OU football lands John Mateer from transfer portal. How Washington State QB fits Sooners

Posted by author December 19, 2024 Football

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NORMAN — John Mateer is transferring to the OU football program, the former Washington State quarterback announced on Instagram and Twitter on Wednesday evening.

The move reunites Mateer with first-year offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, who Mateer played for during his breakout redshirt sophomore year with the Cougars in 2024.

The decision ends the recruitment of one of the top quarterbacks in the NCAA transfer portal. Mateer chose the Sooners over Miami. Mateer is expected to become the starting quarterback for an offense that needs a jump start after finishing 121st nationally in total offense, 122nd in passing yards and 95th in points per game.

Mateer is a massive get for Brent Venables, who has now added four transfers from the portal this cycle. Mateer immediately offers OU star power at quarterback heading into its second season in the SEC.

At 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds, Mateer will enter the 2025 season with two years of eligibility remaining.

Mateer initially committed to Central Arkansas out of Little Elm High School in Texas before flipping his commitment to Washington State, the only Power Four school to offer him. The last four quarterbacks Arbuckle has coached — Bailey Zappe, Austin Reed, Cam Ward and Mateer — have all had great success, including Zappe in the NFL and Ward being named a Heisman Trophy finalist at Miami this season.

Now, Arbuckle and Mateer will team up at OU and aim to get the program back to its historical offensive successes.

After backing up Ward for two seasons, Mateer took over as the Cougars’ starter in 2024. He finished the season with 3,139 passing yards and 826 rushing yards, and recorded 44 touchdowns — 29 passing and 15 rushing — and threw just seven interceptions.

Mateer will now transition to playing tougher competition in the SEC. He will join second-year player Michael Hawkins Jr. and three-star freshman Jett Niu in the Sooners’ quarterback room.

Mateer could be the key to fixing OU, which finished 6-6 in 2024 and fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell in October after just seven games. The Sooners’ starting quarterback for most of the season, Jackson Arnold, transferred to Auburn, while Brendan Zurbrugg is in the transfer portal.

Mateer is 8-4 in his career as a starter. OU opens its 2025 season by hosting Illinois State on Aug. 30.

2024 season: 12 games played, 224-for-347 passing for 3,139 yards, 29 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 164.1 QB rating
Career: 24 games played, 239-for-366 passing for 3,406 yards, 32 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 168 QB rating

Colton Sulley covers college sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

(This article has been updated with new information.)