A three-year-old rivalry game isn’t supposed to crash back into headlines, but here we are. Riley’s win over UCLA in November 2022 is now back in the conversation for all the wrong reasons. On Monday, images began circulating online that appeared to show Oklahoma QB John Mateer making a payment regarding USC’s win over UCLA. The Venmo payment screenshot was labelled as “Sports Gambling (UCLA vs USC).”

The NCAA strictly prohibits student-athletes from betting on college games. Upon deeper digging, if this allegation is proven true, it could invite serious trouble for Mateer. But Mateer added the controversy head-on, posting an alleged Notes app statement that read, “The allegations that I once participated in sports gambling are false. My previous Venmo descriptions did not accurately portray the transactions in question but were instead inside jokes between me and my friends. I have never bet on sports.” He went on to acknowledge the optics. “I understand the seriousness of the matter, but recognize that, taken out of context, those Venmo descriptions suggest otherwise. I can assure my teammates, coaches, and officials at the NCAA that I have not engaged in any sports gambling.”

Then, like a spark on dry grass, a post from Christopher Oven lit up: “The last Oklahoma QB to issue a notes app statement won the Heisman later that year, btw.” That post was a clever reference to Baker Mayfield‘s 2017 season, in which the then-Oklahoma star apologized publicly via the Notes app for his controversial sideline gesture against Kansas. Despite the controversy, Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy that year. History doesn’t repeat itself perfectly, but it does like to rhyme. And Oven was simply hinting that OU QBs can endure mid-season drama and occasionally even turn it into a winning Heisman.

When Baker Mayfield’s “middle-finger moment” appeared on television, it was the talk of the town. He also made the well-known Notes app apology at the height of the commotion, which is the same PR tactic that has caused people to draw comparisons between John Mateer’s current Venmo mess and Mayfield’s 2017 chaos. The Sooners’ QB is juggling the oddest off-season imaginable. Controversy on one hand, the spotlight on the other.

Josh Pate bets big on Mateer amid Venmo controversy

The Oklahoma QB piled up 3139 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and an additional 826 rushing yards and 15 scores on the ground. Josh Pate, one of the sport’s most influential voices, has Mateer put behind Florida’s DJ Lagway in his quarterback rankings. Pate pushed back on critics who knock Mateer’s throwing motion: “I’m going to tell you who’s close behind (Lagway), though, that many, many more people are sleeping on, is John Mateer at Oklahoma. I’ve bought all the John Mateer stock. I’ve got a John Mateer Heisman Trophy ticket in my back pocket. I couldn’t be higher on him,” Pate noted.

He further added, “There are people out there who question his mechanics who have not the slightest clue about quarterback mechanics or throwing mechanics. You want to see a sidearm throw, you want to see different arm angles, watch him on the run. Watch him throw the ball on the run.” Pate urged fans to watch Mateer on the move, noting his precision on deep balls and his knack for throwing from unorthodox arm angles. “Watch the accuracy mid-range, downfield,” adding that John Mateer’s “improbability is elite.”

As the season unfolds, all eyes will be on whether Mateer’s journey ends under New York’s bright lights or gets cut short by the shadow of the alleged Venmo scandal.