John Mateer Meltdown: Texas Defense Puts Oklahoma QB in a Blender

The Texas Longhorns claimed a decisive Red River Rivalry victory against the Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl.

Texas Longhorns defensive back Michael Taaffe (16) tackles Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) in the first half of the Red River Rivalry college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorn at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After a tough week on the road to open conference play, the Texas Longhorns redeemed themselves with a decisive victory in their Red River Rivalry matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners.

With a final score of 23-6, the Longhorns prevented the Sooners from scoring a single touchdown throughout the duration of the game.

This serves as the first step of a multi-game comeback, but head coach Steve Sarkisian was proud of his defense's ability to perform as dominantly as it did.

Steve Sarkisian on Texas' defense

Oct 11, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns defensive back Michael Taaffe (16) celebrates with the golden hat after the Longhorns defeat the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Sarkisian commended the quality of play of his defense in a post game media availability.

“First of all, I’m glad the quarterback played, and John Mateer is a heck of a player, but I didn’t want to come up here and answer, ‘Well, what if he would have played?’ " he said. "So the fact that we created three turnovers, we got five sacks. When you look at our defense there were a lot of great playmakers today, and a lot of guys did some different things, but the biggest thing coming out of today: recruit the (Dallas-Fort Worth) metroplex. This guy (Quintrevion Wisner) goes for 100 yards, Colin Simmons gets two-and-a-half sacks, and [Malik] Muhammad got two picks, so we’ve got to recruit the metroplex.”

Sarkisian's Dallas natives came up big for him in their hometown on Saturday, stopping Mateer from finding any sort of success in his first-ever Red River Rivalry.

The Washington transfer threw three interceptions, and he failed to convert into the endzone. He completed 20 of 38 passes against the Longhorns, averaging 5.3 yards per throw.

This loss marked his first back since he broke his thumb against Auburn, and it also marked his first loss with the Sooners.

Texas' defense also prevented the Sooners from getting more than 48 rushing yards in the matchup, while the Longhorns got 136.

The Longhorns' next task will be taking on the Kentucky Wildcats on the road next Saturday. Kentucky currently holds a record of 2-3, and they are the lowest-ranked team in the SEC.

If Texas can hold onto the energy from today's rivalry matchup and expand upon it in the weeks to come, they could still emerge as a threatening program within their conference.

Texas rallied around a strong defensive performance and an energetic crowd in Dallas to move its SEC record to 1-1.