Oklahoma should have serious concerns about QB John Mateer

Mateer arrived at Oklahoma prior to the 2025 season with big expectations after transferring from Washington State, but his first year as the Sooners' starter was full of inconsistencies. There were some promising signs early, but a hand injury started to really limit his effectiveness as the season progressed. He ended up finishing with 11 interceptions to only 14 touchdowns. It was an underwhelming year and left fans wanting more. 

The hope was that a fresh start in 2026, with another year of experience within the offense, would produce better results.

The early returns are not really making it look like that is going to be the case. It is starting to become a serious problem, and could be putting Mateer's job in jeopardy. And if it isn't putting his job in jeopardy, it absolutely should be.

The Sooners have already gone from a preseason top-10 team to completely out of the top-25, and are now just 2-2 on the season and 0-2 against Power Four opponents. 

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said the coaching staff discussed making a quarterback change at halftime, but also suggested everything was on the table at that point for turning the game around. 

He ended up sticking with Mateer for the second half. 

Even though Mateer did rack up some garbage time yards and stats when the game was already out of reach, it did nothing to salvage the game. 

Now the question becomes when the change actually does get made. 

If you're already discussing it at halftime of your fourth game of the season, it's probably a good sign the quarterback situation is becoming a serious problem and that a real change is on the horizon. 

Mateer isn't a young player, and it's beyond time for him to still be learning how to limit mistakes. He's a fifth-year player and can not keep turning the ball over at the rate he is. Especially when there are not enough big plays in his team's favor to help outweigh them. 

Oklahoma's next game is in two weeks against No. 1-ranked Texas in the biggest rivalry game on the schedule. If Mateer struggles there, they might not be able to put off the change any longer.