Latest news with #JohnMateer
USA Today
12-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
What ESPN expects from Oklahoma QB John Mateer in 2025
What ESPN expects from Oklahoma QB John Mateer in 2025 The Oklahoma Sooners made the biggest splash of the offseason when they brought in John Mateer in December. The nation's leader in total touchdowns had a strong first season as a starter at Washington State and followed offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Norman. The two should help Oklahoma's offense be much better in 2025 than they were a year ago and for the Oklahoma Sooners to contend for a playoff spot, the offense will have to be respectable. During SEC play a season ago, the Sooners offense averaged just 13 points per game when you remove defensive touchdowns. That didn't cut it by a long shot and Oklahoma made necessary changes to rectify the situation. But what can we expect from Mateer in a Sooners uniform? ESPN's Billy Tucker picked the top newcomer for each team in ESPN's top 25 and what we should expect this season. Mateer will light up SEC scoreboards in 2025 and Oklahoma should bounce back. With weapons around him at wide receiver and a healthy Jaydn Ott to relieve some early-down pressure in the backfield, the offense should come out of the gate fast, particularly with Mateer's confidence and familiarity with the system. He's a quick-release rhythm passer who will spread the ball out decisively and accurately underneath and win on his strikes downfield. Mateer can run, too, which will complement this version of the Air Raid pass-heavy offense. The Sooners have much more depth up front to keep him upright, but Mateer will show more natural playmaking ability to extend plays and get out of trouble than Arnold did a season ago. - Tucker, ESPN The Oklahoma Sooners offense will be really good this season. How good? That will depend a lot on the offensive line, a unit that had arguably its worst season in the Bill Bedenbaugh era due to injuries and inexperience. But having an experienced signal caller in an offense he's familiar with will help everyone from the offensive line to the wide receivers to the running backs. If Mateer can even produce 75% of his 40 total touchdowns from a season ago, that would put him among the SEC leaders from 2024. Jalen Milroe led the SEC in total touchdowns last season with 36 (including 20 rushing touchdowns). With the additions the Sooners made on offense and the continued development of Brent Venables' defense, Mateer doesn't have to have a super human Heisman season for the Sooners to significantly improve their win total. He and the offense simply have to compliment what Oklahoma's going to do on the defensive side of the ball. However, with Mateer, Oklahoma has a chance to have one of the best offenses in college football in 2025. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
Reuters
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Former Mercer QB Whitt Newbauer commits to Oklahoma
May 7 - Ex-Mercer quarterback Whitt Newbauer announced Tuesday that he has transferred to Oklahoma. Newbauer passed for 1,398 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions in nine games as a freshman last season. He started the team's last seven games, including two FCS playoff games. Newbauer completed spring drills with Mercer early last month before shopping his services. He found the Sooners to be the right fit. "Forever grateful to Mercer -- my coaches, teammates, and the entire community -- for believing in me and helping me grow on and off the field," Newbauer said on social media. "After much thought and prayer with my family, I'm incredibly excited to announce my commitment to the University of Oklahoma #BoomerSooner" Newbauer provides depth behind starter John Mateer, the former Washington State star who joined Oklahoma earlier this offseason. Holdover quarterback Michael Hawkins also returns; he passed for 783 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions last season.
