Oklahoma QB John Mateer Still Hasn't Returned to Form After Thumb Surgery

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NORMAN — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer didn’t try to sugarcoat things after his 13th-ranked Sooners fell 34-26 to No. 8 Ole Miss on Saturday at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

“Still not good enough,” Mateer said. “We had an opportunity and didn’t take it, missing throws. We can’t miss throws. The margin for error is really small, like I said, and I’ve just got to get better.”

Mateer’s numbers weren’t bad Saturday — 17 of 31 for 223 yards and a touchdown.

But they weren’t great either.

In the final four minutes, Mateer had two chances to lead a potential game-tying drive.

The first finished with a pair of incomplete passes on third and fourth downs to Jaren Kanak and Javonnie Gibson.

The second finished on a deep incompletion toward Gibson and then a Hail Mary heave that didn’t quite reach the end zone as time expired.

“I thought there were moments in the game where he looked awesome,” offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “I thought there were moments in the game where he just, for one reason or another, just wasn’t as smooth as you would like it to be — whether it was his eyes, the ball placement. But I really don’t think his eyes were that bad all day. There’s just a few times here or there, whether it’s ball placement or something, where you’d like it a little cleaner, but there’s also times in the game where he was awesome.”

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Mateer started hot, completing 10 of his first 11 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown.

That included a 39-yard completion to Sategna on Oklahoma’s fourth offensive play of the game, and a 76-yard touchdown to Sategna early in the second quarter.

But even during that early success, Mateer wasn’t 100% sharp.

On the long throw to Sategna, Mateer missed a wide-open Kanak before Sategna worked his way free.

Standing at the front of the postgame interview room after the loss, Mateer gripped his right hand behind his left.

He wasn’t wincing in pain or looking like he was babying the throwing hand that he broke early in Oklahoma’s Sept. 20 win over Auburn, but Mateer hasn’t been the same player since returning.

Over the first four games of the season, before the surgery, Mateer was completing 67.4% of his passes for an average of 303.8 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. He also ran for 190 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

In three games since his return, the redshirt junior is averaging 191.7 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, completing 57.9% of his passes. He’s had just 36 yards rushing with no touchdowns, averaging just more than one yard per carry.

John Mateer, Sooners — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer (10) lines up for a play during a Saturday's game between the Sooners and Ole Miss at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sooners coach Brent Venables didn’t seem too interested in assessing whether or not Mateer was still affected by the injury.

“Have to ask him,” Venables said. “He’s practiced well, he’s thrown with good accuracy, and he’s made good decisions. I do think that’s still a process of getting completely and fully healed. But I’m not sure if he has limitations or not. Again, his velocity is good, his accuracy has been really good. So I haven’t seen the limitations at practice.”

But Venables acknowledged that Mateer missed on some throws.

“I told him, ‘There’s gonna be, you’re gonna hate what you see on tape, because of some missed opportunities,’” Venables said. “Not talking about having to go make a play, I’m just (talking about) doing the basics a little cleaner. And so, we’re all gonna have some regret watching the tape.”

Mateer said throwing “feels the same” since the injury, and brushed off any talk that the thumb was continuing to affect his play.

“We’re playing good teams,” Mateer said. “Every team is getting better every week. Just good teams.”

After his two long completions to Sategna early, Mateer didn’t complete a pass for longer than 15 yards until running back Xavier Robinson’s 21-yard reception early on the final drive of the game.

“We made some good plays down the field, and at times had really good command,” Arbuckle said. “And then some other times where maybe we got a little bit rushed.”

Arbuckle praised Mateer’s demeanor throughout the game, even when things weren’t going well.

“He was great throughout the entire game — never too high, never too low,” Arbuckle said.

Mateer was frustrated with himself afterward, though.

With road games at Tennessee and Alabama looming, then home games against Missouri and LSU to end the season, the Sooners have to be better than they were Saturday to build any momentum during a tough stretch.

That need for improvement starts with Mateer.