Saturday night showed why No. 18 Oklahoma added John Mateer.
The former Washington State quarterback accounted for all three of the Sooners’ touchdowns in a 24-13 win over No. 15 Michigan. Mateer ran for two scores and threw for another as he handily outplayed Michigan freshman Bryce Underwood and had the best performance for a Sooners quarterback since the 2023 season.
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Oklahoma took a 14-0 lead in the first half before Michigan cut the lead back to seven on the first play of the third quarter when Justice Haynes ran 75 yards for a score. Oklahoma stretched the lead back out to two scores again less than five minutes later when Mateer scored on a 10-yard run.
That TD run was set up by this play on third down as Mateer escaped the pocket and then fired a dime down the right sideline.
The Sooners were unable to put the Wolverines away until late in the game, however. Though the Wolverines hung around, they didn’t seriously threaten the Sooners thanks to their own offensive struggles.
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Underwood looked a lot like a true freshman quarterback making the first road start of his career against a stellar defense. Michigan had to use two timeouts in the second half for organizational issues and Underwood completed fewer than half of his passes. He finished the game just 9-of-24 for 142 yards.
Oklahoma’s offensive struggles in 2024
The 2024 season did not go as planned for Oklahoma. After Dillon Gabriel opted out of the 2023 Alamo Bowl, Jackson Arnold started in his place and entered the 2024 season as OU’s starter.
Arnold, a former five-star recruit, struggled right away. After failing to throw for over 200 yards in each of Oklahoma’s first three games, he was just 7-of-16 passing in a loss to Tennessee before making way for freshman Michael Hawkins, who started against Texas.
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Arnold eventually got his job back, but had two more games with fewer than 100 passing yards and transferred at the end of the season.
As Oklahoma tried to find consistent quarterback play, it also fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. That move ultimately helped lead to Mateer’s arrival.
The Sooners’ search for an offensive coordinator didn’t last long after the regular season was over. After Washington State averaged 37 points per game in 2024, the Sooners hired Wazzu offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to lead the offense.
Less than two weeks after Arbuckle was hired, Mateer transferred to Oklahoma.
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Mateer was one of the most prolific QBs in college football in 2024 even though he flew under the radar for most casual fans. Mateer led all players with 44 total touchdowns as he threw for 29 and rushed for 15 more. He had over 3,100 yards passing and was also the Cougars’ leading rusher with 826 yards.
Saturday night, Mateer was 21-of-34 passing for 270 yards and rushed 19 times for 74 yards.
Michigan’s offense looks better
It’s easy to be optimistic about Michigan’s offensive potential despite Saturday night’s performance. If it wasn’t for Haynes’ big run, the Wolverines would have barely cracked 200 yards of total offense.
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But this isn’t the Michigan offense of 2024. Even as Underwood takes his lumps, it’s a unit that’s a lot more threatening than it was a season ago. And it figures to only get better as the season goes on.
It will also be an offense that will be playing without head coach Sherrone Moore on the sidelines the next two weeks. Moore will serve a two-game suspension across Weeks 3 and 4 for his role in the Connor Stalions scandal. The suspension was self-imposed before the 2025 season began and Moore will also be suspended for the 2026 season opener.
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