The Oklahoma Sooners are hoping for a much more exciting and productive offense in 2025 after a lackluster showing during their 6-7 season in 2024. Leading the charge for a revitalized offense are new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer who had tremendous success at Washington State last season.
A return to contention hinges on the development of the offense as the defense looks ready to compete in the SEC. If Mateer can arrive and have a second productive season as a starter at the collegiate level, Oklahoma will have a chance to accomplish big things in 2025. In an early look at the 2025 season, ESPN’s college football writers answered a number of questions.
When it comes to newcomers to watch, ESPN’s David Hale said John Mateer reminds him of former Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel.
There’s a strong argument that the most fun player in college football last season was Mateer. At Washington State, Mateer was a swashbuckling showman of a QB, throwing for 29 touchdowns, rushing for 15 more and racking up just shy of 4,000 yards of total offense. Even if his supporting cast was lackluster, Mateer ensured the Cougars were frisky in every game. Now he arrives at Oklahoma — along with his OC, Ben Arbuckle, from Washington State — ready to make an impact on the SEC. The Sooners are in “do or die” mode, which suits Mateer, who has a knack for playing that way all the time anyway. It’s getting ahead of ourselves to make big comparisons such as, say, Johnny Manziel, but from a style-of-play standpoint, Mateer ought to be one of the most entertaining QBs to come through the SEC in a while. – David Hale, ESPN
Mateer certainly provides some similarities to Manziel in his dual-threat ability. The new Sooners quarterback has also received comparisons to Baker Mayfield with his play style. Lofty comparisons for anyone but Mateer was electric last season putting together big games with his arm and his legs. He ran for nearly 200 yards against Texas Tech early last year.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the former Washington State quarterback. In four of his first six games of the 2024 season, Mateer completed less than 60% of his passes. The Cougars went 5-1 in that stretch including wins over Texas Tech and Washington. The lone loss came against Boise State, who ultimately made it to the College Football Playoff.
In his final three games, Washington State went 0-3 with losses to New Mexico, Oregon State, and Wyoming. Not necessarily the high-caliber teams he’ll see in the SEC. In those three losses, Mateer completed 71.6% of his passes for 807 yards and seven touchdowns. He also ran for 196 yards and four touchdowns.
It was a strong first season as a starter for Mateer and he parlayed that into an opportunity to be the starting quarterback for the University of Oklahoma. Though he’s making a big jump to SEC competition, Mateer has the intangibles and ability to lead the Sooners offense to a bounce-back season for Oklahoma’s offense.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma’s John Mateer compared to former Heisman Winner
