Ball slips out of John Mateer's hand, is recovered for 85-yard Georgia TD during Oklahoma QB's 3-TO quarter
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The second quarter of Saturday’s game between No. 2 Georgia and Oklahoma couldn’t have gone much worse for Sooners quarterback John Mateer.
He turned the ball over three times in the frame, throwing one pick and losing a pair of fumbles.
The first of those giveaways was the most embarrassing.
With Oklahoma trailing 14-0 and threatening to make it a one-score game, the fifth-year signal-caller coughed the ball up near the goal line. He rolled to the left off a play fake, opened his hips as if he was going to throw, then proceeded briefly before trying to attempt a pass that never was.
The ball slipped out of his hand, bounced backward and was collected by Georgia linebacker Chris Cole, who galloped for an 85-yard scoop-and-score.
That 14-point swing made it a 21-0 game in the Bulldogs’ favor.
John Mateer LOSES THE BALL and Georgia takes it back 85 yards for a touchdown 🤯
(via @GeorgiaFootball) pic.twitter.com/mfem27ywve
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) September 26, 2026
Cole had himself a banner day. Midway through the third quarter, he already had six solo tackles and a sack. Plus, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior flew like the wind en route to that defensive score.
He also picked up Mateer’s next fumble, later in the quarter.
Facing a fourth-and-1 from the Oklahoma 43-yard line, Mateer faked an endaround and evaded a blitzing Cole, only to then be wrapped up by linebacker Raylen Wilson, who jarred the rock loose by the sideline.
It stayed in bounds, as Cole gathered the fumble and raced 23 yards to the Sooners’ 11, giving him 108 total yards on fumble returns Saturday.
Two plays after that, running back Chauncey Bowens found the end zone on a 6-yard rush to extend Georgia’s lead to 28-0.
Mateer does it again and Chris Cole recovers 😟 pic.twitter.com/1fgsz1FOUI
— NFL Paint (@NFLPaint) September 26, 2026
Sandwiched in between those fumbles was Mateer’s pick. On third-and-9 from the Bulldogs’ 43, Oklahoma snapped the ball to Mateer in shotgun. Soon enough, his clean pocket collapsed.
By the time, he fired, he had a defender in his face. His pass over the middle was well short of wide receiver Jacob Jordan and was nabbed by Bulldogs safety KJ Bolden, who broke a couple tackles on a 29-yard interception return.
This story is being updated.
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