Brent Venables praises John Mateer's ability, leadership: 'Like a pig in the mud'

Brent Venables is thankful to have John Mateer as his quarterback at Oklahoma. The Washington State transfer has been a revelation through three weeks for the Sooners.

As the competition continues to ramp up, Mateer and his teammates have a huge challenge in Week 4, with Auburn coming to town. Ahead of the showdown, Venables joined The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday to explain what his quarterback has brought to the table since arriving in Norman.

“I’ve said this a lot—John has tremendous capacity. I don’t see a lot of limits when it comes to his leadership, his arm talent, his guts, his toughness—things you just can’t give him,” Venables stated. “He’s got great instincts as a player, and he’ll be the first to tell you he’s only started one full season in college football. You expect to see a process that looks like this, and in the circle he’s in, every failure is public. Every mistake is analyzed and criticized. But I’m thankful he’s the leader of our offense.

“As the quarterback at the University of Oklahoma, you’re the face of the program. You have to carry the heavy burden that comes with it—the responsibility, the pressure, the pain, the fatigue. That responsibility starts with me, but it moves to the quarterback, and John handles it well. He has great humility, loves to compete, and shows up every day as the same guy. He has a genuine love and appreciation for his teammates and coaches, and that resonates.

“When it comes to leadership in the locker room, across all the different groups and pockets of players, John is like a pig in the mud—he can go in anywhere and lead. He’s been doing that for months, very naturally.”

As you can tell, Venables believes Mateer is the total package. His play on the field speaks for itself, but his leadership abilities have been a major bonus for Oklahoma since his arrival.

Through the non-conference portion of the Sooners’ schedule, Mateer leads the SEC with 944 passing yards to go with five touchdowns, while also adding 161 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. That comes after he led the nation in total touchdowns at Washington State a year ago, throwing for 29 and rushing for 15.

So far, so good for Mateer at Oklahoma. Who knows how far he’ll take the Sooners this season, but bet against them at your own risk ahead of their showdown with Auburn this weekend.