Recent SEC History Shows Why Oklahoma QB John Mateer Can Break Out in Year Two

It's been a tough ride in 2025 for John Mateer.

The Sooners’ new QB1 began the season on the Heisman shortlist, dazzling with clutch drives against Michigan and Auburn in September. But after an injury slowed his momentum, Mateer’s anticipated return set the stage for a Cotton Bowl showdown against Texas that instead turned sour.

Mateer delivered the worst game of his 35-game college career: three interceptions, no touchdowns, and none of the dynamic runs that had fueled his September rise. The struggles lingered the rest of the year. After Texas, he completed 106-of-177 passes (59.9 percent), for 1,161 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions.

Yet, Oklahoma kept winning. Sometimes in spite of Mateer’s downturn, sometimes because of his sporadic flashes of magic. Those wins now have the Sooners focused on a College Football Playoff berth before the long offseason of improvement begins.

Oklahoma Sooners, John Mateer — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

That offseason of improvement may prove pivotal — not just for Oklahoma’s momentum coming off of a playoff year, but for Mateer himself. History suggests transfer quarterbacks can make a dramatic second-year jump in the SEC, and Mateer’s development could determine how high the Sooners soar.

Perhaps the most famous precedent is Joe Burrow’s LSU turnaround.

The former Ohio State quarterback faced his own SEC adjustment period, though not to the same degree as Mateer — aided by a talented supporting cast featuring Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Still, few could have predicted that one year later he’d deliver what many consider the greatest quarterback season in college football history.

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Burrow’s first season was pedestrian — 16 touchdowns to five interceptions. A solid ratio, but considering he entered the final two games at 9-to-4 before padding his stats in a seven-overtime loss to Texas A&M and against UCF’s 61st-ranked defense in the Fiesta Bowl, his 2018 campaign looks far less impressive.

Burrow's completion percentage was worse than Mateer's in his first SEC season — 57.8 to Mateer's 59.9.

That all changed in 2019 when Burrow and the Tigers set the world on fire with 60 touchdown throws (seven coming against the Sooners in the Peach Bowl CFP game) to six interceptions, a Heisman Trophy and a national championship.

Beyond Burrow, other transfer quarterbacks had their share of struggles in their first seasons in the SEC.

LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow attempts a pass during the second half of the 2019 Peach Bowl college football playoff semifinal game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Jason Getz-Imagn Images

Jaxson Dart's 2022 campaign at Ole Miss following his departure from USC didn't suggest anything great was on the horizon.

A 62.4 completion rate paired with an 8–5 record and a respectable 20-to-11 TD-to-INT ratio gave little indication of what was coming next — two seasons that produced a combined 52 touchdowns to just 11 interceptions, a 72.2 percent completion rate, and a 21–5 record.

Other transfers like eventual Heisman winner Jayden Daniels and eventual All-SEC quarterback Jarrett Stidham saw similar jumps from their first year in conference to their second seasons.

Can Mateer do the same? It's possible. What can’t be overlooked is that Mateer’s first season in the SEC coincides with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle’s own introduction to big-time football. At just 30 years old, it's easy to understand the duo that Brent Venables brought over from Washington State experienced some form of culture shock throughout the year.

There's no guarantee that Mateer will mirror the trajectories of other quarterbacks who transferred into the SEC, but there's no doubt that if OU wants to continue building off its 2025 season, their quarterback will need to make a significant jump. The good news is that there is precedent for it and with Mateer's occasional magical play, it's not out of the realm of possibility.