All Sooners

Oklahoma Lands Former Washington State Quarterback John Mateer

The Sooners officially reeled in the No. 1-ranked transfer portal target in the nation on Wednesday night.

Ryan Chapman, John E. Hoover

Quarterback John Mateer
Quarterback John Mateer / James Snook-Imagn Images
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Oklahoma got their guy. 

After a week of waiting for former Washington State quarterback John Mateer to enter the transfer portal, the dynamic quarterback committed to the Sooners on Wednesday night. 

He’ll reunite with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle in Norman, as the duo put up huge numbers this season for the Cougars. 

Mateer marked OU’s fifth commit out of the transfer portal this cycle, but he’s certainly the biggest. 

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With the Little Elm, TX, product in the boat, Oklahoma’s offensive rebuild is officially on track.

A third-year sophomore, Mateer completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 3,139 yards with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also netted 826 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns this season as a true dual-threat QB. His 2024 rushing total currently ranks sixth in the nation among quarterbacks and 62nd nationally overall.

He helped lead the Cougars to an 8-4 season, one that landed Arbuckle in Norman and catapulted head coach Jake Dickert to take over at Wake Forest on Wednesday. 

The Sooners had to be patient to land Mateer.

Despite plenty of expectation that he could be on the move, Mateer stayed with Washington State as the winter window of the transfer portal opened last week. 

Over the weekend he took time to deliberate with family, and he finally entered his name into the portal on Monday. 

"Met with John last night," Dickert said on Monday. "He came back from his sister's graduation; had a lot of good family time. We talked about that last Friday; he has to make a big decision on his life, and college football is in a different place than it was five years ago,10 years ago. ... John will be the most sought-after player in the portal. I think he's gonna be the best player in the country next year.

"He informed us that he is, in fact, gonna hit the portal. ... He told me how he felt about us and how he felt about our program. Obviously disappointed. Disappointed. It's a tough result. Really thankful for Cougs everywhere that poured into everything that it took to try to keep him here. But at the end of the day, he wanted to play on a bigger stage."

Fast forward 48 hours and he’s a Sooner. 

Mateer worked with Arbuckle for two years at Washington State.

In 2023, he backed up Cam Ward, who just finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting this season after transferring to Miami.

Mateer certainly made the most of his first season as the starter with Arbuckle.

As Arbuckle’s starter this season, Mateer’s exploits included 352 yards passing and five touchdowns against Portland State, 390 yards and four TDs against San Jose State, 327 yards and two TDs against playoff-bound Boise State, 295 yards and three TDs against Hawaii, 257 yards and two scores against San Diego State, 375 yards and four TDs against New Mexico, and 250 yards and two TDs against Oregon State. He threw at least one touchdown pass in 11 of the Cougars’ 12 games.

Mateer was a true dual-threat, too, with 197 rushing yards and a touchdown against Texas Tech and 111 yards and a TD against San Jose State. In fact, his lowest rushing output this season was 28 yards against Boise State. He rushed for at least 50 yards in eight games (his total before sacks was 1,057), and had at least one rushing TD in all but one game.

Now, Brent Venables hopes the duo can make even more magic on offense with a full offseason under their belts in Norman.

Wide receivers coach Emmett Jones has already been hard at work putting weapons around Mateer, too. 

On Wednesday, the Sooners got a pair of commitments out of the portal from Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Javonnie Gibson and Southern Illinois’s Keontez Lewis. 

The Sooners also added a new offensive lineman in Stanford’s Luke Baklenko. 

Although Mateer is widely expected to take over the startin job because of his prodigious dual-threat skills and his familiarity with Arbuckle's offense, OU's Michael Hawkins said last week he wants to be at Oklahoma, doesn't intend to transfer and looks forward to the competition with whoever comes to Norman.

"I love it. I love competition. I feel like that's how it should be,” Hawkins said. “I don't think that it should be no other way. So, I'm all about competition. I think we need another guy here. I'm ready."

Hawkins will presumably be the Sooners' starter when they take the field Nov. 27 against Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl.

"I'm gonna be at Oklahoma. This is where I want to be," Hawkins said. "I want to play at Oklahoma, be the quarterback at Oklahoma so I feel like this bowl game can help me so I feel like that's a big step."

OU also has seventh-year senior Casey Thompson and redshirt freshman walk-on Steele Wasel available for the bowl game.

The winter transfer portal window is open until Dec. 28.

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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