John Mateer gets real with how the week went for him leading up to Red River Rivalry vs. Texas Longhorns
John Mateer and the Oklahoma Sooners did not look good in the Red River Rivalry against Texas.
Saturday in Dallas, Texas, was not what the Oklahoma Sooners, or any fan, media member, or supporter of the football program expected. The Sooners were held without a touchdown against the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry, and quarterback John Mateer didn’t look good at all.
Before this game, Mateer was listed as questionable during the week, as he was 17 days post-operation on his broken thumb, the thumb on his throwing hand. But that had nothing to do with it.
“The pain level is nothing, I was ready to go physically,” Mateer told reporters after the game. “Mentally, I didn’t perform; my eyes weren’t as good as they needed to be. When your quarterback doesn’t play good football, it’s hard to win in this league. Honored to play in the game, but I just didn’t play well enough… I got to practice a good amount.
“It has nothing to do with how I performed. I was ready to play, I studied the film the same way, I just didn’t come out ready to play… I learned a lot about myself and this journey over the last 17 days. Physically, I did well, but I wasn’t prepared. That’s my fault.”
John Mateer’s stats vs. Texas in Red River Rivalry
- 20/38 passing, 52.6 completion percentage
- 202 passing yards
- 5.3 yards per completion
- 0 touchdowns, rushing or passing
- 3 interceptions
- 14 carries for 5 yards rushing, after the sacks
- Longest rush was 10 yards
Mateer’s thumb and lack of prep played a part in the bad play
You love that Mateer is at least real with everyone about owning up to the fact that he played badly. However, it’s clear the thumb played a role in his poor performance, because he just wasn’t ready to play in this game. Now, he won’t say that, because no player, or most, will say when they are hurt and that playing hurt affected them. However, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out his thumb on his throwing hand was impacting his throws.
There are so many plays in this game that point to the thumb being an issue, and some of them aren’t even throwing plays. He would run the ball, and he didn’t have the same level of urgency with the ball in his hands as before. And when he landed, it was always in a way that you could tell he was worried about his hand, which is fine.
On the throwing plays, though, there are a ton that just weren’t on line with the receiver, whether it be an airmail ball, a throw ahead of the receiver, or thrown behind the receiver. Some of that was due to pressure, and most of it was the thumb hindering the ability to throw it. Mind you, he played 17 days post op. And don’t even get me started on the fact that he held his hand and shook it after a play; it got him thrown out of the game.
Mateer had some bad timing plays with his receivers, and some when he just shouldn’t have even attempted a throw, and that’s where the mental part he referenced comes in. Think about how hard it is to prep for a game while also doing all your thumb rehab and not fully practicing.
But the Sooners move on to next week.
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