John Mateer Oklahoma timeline: How Sooners QB went from toast of town to hearing boos in one year

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John Mateer Oklahoma timeline: How Sooners QB went from toast of town to hearing boos in one year originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Oklahoma Sooners are taking on the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs this week, and Sooner quarterback John Mateer's performance will be closely followed. 

Despite returning to Norman this season as Oklahoma's star quarterback, his 2026 season got off to a rough start. In OU's last two games, the Sooners fell 17-10 to Michigan and barely skated past New Mexico at home. 

At one point during his game against the Lobos, Sooner fans were booing parts of Mateer's performance. Here's a look at what's happened to Mateer this season.

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John Mateer Oklahoma timeline

John Mateer is from Little Elm, Texas. Coming out of high school, he was rated by the 247Sports Composite as a three-star signal-caller. Aside from NMSU, Washington State was his only Division I offer, and he joined the Cougs in 2022.

He didn't become a starter in Pullman until 2024, backing up Cam Ward for two seasons. He had a breakout season his first year as a starter, throwing for 3,139 yards with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions, while rushing for another 826 yards with 15 scores on the ground.

John Mateer transfers to Oklahoma

Before the 2025 season, he transferred to Oklahoma, following his offensive coordinator from Washington State Ben Arbuckle. 

John Mateer hot start at Oklahoma

Mateer's success carried on after he got to Norman, leading the Sooners to a 4-0 start with ranked wins over No. 15 Michigan and No. 22 Auburn. He threw for 1,215 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions, rushing for another five scores.   

John Matter injury

During Oklahoma's win over Auburn on Sept. 20, Mateer suffered a broken bone on his throwing hand in the first quarter. He did not leave the game after suffering the injury.

Three days after the game, he underwent surgery to repair the break. Luckily for the Sooners, they had a bye week before the Oct. 11 game against Texas.

John Mateer returns from injury

Although there were questions surrounding how well Mateer would look just 13 days removed from hand surgery, he returned in time for the Week 6 game against Texas.

In his first game back, he threw for just 202 yards with three interceptions and completed a season-low 52.6% of his passes. Oklahoma's offense managed just 258 total yards. He said after the game that his hand was fine.

MORE: Why did John Mateer leave Washington State for Oklahoma?

John Mateer struggles to close out 2025

Mateer cleaned things up after the Texas game, leading the Sooners to a 5-1 record, with a 34-26 loss to Ole Miss in late October. He threw just one interception across his next five games.

But in his last two games, Mateer struggled against LSU and Alabama in the College Football Playoff first round. Against the Tigers, he threw another three interceptions, and the Sooners barely beat a bad LSU team 17-13.

Oklahoma got off to a fast start in the first half, as Mateer rushed for a touchdown and threw for another in the first two quarters, as the Sooners got out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.

But Alabama stormed back and tied things up, as Mateer threw an interception before halftime.

In the second half, Alabama's defense held the Sooners to four three-and-outs, and Oklahoma managed just a touchdown. The Sooners missed two field goals, as Alabama came out with a 34-24 road win.

John Mateer booed by Oklahoma fans

During Oklahoma's narrow 14-6 victory over New Mexico, Mateer threw two interceptions in the first half. After his second pick, which gave New Mexico the ball back deep in OU territory, Sooner fans booed the quarterback:

This was the 2nd Mateer interception last night.

I…think it's supposed to be a screen to Xavier Robinson but…why is he so far upfield? Ran the wrong route on a screen?

Just all sorts of dumb errors pic.twitter.com/7mtwdZUdkj

— AJ Schulte (@AJSchulteFB) September 20, 2026

“You don’t need to boo us,” Mateer said via The Oklahoman after the game. “Sure, do it. You do whatever you want. But we know. We’re people, too.”

What's even worse is that Mateer admitted he only saw his open receiver on Oklahoma's second touchdown of the day only because he heard fans screaming that he was open:

John Mateer found an open receiver because Oklahoma fans started screaming pic.twitter.com/OtaJ6KtUse

— Brandon Walker College Football Show (@BFWshow) September 20, 2026

John Mateer stats

Oklahoma QB depth chart

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Who is John Mateer’s backup?

Mateer's backup is junior Whitt Newbauer, who transferred over from Mercer ahead of the 2025 season. He threw for 1,398 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions as a freshman with the Bears in 2024. 

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