Oklahoma fans wanted nothing more than quarterback John Mateer to return from injury to play against Texas in the Red River Rivalry, but it might not have been what the Sooners needed.
Texas upset the No. 6 Sooners 23-6 on Saturday inside Cotton Bowl Stadium as Mateer had the worst performance of his career and OU's offense just flat out disappointed overall. The Sooners suffered their first loss of the season to drop to 5-1 and Texas bounced back to become 4-2.
It wasn't until 90 minutes before kickoff when the final SEC Availability Report was released that it was known Mateer would actually play and had the making of another Red River Rivalry legendary tale, but instead, Mateer looked like a guy who had surgery on his throwing hand just 17 days before.
John Mateer struggles in return vs Texas
Mateer completed 53% of his passes for 202 yards and didn't score a touchdown as the Sooners failed to reach the end zone for the second straight Red River Rivalry. More consequently, Mateer had three interceptions and was lucky to not throw more. He was also sacked a season-high five times.
The Sooners cruised to a field goal in their opening drive before punting, then Mateer threw his first pick on their third possession. It fortunately for the Sooners didn't result in any points after Texas missed a field goal.
The first half then ended with Mateer's second interception in the end zone with only two seconds left on the clock. It was horrible clock management before Mateer just heaved a pass toward the end zone when the Sooners ultimately should have settled for a field goal.
The second half was even worse for Mateer and OU's offense. He nearly threw a pick-6 on the first possession of the second half, then actually did to end the second drive. The Sooners ended up tallying just 88 total yards in the second half.
Although it didn't seem like Mateer's hand was actually an issue, he was at least rusty while being thrown back into the biggest game of the season and had those watching wondering if Oklahoma made a mistake rushing Mateer back for the Red River Rivalry.
I'm not making excuses because I just don't know, but did Oklahoma make a mistake in rushing Mateer back? He just didn't look like himself today, for obvious reasons.
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) October 11, 2025
Mateer obviously wasn’t ready to go today.
— Preston Poole (@prestonpoole405) October 11, 2025
Are we SURE that John Mateer is okay?
— Barstool SEC (@SECBarstool) October 11, 2025
Would have almost been better to play Hawkins today. Mateer is obviously not himself and losing this game with a backup QB (if that’s what would have happened) doesn’t look as bad to the committee at the end of the season
— Justin Churchill (@ChurchillAtoZ) October 11, 2025
John Mateer playing dangerous games.
— John Williams (@john9williams) October 11, 2025
Got incredibly lucky.
It might be time for a change.
Is Mateer hurting the #sooners more than helping?
— Ben Johnson (@BenJohnsonTUL) October 11, 2025
Mateer has cost us more than he’s helped us. Should’ve stuck with Hawkins. #shouldaWouldaCoulda
— B⭕️⭕️MER! 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 (@OUSchooner) October 11, 2025
John Mateer is throwing the football like a man whose thumb on his throwing hand was surgically repaired 17 days ago.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) October 11, 2025
Mateer was a train-wreck today. Respect his toughness and passion for his teammates/program for this game, but man…have to wonder if they should have just gone with the backup and waited another week
— John Middlekauff (@JohnMiddlekauff) October 11, 2025
Mateer looked like a QB who hasn't practiced much in the last 3 weeks. But giving up a special teams TD, having tackling issues, a porous secondary after halftime, clock management issues before the half, it was an ugly day of football for OU.
— Carey Murdock (@CareyAMurdock) October 11, 2025
Arch outplayed Mateer. By a pretty wide margin, too. Texas was just better overall. Disappointing performance.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) October 11, 2025