2025 Preseason Herbie Awards: John Mateer named Best Impact QB Transfer

In Norman this year, all eyes are on John Mateer. The former Washington State quarterback is now at Oklahoma, sticking with his offensive coordinator from a year ago.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit will be watching closely, as well. He named Mateer his Best Impact QB Transfer during the 2025 Preseason Herbie Awards on Friday.

Mateer led the nation in total touchdowns last season as part of a breakout campaign at Washington State. Now re-joining forces with Ben Arbuckle at OU, he’ll look to make a similar impact in a big year for Brent Venables.

“I love the hire of bringing in the young offensive coordinator,” Herbstreit said during the show. “This guy just a few years ago, Ben Arbuckle, was an offensive coordinator in high school. And now, he’s an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. I think the quarterback, we know what he can do. He’s big, he’s strong, he can spin it.

“This is a team last year – all the focus on the quarterback, but they had all their top five receivers down with injury. They’re healthy now on the perimeter, obviously, and you’ve got a quarterback with a new system in a must-win year for the Sooners. Remember, they play Michigan Week 2 in Norman, which will be a big test to kind of see where they are.”

Last year at Washington State, John Mateer led the FBS with 44 total touchdowns – 29 passing and 15 rushing. For comparison, Cam Ward had 25 passing touchdowns and eight rushing scores in 2023 under Ben Arbuckle before he transferred to Miami.

That also speaks to Mateer’s potential as he makes the leap to the SEC. But if he puts up strong numbers in the first half of the year, Josh Pate said the conversation will shift toward honors for not just the quarterback, but also Brent Venables and Ben Arbuckle.

“I think he’s going to show out in the first half of the season,” Pate said. “That will make him part of a huge turnaround. People will be talking about Coach of the Year-type stuff. They’ll be talking about Broyles Award contention for Ben Arbuckle. They’ll be talking about Heisman contention and all the quarterback awards for John Mateer.

”I think he’s got the intangibles – the stuff that they say you can’t coach, the stuff that you just got to be born with. The competitiveness, the fire, the juice, the ability to make a program in a room full of guys rally around you. He’s got it. I’m telling you, he’s got it. I’m telling you, he’s got the ability to not so much struggle adjusting to the league, but he’s got that kind of ability that makes the league adjust to him. I believe in him. I’m betting him to win the Heisman Trophy.”