Oklahoma QB John Mateer Was Too 'Tentative' in Loss to South Carolina

NORMAN — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer didn’t turn the ball over on Saturday, but the struggles were still notable for the fifth-year signal caller.

Mateer, who has now started 20 games at OU, completed only 26 of his 43 pass attempts for 244 yards and two touchdowns in the Sooners’ 42-25 loss to South Carolina.

On the surface, that stat line doesn’t look atrocious. But Mateer would be the first to tell someone that his performance against the Gamecocks was not satisfactory.

“We wanted to attack them through the air, but I missed some throws, and I think we came out flat,” Mateer said. “I don’t know why — we had a good week and were confident.”

The bulk of Mateer’s passing yards came late in the game, when the Gamecocks had all but sealed their win.

In the third quarter, Mateer had thrown for only 36 yards on 9-of-17 passing. He finally made some throws — when South Carolina’s defensive backups were in the game — in the final two quarters and made his numbers look better.

Mateer also wasn’t a threat on the ground. He rushed 11 times for 29 yards and took three sacks.

Holistically, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle described Mateer’s outing as “tentative.”

“Just not pulling the trigger on some things, maybe getting a little too greedy on some things,” Arbuckle said. “We have to be a lot better early to get into a good rhythm of the game.”

The quarterback’s game against South Carolina was a stark contrast from his performance on the road against Mississippi State just one week prior.

In that contest — a 23-15 win over the Bulldogs — Mateer completed 22 of his 29 attempts for 283 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 37 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per carry.

Mateer agreed with Arbuckle’s notion that he began the game too tentatively.

“It’s not a normal thing,” Mateer said. “Sometimes it’s the other way around and we’re too aggressive. I need to watch the film. I was frustrated early, and I felt that too. I wasn’t just letting it fly and being calculated; I was tentative.”

Through eight games, Mateer has thrown for 1,835 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has turned the ball over nine times, and the Sooners are 4-4 with games against Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Missouri left on the schedule.

After the game, OU coach Brent Venables said that he was “not ready” to discuss whether or not Mateer will be the starting quarterback going forward.

Regardless of how the Sooners manage the position in their game against Florida next week, Mateer is confident that Saturday’s loss won’t break the locker room apart.

“I don’t have any doubt that the men in this room will stay together,” Mateer said. “It sucks. We’re all embarrassed, and it sucks. It is what it is. As a man, you take it on the chin, but I don’t think the men in this building are just going to fold and quit. We keep fighting, and that’s what we do.”

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