Brent Venables never lost faith in John Mateer despite struggles against LSU

NORMAN — Things couldn’t have felt worse for John Mateer on Saturday.

The OU quarterback threw his third interception against LSU in the third quarter, a bad pass intended for Javonnie Gibson. His second interception — which came on the previous drive — led directly to an LSU touchdown, which put the Sooners in a 10-3 hole.

Following his third interception, the Sooners went three-and-out and were forced to punt. But head coach Brent Venables never considered benching his quarterback.

“Doesn’t have anything to do with anybody else, but no,” Venables said after the game. “I believe in John and what he’s got. Absolutely.”

For better or worse, the Sooners were gonna ride with Mateer. The decision ultimately worked out in the Sooners’ 17-13 win over the Tigers.

Isaiah Sategna generated some much-needed momentum with a 39-yard punt return that set the offense up near midfield. Two plays later, Mateer found Deion Burks for a 45-yard touchdown that tied the game.

And when the Sooners had to have it, Mateer delivered one more critical play.

Trailing 13-10 with under five minutes to go, Mateer completed a 17-yard pass to Jaren Kanak. The Sooners played with tempo, and Sategna found himself uncovered down the field. Mateer hit him in stride for a 58-yard go-ahead touchdown.

The Sooners’ defense forced a turnover on downs on LSU’s final possession, allowing Mateer to kneel out the clock. His final line? 318 passing yards, 23/38 passing, two touchdowns, three interceptions.

Mateer simply wasn’t good enough for most of the game. But heading into the fourth quarter, Mateer dug deep to find belief in himself.

“Everything that I worked for, from January and my whole life, was these 15 minutes right here,” Mateer said on his fourth-quarter mindset. “And I mean, everything I want is in front of me. And it hasn’t been good, but we’re still here, we’re still fighting and thanks to this defense, we’re still alive.

“So I was very grateful for the grace that our defense gives me and this offense, and so I just know how to keep fighting.”

His touchdowns to Burks and Sategna ultimately washed over an otherwise dreadful day for the offense.

Mateer threw an interception on the first series, though he ultimately ran down Harold Perkins Jr. to save the touchdown. The Sooners went into halftime with just three points.

The offense finished with 393 yards, and Mateer’s 318 passing yards were ironically his second most in a game this season. But the offense looked clunky and out of sync. The Sooners scored on just three of their 14 possessions. Six of those possessions were three-and-outs. Outside of those two touchdowns, only four of Mateer’s 19 other completions went beyond 10 yards.

It’s been the same story for the Sooners the last several weeks. The defense has played well enough to give the offense enough time to figure things out late. And despite Mateer’s significant struggles, the Sooners never lost confidence.

“I’m pretty sure, whenever we sit in this team meeting, that everybody in this room, in this building has the utmost faith in John Mateer,” OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “John has a short memory. Whenever something bad happens, he’s quick to wipe it, and he’ll do that over and over and over again. But he’s the ultimate competitor.

“The play that sticks out in my head is that first interception. Go look at his effort on that play, to push the dude out at the three-yard line. What happened the next play? An interception, right? It’s little things like that that just keep on giving everybody the confidence in No. 10

November was not a pretty month for the Sooners offense, which averaged just 19 points over the last four games. But the results? All victories, and the Sooners and Mateer found enough ways to finish the regular season with a 10-2 record and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

“(He) threw for over 300 yards and ran the ball,” Venables said. “A lot of it didn’t look like a whole lot, but he took shot after shot, blow after blow and he kept responding. Thankful that he’s got the right kind of toughness and the resolve and the resiliency to believe there at the end. And he’s done that in several of the games… We made some plays when we needed to that were the difference in the game and he did it again here tonight.”

The offense hasn’t been good enough. Mateer hasn’t been good enough. But his touchdowns were pivotal in keeping the playoff hopes alive. And they’ll need him to find more of those plays if the Sooners hope to make a run.

I’d say (it’s) just the type of men that we are and what we believe in,” Mateer said. “It’s not easy. None of it’s been easy. Going on the road, coming back, a bunch of top defenses and this and that. But we keep fighting. We go out at practice every day, and we fight. We’re competitive, and we love each other, and not a whole lot of people have that on a team, and we do. And I’m just glad we can keep fighting.