What happens when you hope too much about a player? The Oklahoma Sooners are the best example. One of the main points of attraction for the Red River Rivalry was John Mateer. Brent Venables’ quarterback, before the game, came with a big sigh of relief. After all, doubt still loomed for Mateer about his chance of making a comeback after the hand surgery. But hardly did Venables and co. expect the night to end with Mateer adding three interceptions in one night to his name. And obviously, the fans went furious over the Heisman Trophy candidate’s lackluster feat.  

During the October 11th game, ESPN posted a clip with 13 minutes 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The caption was enough to give a glimpse of how Mateer’s night went, “MATEER THROWS HIS THIRD INTERCEPTION OF THE DAY 😳.” Steve Sarkisian’s boys dominated the third quarter, wrapping it up with Texas at 13 and Venables’ squad at 6. 

As the fourth quarter rolled on, one play after a holding call wiped out a 33-yard run, Mateer’s interception count shot to three. His throw sailed behind his intended receiver, Deion Burks, popped up, and Graceson Littleton snagged it out of the air. And a golden moment for Texas as they took over at the Sooners’ 44-yard line. Now, Venables might now regret rushing things with Mateer, without giving proper time for recovery. 

On the October 8th injury report, Venables was listed as “questionable.” Cut to October 10, Friday, it upgraded Mateer to “probable.” Right before the game, OU Daily tweeted, “Quarterback John Mateer is listed as available in the final SEC injury report.” However, amidst all this uncertainty, Venables seemed to be confident about his quarterback making a comeback for the Saturday face-off, confirming Mateer will have “no limitations.”

And here we are. Venables played the waiting game, calling a timeout with ten ticks left. But Mateer’s follow-up toss went straight into enemy hands, and there came his interception No. 2. With three minutes thirty-seven seconds left on the first quarter, Mateer threw his fourth interception of the season and first against Texas. Venables’ quarterback looked for his tight end, Jaren Kanak. But Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad had other plans. He read it perfectly and picked it clean. 

Did Venables push his quarterback too soon despite the injury? Or are Mateer’s flaws finally catching up to him? Well, looks like the fans do not care about the reason and drag the quarterback through the mud in the comments section.  

Fans lose patience with John Mateer for being the troublemaker against Texas

Maybe the problem is not with Mateer ending up with three. It’s probably how it could have been more than three. This made a fan come up with a sarcastic comment on Mateer, “Bro playing for both teams at this point 😭🏈.”  With 11:33 left in the fourth quarter, the Longhorns failed to capitalize on Mateer’s interception. Otherwise, the count would have been bigger.

Again, in the third quarter, Mateer threw two passes that could’ve been intercepted on that drive. This made an upset fan jump to a conclusion: “Don’t even nominate a QB for the Heisman this year.” As per the latest odds, Mateer led the Heisman odds race at +750. Will he be able to hold the charm after Saturday’s nosedive?

The first half was the lowest-scoring half in a Red River Rivalry game since 2009. And another fan whipped up some sharp jab for Mateer to lessen the pain, which they felt seeing their team lose. He wrote, “does he know which team he is playing for? i see the jerseys are similar colors possibly mans is color blind?” Looks like things have deteriorated for Mateer because in the entire 2024 season, his interception count was seven. 

Mateer was clearly rusty after spending time away from football. His stats for the night? Apart from three interceptions, he came with 38 passing for 202 yards and 3 interceptions. A frustrated fan commented, “Yikes, Mateer’s third INT is a straight-up nightmare for OU! 😱 Tossing picks like confetti in the Red River Rivalry – Texas is feasting while Sooners fans are sweating. 🤘 Time for a comeback or this one’s slipping away!” Mateer had a hard time rushing, while he held onto the ball far too long, taking 5 sacks.

Remember how George Stoia defended John Mateer being “little bit more proven” than the Texas quarterback? At the beginning of September, Mateer stood at +800 odds and Manning at +1300 odds. And that’s what made a fan have a good laugh, “I was told by OU fans he was better than Arch ??? 🤣” Manning has been inconsistent in his first full season as a starter, with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions in five games. Let’s see how Brent Venables does damage control now.