Oklahoma QB John Mateer Dismisses Hand Injury After Poor Performance vs. Texas

The Sooners lost Red River in Mateer's return to the lineup.

It was a rough day in John Mateer's return to the lineup for the Sooners. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Unranked Texas was due.

The Longhorns, who were the top-ranked team in the preseason AP poll, limped out to a 3-2 start. After losing to Florida a week ago in Gainesville, Texas used a strong defensive effort to batter Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer in his return to the lineup, and win the Red River rivalry over the sixth-ranked Sooners, 23-6 on Saturday.

Mateer missed the 44-0 win over Kent State after undergoing hand surgery days after the Sooners' 24-17 win against Auburn on Sept. 20. Less than three weeks after the procedure, Mateer was back out on the field competing for the Sooners.

It wasn't his best day, as he completed just 20 of his 38 passes for 208 yards and threw three interceptions, but he wouldn't use his recently injured hand as an excuse.

"The pain level was nothing," Mateer said in the aftermath of the loss, via Dan Wolken of Yahoo. "There's no excuse. I was ready to go physically. Mentally, I just didn't perform."

Mateer and the Sooners will look to bounce back on Oct. 18 in Columbia against South Carolina.

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