Oklahoma Has Texas Preparing for Every Possibility at Quarterback

With the status of Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer still up in the air, the Longhorns aren't leaving anything to chance ahead of the Red River Rivalry.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Texas is covering all its bases this week. 

With the status of Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer up in the air, the Longhorns (3-2, 0-1 SEC) aren’t taking any chances heading into the Red River Rivalry (2:30 p.m., ABC).

“That’s probably not a question for me, probably for Brent (Venables),” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said when asked which OU quarterback his team is preparing to face.

“We’ll plan for Mateer. You have to. He’s a dynamic player. He’s the heartbeat of that offense for sure. Everything goes through him.”

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer played through an injury on his throwing hand to beat Auburn. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mateer sustained an injury on his throwing hand in No. 6 OU’s win over Auburn before the bye week, which resulted in the Oklahoma (5-0, 1-0) quarterback missing Saturday’s 44-0 win over Kent State. 

Through the first four games of 2025, Mater completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 1,215 yards and six scores while also throwing three interceptions. He has also carried the ball 43 times for 190 yards and five touchdowns. 

Mateer has not been officially ruled out of the Red River Rivalry, but if he can’t go on Saturday, those duties will fall back upon sophomore Michael Hawkins Jr.

“We played against Hawkins last year,” Sarkisian said. “He’s a much-improved player. Like most young players, they get better over time. You can see his improvement for sure.”

---

Read More Oklahoma vs. Texas

• Whether Its Mateer or Hawkins, Oklahoma Has 'Confidence' in Red River QB Play
• Oklahoma QB Michael Hawkins Jr. Showed 'Great Things' in First 2025 Start
• An Unlikely Weapon is Emerging for Oklahoma Ahead of the Red River Rivalry

---

Hawkins completed 14-of-24 passes against Kent State for 162 yards and three touchdowns. He also added another touchdown on the ground and finished the contest with 33 rushing yards on nine carries. 

Last year, Hawkins struggled in the Sooners’ 34-3 defeat at the hands of the Longhorns. 

He completed 19-of-30 passes for 148 yards, and was only able to total 27 rushing yards on 20 attempts. Hawkins also lost a fumble that eventually turned into a Texas touchdown. 

Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. started last year's 34-3 defeat to Texas. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hawkins will have plenty of new faces around him if he gets the chance to take on Texas, however. 

Oklahoma re-worked its offensive line, and Hawkins has a healthy set of receivers and running backs to work with. 

He also has a new offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, in his corner, who dialed up winning game plans against both Michigan and Auburn in the first month of the season. 

“Coach Arbuckle’s got a great scheme,” Sarkisian said. “We got to prepare for the scheme. He’s a fantastic coach. They tax you a lot of different ways. Varying tempos, formations, trick plays, quarterback runs, shot plays. And so we’ve got to prepare for the offense as much as it is we need to prepare for the quarterback, which one it’s going to be. So it’s more about the offense in our world.”

On the other side of the ball, the Sooners are bringing an elite defense to Dallas to support OU’s offense. 

Entering the Red River Rivalry, Oklahoma’s defense ranks first in the country in total defense, opponent yards per play, sacks per game, tackles for loss per game, third down conversion percentage and opposing punts per game. OU is also second in scoring defense, passing defense, touchdowns allowed, passing touchdowns allowed, opposing plays of 10 yards or more, opposing passing yards per attempt, opponents’ first downs per game and passing defense efficiency rate. 

The Sooners are also third in the country in rushing touchdowns allowed, fifth in rushing defense and sixth in opposing pass completion percentage. 

Brent Venables in March 2025: “Why am I going to call the defense? Because I’m good at it.”
 
Venables’ Oklahoma defense on Oct. 5, 2025: pic.twitter.com/Rq4IHIBf1p

— Mike Houck (@mhouckOU) October 5, 2025

“Fantastic defensive team.,” Sarkisian said. “Coach Venables, you can see his footprint, his handprint all over this defense now… He’s recruited the players that fit his style. They’re very active up front, very athletic group. 

“Multitude of pressures, a multitude of coverages. I think they lead the SEC in about everything. … It’s going to be a heck of a challenge for us.”