John Mateer blames eyes, not hand, for poor performance vs. Texas

Excitement rose throughout the week as it became clear that quarterback John Mateer would be able to play in Red River for the Oklahoma Sooners. Just 15 days following hand surgery, it seemed like a miracle. Then, Mateer had his worst performance of the season against Texas.

After the game, Mateer refused to blame his hand injury for that poor play, though. Instead, he’d insist that the mistakes he made, and the lack of success he found, came down to his eyes and the mental side of the game.

“Yeah, the pain level is nothing,” John Mateer said. “There’s no excuse. I was ready to go physically, but mentally I just didn’t perform. My eyes weren’t as good as they needed to be, and when your quarterback doesn’t play good football, it’s hard to win in this league. That’s what happened.”

John Mateer finished Red River completing 20 of 38 pass attempts. That was for 202 yards and three interceptions. He would also carry the ball 14 times for five total yards on the ground, though that number includes sacks. All of that amounted to Oklahoma only scoring six points in the loss.

“Honored to play in the game, get to see the atmosphere,” Mateer said. “But I just didn’t play good enough.”

John Mateer initially suffered his hand injury in the win over Auburn on September 20th. He’d finish that game out, and it wasn’t until after the fact that it became clear he’d need hand surgery. That surgery was expected to keep him out of Red River entirely, but he battled to get back quicker than just about anyone could have anticipated.

In the focus to recover, it was conceivable that Mateer would have missed his usual amount of practice and that it could have cost him on the field. After all, he wouldn’t be cleared until the Thursday before Red River. Again, Mateer pushed back on that as an excuse. Instead, he chose to wear his poor performance.

“I got to practice a good amount. It has nothing to do with how I performed. I was prepared and I studied film the same way,” Mateer said. “I just didn’t come out ready to play.”

Brent Venables reveals when John Mateer was cleared to play

After the game, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables shared that John Mateer was officially cleared to play on Thursday. He’d also add his own praise for Mateer and how quickly he worked to get back on the field.

“He epitomizes the guts and the toughness. Loves to compete. He loves his teammates. A week ago playing Kent State, he wanted to put the pads on. He didn’t want to be in the shorts, the hat, the sunglasses, jewelry and everything else. He wanted to be with his teammates in pregame. He wanted to be every part of game day. He’s incredible. He went through all the protocols and all those kinds of things,” Venables said.

“Everybody’s body heals and responds differently and their ability to – there’s a pain piece to it and ability to grip the ball and the fundamental things you need to throw the football and hand it off and all those type of things. No surprise, whatsoever, who John is.”

Certainly, Oklahoma needs John Mateer healthy and at his best the rest of the way. That starts with a road trip to South Carolina next week.