The Oklahoma Sooners haven’t been to the College Football Playoff since 2019. Before the current five-season drought from the CFP, Oklahoma had made four out of the five previous playoff fields. With the playoff expanding, the Sooners hope to make it back in 2025, the second year of the 12-team field.
If OU is able to make it back to the CFP, they’ll likely do so on the shoulders of new transfer portal quarterback John Mateer. The FBS leader in total touchdowns a season ago followed offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle from Washington State to Norman. That duo is hoping to return the Sooners offense to form in 2025.
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The 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game featured a pair of transfer portal quarterbacks leading their teams on deep playoff runs. Will Howard led the Ohio State Buckeyes to the title, and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard was the spark that led the Fighting Irish to the title game.
Can John Mateer have the same impact for Oklahoma?
College Sports Wire and For The Win’s Patrick Conn ranked the top 12 transfer players that could have an impact on the College Football Playoff race. Mateer was the No. 1 name on the list.
Looking back at the Oklahoma Sooners, who were 6-7 in 2024, one area that severely lacked was the quarterback play. The team moved on from Seth Littrell as playcaller and brought in Ben Arbuckle to run the offense. Arbuckle is from the Air Raid coaching tree. He served under Zach Kittley at both Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky, now he brings his quarterback John Mateer from Washington State. – Conn, College Sports Wire and For The Win
Mateer’s leadership and talent have already been on display in spring football, but it’s a big step up to the SEC from what was essentially a Mountain West schedule a year ago.
Mateer finished the 2024 season, playing in 12 games with a 64.6 completion percentage and 9.0 yards per attempt for the Cougars. Those numbers should only improve with the quality of weapons that will surround him in Norman. The only question will be does his game translate well enough in the SEC? Either he will bring Oklahoma back to the CFP discussion or this will be the nail in the Brent Venables’ coffin after finishing under .500 in two of his three seasons in Norman. – Conn, College Sports Wire and For The Win
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Venables has bet big on the combination of Mateer and Arbuckle to bring the OU offense back to where it should be. Early returns have been encouraging, but the real test will come in the fall, when Oklahoma faces perhaps the country’s toughest schedule.
Two other names familiar to Sooner Nation also made the rankings in former wide receiver Nic Anderson and former quarterback Jackson Arnold. Anderson only managed to be healthy enough to play in one game in the entire 2024 season, but now suits up for LSU. He was No. 2 in the rankings.
Speaking of Oklahoma, we turn our sights to a former Sooners wide receiver who opted to join a different SEC program in 2025. Over the years, wideouts down on the Bayou have made waves, from Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase to Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. The next two could be a pair of transfers who land next on our list. Anderson was a promising player heading into the 2024 season but would only appear in one game due to injury. He was coming off a stellar redshirt freshman season where he averaged 21 yards per reception and scored 10 touchdowns on just 38 receptions. With Garrett Nussmeier dialing it up from the pocket, he could put up some big numbers once again. – Conn, College Sports Wire and For The Win
Arnold, meanwhile was thought to be the next great Oklahoma quarterback, but ended up starting just ten games as a Sooner, going 5-5. He transferred to Auburn this winter.
An ongoing discourse from the 2023 recruiting class revolved around who was the better quarterback prospect, Jackson Arnold or Arch Manning. That same class has produced fellow SEC quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Arnold’s performance since he signed with Oklahoma has ended any conversation about him unseating Manning as the top quarterback from that class, as of right now. For Arnold, it will be about a fresh start and reviving an Auburn program from the doldrums of the SEC, where they have pretty much resided since they fired Gus Malzahn. The Brian Harsin experience would be ranked zero stars, do not recommend at this point. Not that life under Hugh Freeze has been much better. Should War Eagle be a contender this year, it likely comes from the play on offense of Jackson Arnold. If he plays poorly again, they might as well start calling him Arnold Jackson. – Conn, College Sports Wire and For The Win
In the new era of college football, the transfer portal has become extremely valuable and can be make-or-break for a team’s season. In John Mateer, the Sooners have hope again at the most valuable position on the field.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma Sooners addition tops list of player who will impact Playoff
