Oklahoma Sooners QB John Mateer may have used the bye week in the perfect way to help with his biggest issue on the field
The Oklahoma Sooners need John Mateer to play better at quarterback if they want a chance to beat Texas.
The Oklahoma Sooners used their bye week to fix a few things. They used that bye week to decide to stick with quarterback John Mateer. Now, if things get bad this week, next week could look very different. But for now, he is the quarterback.
And, you hope that they fixed some of the offense up. Let’s be honest, there’s no way the offense could be completely fixed in one bye week. I’m not sure anyone has those expectations. But you want to see them be more efficient. You want to see them move the ball more. And most importantly, you want to see Mateer play with more confidence.
After their last game, it was clear Mateer had lost confidence. And who wouldn’t? He had three catastrophic turnovers. After the game, Brent Venables and Ben Arbuckle said Mateer lacked confidence. So, how did he spend the bye week fixing that?
John Mateer talks bye week and his confidence
“I had a good break personally,” Mateer told reporters on Monday night after practice. “We had some great practices. I got to hang out with some of the guys, go out to dinner, and reset. It gets all football, and you don’t really get time to do that anymore; you do, just not as much as in the offseason. So, it was good being around the guys.
“We are ready to go. You know, we got to sit back and look at where we are at, and we are ready to go. I’m more excited [than this time last year]. It’s the game, and everyone is excited to play. In a rivalry, for this team and for the guys. Last year was what it was, and it taught me a lot, but I’m ready to play this game.”
When you watch this offense, it’s clear Mateer struggles to make decisions in time. And that’s because he’s not confident. That’s leading to late decisions. Those late decisions lead to turnovers and incomplete passes. In turn, that leads to possessions that don’t last long.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Mateer is not the only player playing bad. Just about every player on offense is playing bad. You have to hope he used the bye week not only to work on his game, but also to get his mind right. Texas will be tough, but they are beatable.
