NORMAN, Okla. — It was supposed to be a battle of two quarterbacks. Two quarterbacks leading blue-blood schools in a nationally televised ranked matchup. Two quarterbacks brought in to turn their programs around after respective down years. Two quarterbacks playing in new environments, throwing to new teammates and tasked with dissecting foreign defenses.
One, the highest-ranked recruit in the freshman class. The other, the highest-ranked transfer in last offseason’s portal.
And John Mateer, it turns out, doesn’t care much for storylines.
“I was watching College Game Day this morning, and right when they started talking about our game, I turned it off,” the Oklahoma quarterback said. “I didn’t even want any thoughts to get in my head.”
It’s easy, from afar, to paint narratives over games like these. It’s hard to ignore them, and much harder to play in them. But from the first set of downs on Saturday, Mateer led his 18th-ranked Sooners with a steady conviction.
Not that he didn’t face any pressure. On the opening few plays, the No. 15 Michigan football team’s defense was as advertised, stuffing Mateer at the line and blanketing his progressions. Facing third-and-9, Mateer was in trouble. With a shrinking pocket, he stepped back and slung it to his senior tight end Jaren Kanak, who hauled it one-handed for a 31-yard gain. Three plays later — the ball, again, 9 yards from a first down — Mateer converted once more.
The Wolverines knew, heading into this week, that Mateer would attack them with his arm, praising his abilities as a dynamic passer and someone who can make any throw from anywhere. But once Mateer escaped consecutive third-and-9s, he got confident, and the defense started to shift.
Picking up 8 yards on the ground before eventually shoveling it to running back Jadyn Ott for the first touchdown of the game, Mateer needed just a single drive to get going.
“Quarterbacks that are playing at the highest level, they can throw it and they can run it,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “And design and have the ability to improvise and make plays, extend plays, and throw the ball down the field.”
With one drive in the third quarter, Mateer showed all of that.
On third-and-8, a situation Mateer became increasingly comfortable with as the night drew on, Michigan junior defensive back Brandyn Hillman came blazing off the edge headed straight for Mateer. Mateer dropped back, then took a few steps forward as Hillman swung around his side. Ducking before scrambling to his right, Mateer unleashed a bomb down the near sideline, hitting wide receiver Isaiah Sategna in stride.
More than being Mateer’s farthest throw of the night, it came when he was under the most pressure. Two plays later, Mateer side-stepped a block and ran into the endzone untouched.
“The more and more you play, the more and more you start understanding situations in the game,” Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “And he’s seen a lot. Last season, we saw a lot of different situations that popped up, and so there’s not really a lot of moments that he hasn’t been introduced to, and he understands how to navigate them and put us in the best position to be successful. I loved his response tonight, after good series or good plays or bad series and bad plays.”
On Saturday, Mateer’s awareness was on full display. Of course he knew his progressions and frequently connected with his receivers, but his ability to understand the impact each throw — and each run — had on the Wolverines’ defense set him apart. For that, he credited the Sooners’ defense.
“That defense makes our practice really difficult,” Mateer said. “I never know what’s going on. So I can’t imagine being a young quarterback trying to play that defense and he’s super talented, he was rolling out, making throws way better than I was as a freshman. That’s why he was rated the way he is.”
Ratings didn’t matter on Saturday. Neither did rankings, or narratives, or anything else. Completing 21-of-34 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown — while rushing for 74 yards and two more scores — Mateer was simply the better quarterback.
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