Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables Shares Update on Sooners' Quarterback Situation

Sooners starting quarterback John Mateer has struggled mightily in each of his last three games, but Brent Venables still has trust in him.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer gets tackled against Georgia. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

NORMAN — Even after three rough outings in a row, OU coach Brent Venables remains confident in quarterback John Mateer.

“John’s our starting quarterback,” Venables said at Wednesday’s media availability.

Mateer, who transferred to Oklahoma from Washington State ahead of the 2025 season, has been turnover-prone to begin his final college football campaign.

The second-year Sooner signal caller has thrown for 883 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions on 66.1 percent passing. He also fumbled twice in OU’s 41-13 loss to No. 2 Georgia, and Bulldogs linebacker returned one of those fumbles for a touchdown.

The Georgia game was ugly for a long list of reasons, but Mateer’s poor performance stood out.

Mateer wildly underthrew Jacob Jordan in the second quarter, and Georgia safety KJ Bolden was right there to intercept his pass. The quarterback’s inconsistency is a key reason why the Sooners trailed the Bulldogs 28-0 at halftime and eventually lost by a 28-point margin.

According to Venables, Mateer has responded in the correct way in the days since the lopsided loss.

“John is tough as they come,” Venables said. “One of the things that makes it easy to believe in John is just how he shows up every single day. He’s the same guy, how he works, how he competes, how he leads, how he responds. All of those things have been really good.”

While Venables hinted that Mateer will again start for Oklahoma against No. 1 Texas on October 10, he said that backup quarterbacks Whitt Newbauer and Bowe Bentley both got “a lot of reps” at Wednesday’s practice.

Newbauer is playing his second season at OU. He transferred to OU before the 2025 season after starting several games for Mercer as a true freshman in 2024.

Bentley is a true freshman from Celina, Texas, who was a consensus 4-star recruit in the Class of 2026.

Venables doesn’t anticipate making a quarterback change. But he feels confident in both Newbauer and Bentley to play winning football if either of them get the call.

“We got great belief in them, trust in them,” Venables said. “And there’s a body of work that both of those guys, both Bowe and Whitt, have put out there for us to evaluate. They’re doing a nice job. They’re working hard, they’re improving incrementally — all the things we want our quarterbacks to do, as a group.”

Will Newbauer or Bentley ultimately get a chance to compete against the Longhorns? That remains to be seen.

“I have no idea (if they’ll play against Texas),” Venables said. “We’re not there right now.”

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