Brent Venables on John Mateer: 'A little uneven at times'

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The Oklahoma Sooners suffered their first loss of the 2026 college football season, falling to the Michigan Wolverines, 17-10. Oklahoma's offense struggled all game long and looked like last year's offense for much of the game.

Quarterback John Mateer really struggled in the game. He completed 17-of-33 passes for 189 yards, one touchdown and one back-breaking interception. The interception came with about 8:40 left in the game. Oklahoma had tied the game up at 10 and had the ball back. The Sooners faced a 3rd and 9 at their 16-yard line. Mateer's threw a pass to Trell Harris, but it was undercut by Jyaire Hill, who took it back to Oklahoma's six-yard line. The Wolverines would score the eventual game-winning touchdown two plays later.

Brent Venables was asked about Mater's performance after the game, and he said it was too inconsistent.

"Great toughness," Venables said. "Made some really good plays. Just a little uneven at times. A few missed throws. The one pick that they had there late was off a tipped ball. I say it all of the time: tips are picks. We've got to do a little cleaner job in the protection there and not allow that to happen. I think we had great leverage on the play call. The receiver was a couple of yards separated from the DB."

The loss exposes some questions the Sooners will have to answer. The offensive line struggled at times, the running game never consistently got going, and Mateer wasn't able to make enough plays when Michigan's defense tightened.

That's the biggest takeaway from Venables' comments. He isn't abandoning confidence in his quarterback after one difficult afternoon, but he also isn't pretending the performance was good enough. Oklahoma's defense held Michigan to 17 points, giving the Sooners a legitimate chance to win, but the offense couldn't capitalize.

The Sooners now have to regroup after then dwell on the first loss of the season. Michigan proved that Oklahoma's offense still has work to do against an elite defense, and the response over the next few weeks will determine whether the Ann Arbor loss was simply an early setback or a sign of bigger problems that need to be addressed.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Brent Venables on John Mateer: 'A little uneven at times'

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