New Oklahoma QB John Mateer Looking to Follow in Familiar Footsteps as he Takes on the SEC

OU's new quarterback will have to adjust to a higher level of competition in 2025, but he's wouldn't be the first to find success with similar challenges.

Quarterback John Mateer / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Wednesday, Oklahoma fans were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. 

John Mateer, despite runs from North Carolina and Miami, committed to the Sooners.

Brent Venables got his quarterback to rebuild the offense — and one that was rated as the top available signal caller in the transfer portal. 

Now, there’s one more big question surrounding Mateer: can he replicate his production in the SEC?

It’s fair to ask. 

Mateer was incredibly efficient in 2024. He completed 64.6 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns while only getting picked off seven times. He averaged 9.0 yards per attempt, and added another 826 yards and 15 additional scores on the ground. 

He also played against a schedule that was cobbled together after conference realignment sent Washington State scrambling to find games to play in 2024. 

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Read More:

• Column: Why John Mateer's Arrival in Norman Evokes Memories of Baker Mayfield
• Film Breakdown: What Does Quarterback John Mateer Bring to Oklahoma

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Mateer will have to raise his game as he steps into the Southeastern Conference, but he’s not the first quarterback faced with such questions.

In 2022, another OU quarterback had to go through a similar acclimation process in Dillon Gabriel. 

The southpaw had starred at UCF, but was had to make the jump to the Big 12 for Venables. 

Like Mateer, Gabriel had a familiar face calling plays. 

Gabriel had played for offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby as a freshman, but the duo was reunited after Lebby’s two year stint at Mississippi. 

And though Oklahoma’s defense struggled, which contributed to a lackluster 2022 season, Gabriel’s numbers held strong. 

His last full season as a starter at UCF came in 2020, where he started 10 games. Gabriel completed 60 percent of his passes for 3,570 yards, 32 touchdowns and four interceptions, and he ran fro 169 yards and two touchdowns. 

New Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

In his first season in Norman, Gabriel improved his completion percentage to 62.7 percent across 12 games, and he threw for 3,168 yards and 25 scores while tossing six picks and rushing for 315 yards and six scores. 

Lebby leaned on Eric Gray on the ground, meaning Gabriel threw the ball 46 less times in 2022 despite playing two more games. 

Gabriel was asked plenty ahead of his first season about the pressure of playing in the spotlight as Oklahoma’s quarterback and his adjustment to stepping up a level.

“It's 11-on-11. Football is football and I'm excited that it is on a bigger stage and I'm excited for the opportunity,” Gabriel said at his first Big 12 Media Days. “But man you dream for moments in big games and you dream of leading the team and a two-minute drill to go win the game and score a tuddy. So I'm just living out my dream and all my dreams came true.”

For Mateer, he’ll have to adjust to similar levels of attention. 

But he’ll have something Gabriel didn’t — even more continuity with his play caller. 

Gabriel and Lebby reconnected quickly, but there was some growth in Lebby’s offense after two years working with Lane Kiffin in Oxford. 

“Coach has evolved,” Gabriel said then. “We’ve been away from each other for two years. Just like he’s evolved, I’ve evolved. We’ve grown.”

For Mateer, he’s going to grow within Ben Arbuckle’s offense as he would have already had both guys stayed at Washington State. 

That was a sound strategy for another SEC school this past year. 

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Follow Along: Oklahoma Transfer Portal Tracker

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Vanderbilt brought in quarterback Diego Pavia and offensive coordinator Tim Beck from New Mexico State last offseason to try and revamp things in Nashville, and the Commodores reaped the rewards this year. 

Pavia went from completing 60.4 passes in Conference USA in 2023 to 59.2 percent of his passes in the SEC. 

He averaged 198.2 passing yards per game in 2023, a number that only dropped to 177.8 yards per game this past season in three fewer games. 

Pavia did throw 26 touchdowns and nine picks in 15 contests in 2023, and he’s sitting at 17 touchdowns and four interceptions through 12 games, but he essentially matched his rushing totals per game as well in his first trek through the SEC.

The 2025 season and the SEC will bring new challenges for Mateer, but he’s wouldn’t be the first quarterback to successfully make such a transition if he finds success next year for the Sooners.