tie the game at 10-10 before the end of the first half, but the Sooners outscored Auburn 14-7 in the second half to win the matchup.
The loss drops Auburn to 3-1, and it won't get any easier for the Tigers from here on out. They have three consecutive games against ranked opponents coming up, starting with No. 10 Texas A&M next week and then matchups vs. No. 5 Georgia and No. 23 Missouri.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Auburn's Hugh Freeze Had Telling Comment About Oklahoma's Controversial Trick-Play TD.