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
On3 analyst thinks John Mateer shares similarities with No. 1 overall draft pick
On3 analyst thinks John Mateer shares similarities with No. 1 overall draft pick When the Oklahoma Sooners landed former Washington State quarterback John Mateer in the transfer portal last December, it was a massive win for head coach Brent Venables. After a 6-7 season in 2024, OU knew they needed an upgrade under center, and they got one with the portal's top overall player. On3 Sports college football analyst J.D. PicKell, who has been very complimentary of the Sooners this offseason, was at it again this week. He appeared on "The Paul Finebaum Show" where the host, ESPN's Paul Finebaum, asked him about Mateer's impact in Norman in 2025. PicKell likened OU's new starting QB to the No. 1 overall pick in last week's 2025 NFL Draft, Cam Ward. "Oklahoma, to me, I think will make the most impressive leap from what they were last year to this year," PicKell said. "This time last year Paul, if you talk to people close to Miami, they were beating their chest telling you, 'Hey Cam Ward is a dude. Cam Ward is gonna be a dawg this year.' They weren't tippy-toeing around it, they weren't saying maybe he'll be good. They're saying the same kind of thing right now around John Mateer in Norman, Oklahoma. So I'm not saying he's gonna win the Heisman Trophy, I'm not saying he's gonna be the number one overall pick, but the way they speak about John Mateer, the confidence they speak about John Mateer with, I'm very, very excited to watch him continue what he did in Pullman, Washington with Ben Arbuckle running the show in Norman." Of course, there's precedent for what Sooner Nation hopes Mateer can do this year. After all, Ward played in Arbuckle's system for one year at Washington State in 2023 before transferring to Miami for the 2024 season. Even with the step up in competition, Ward shined with the Hurricanes. He became a Heisman Trophy finalist and was selected with the top overall choice by the Tennessee Titans last week. Now, Sooner fans hope that Mateer can replicate that formula. He'll have the benefit of having Arbuckle in his ear again after a breakout 2024 season with the Cougars. Oklahoma brought in both Arbuckle and Mateer to try and fix a broken offense. PicKell also told Finebaum that in looking at Oklahoma's schedule, he believes that the Sooners could have the best quarterback in the stadium in up to 10 of the 12 games. Only South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier were players that PicKell believed could definitely beat Mateer in an all-out QB duel. That included him taking Mateer over Texas' Arch Manning, Auburn's Jackson Arnold and Ole Miss' Austin Simmons. But PicKell wasn't done complimenting Mateer this week. On his own show, "The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell", he outlined that he believes Oklahoma fans are back to having a QB at the controls that they can trust. "This with John Mateer is not that with (former OU starting QB) Jackson Arnold ... I think that John Mateer and what he is going into this upcoming season is a vastly different story," PicKell said. PicKell went on to explain that Mateer is a much more proven commodity heading into his first season as the starter in Norman than Arnold was a year ago at this time, and that too much may have been expected of Arnold without enough help around him in 2024 under OC Seth Littrell. "Last year Jackson Arnold was working with an offensive coordinator he had never worked with before ... also the offensive coordinator he worked with hadn't called plays since 2015," PicKell said. "That's very different than working with a coordinator that you had success with a year ago, had a top-15 offense at Washington State. Ben Arbuckle, John Mateer, handshake emoji, we're not picking up at the same spot. There's very different jumping-off points there." PicKell also noted OU's 13 percent sack rate a season ago was a huge hindrance to offensive execution. He theorized that Mateer's dual-threat ability would have fared better than Arnold's did in those spots. He also made the case that Oklahoma's better situation offensively contributes to Mateer being a massive upgrade. "We'll see how this whole thing shakes out with, what's the offensive line looking like, and how do the weapons translate and stay healthy, all that is true," PicKell said. "But at a jumping-off point in May, there's a lot more to be confident in, there's a lot more to be secure about than what you had last year with Jackson Arnold .. John Mateer, it's just a very, very different beast." Mateer's arrival in Norman has already been met with plenty of fanfare, and he hasn't even played a game yet for the Sooners. After the way the quarterback position looked last year, OU fans are hoping they can trust again at the most important position on the field. Perhaps if Oklahoma has a really impressive leap from 2024 to 2025, it'll be because Mateer ended up following in Ward's footsteps and turned into one of the best players in all of college football.
USA Today
01-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
On3 college football expert excited about Oklahoma Sooners offense
On3 college football expert excited about Oklahoma Sooners offense The Oklahoma Sooners have made several significant additions through the transfer portal this offseason on both sides of the ball. But one of the spring portal additions has a chance to be one of the most impactful in the SEC in 2025, and that's the move to bring in Jaydn Ott. Ott came to Oklahoma from Cal, where he amassed 3,333 total yards of offense and 30 touchdowns during his career with the Golden Bears. That came despite playing with an injury throughout the 2024 season, which led to the lowest yardage total of his collegiate career. Now, in a backfield that features the other big splash this offseason, John Mateer, OU has a dynamic duo to lead their offense in 2025. It's an addition that has On3 college football analyst J.D. PicKell fired up about what Oklahoma's offense can be in 2025. "The math just got harder defending Oklahoma," PicKell started. "Because you think about John Mateer... Does some stuff downfield, obviously, plus what he can do with his legs. Javonnie Gibson, when he gets healthy, he's a tremendous threat for them. All spring long, he was, at least until he got dinged up. Deion Burks, he's healthy, he's a dawg for you. You go down the list, there's a lot of dudes to defend here in the pass game themselves, plus John Mateer with his legs. Now you add in a guy like Jaydn Ott and all his production he had at Cal a year ago, plus you can throw him the football. The math is tough. The to-do list to defend Oklahoma as an offense just keeps on getting longer to the point where if you're a defense, I don't know how you check all the boxes." Ott's abilities out of the backfield will create opportunities for John Mateer. Both in the traditional passing game and at the mesh point in the read-option game. Teams will have to account for Ott when Mateer appears to be handing it off. Because if they don't, Ott could be off to the races and create a big play on the ground. But if teams overplay Ott in the read-option game or run-pass option, Mateer will get more room to work. And he's proven capable of creating big plays on the ground and through the air. The Sooners have made a number of impact additions on offense this season but need their offensive line to be better than it was in 2024 for it all to come together. If it does, the Sooners could position themselves to be a Collge Football Playoff contender in 2025. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
USA Today
01-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma Sooners middle of the pack in Saturday Down South's SEC Power Rankings
Oklahoma Sooners middle of the pack in Saturday Down South's SEC Power Rankings The Oklahoma Sooners have made substantial additions in the offseason to bounce back from a 6-7 season in 2024. Most of the more significant changes came on the offensive side of the ball, where they brought in offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, quarterback John Mateer, and a number of transfer portal players at every position. The message is clear. The offense can't have a season like the one they did in 2024 when they averaged just 24 points per game on the season and only 13 points per game in SEC play when you take away their defensive scores against Auburn, Missouri, Alabama, and LSU. Even with all of the offensive changes, there are still questions about how it will come together. But in Saturday Down South's recent SEC power rankings after spring ball, Adam Spencer appears more concerned about how Oklahoma replaces two key defensive players from the previous year. Spencer had the Sooners at eighth in his latest SEC power rankings. I love what Oklahoma has done in the transfer portal this offseason. QB John Mateer is the real deal. OC Ben Arbuckle is a great hire by Brent Venables. Jaydn Ott is an elite running back. However, defensively, losing Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman Jr. will hurt. How much? We'll find out this fall. - Spencer, Saturday Down South At the top spot are the Texas Longhorns, who will be breaking in a new starting quarterback, albeit a very talented one in Arch Manning. But they're also facing a ton of turnover along the offensive line and at wide receiver. They've recruited well over the years, so there is talent, but can it all come together to keep the Longhorns in the SEC title picture? The losses of Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman are certainly substantial, but the Oklahoma Sooners have a strong depth chart at both linebacker and safety to replace the Sooners only NFL Draft picks. Kobie McKinzie is expected to take over at middle linebacker for Stutsman. The Sooners also expect continued improvement from Kip Lewis and Samuel Omosigho. Oklahoma also added versatile defensive talent Kendall Daniels from Oklahoma State to help as the cheetah and inside linebacker. At safety, the Sooners have one of the deepest rooms in the country with Robert Spears-Jennings, Peyton Bowen, Michael Boganowski, Jaydan Hardy, and Reggie Powers III. That group is ready to contribute in a big way this season. The Oklahoma Sooners defense will be good again this season. They have one of the better defensive lines in college football, and the linebacker and safety rooms are really good too. If they get some health at cornerback as Eli Bowen and Gentry Williams recover from injuries, the Sooners will put another really strong defense on the field. Now, all they need is an offense to play complimentary football with Brent Venables' defense. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
