Somebody’s going to pay, John Mateer promises. Maybe even all of ‘em.
For the love of all things Oklahoma, pump that Crimson and Cream attitude, that Sooner Magic bravado, deep into the veins of the suddenly stale program.
They've hitched their immediate future to this straight-shooting, no frills, uber-talented quarterback with something to prove. To the quarterback no one wanted out of high school, whose football path unceremoniously unfolded from tiny Central Arkansas, to Washington State ― to now you’re all going to pay.
Every last one of you who passed on him.
“I’m from the south, and all of these SEC teams recruit the south,” Mateer told USA TODAY Sports. “So I guess they all passed on me.”
He pauses for a moment, understanding the enormity of the statement and how it will land in an SEC world where it’s not religion, it’s your very existence.
“Even Oklahoma passed on me,” Mateer continues. “So now it’s great. It’s all on the schedule. There’s a couple (teams) here and there that really make me mad. I’m not over it.”
This is the future of Oklahoma football, everyone. It’s equal parts Baker Mayfield and Cam Ward (more on that later), and embattled Sooners coach Brent Venables.
In one season as a starter at Washington State, Mateer threw for 3,139 yards and 29 TDs, and rushed for 826 yards and 15 TDs. No wonder Venables threw a load of NIL money at his spirit animal.
Show change, be change, as Venables likes to preach.
“His intensity, his focus is off the charts,” Venables said.
But this isn’t a story of chasing NIL dollars. Mateer was happy at Washington State, loved his coaches and teammates and the bucolic yet quirky town in Eastern Washington.
He played high school football in Texas against Ashton Jeanty, who like Mateer was ignored by power conference schools until he showed out. He knew Jeanty turned down a large NIL payday to stay at Boise State and build a legacy ― then went out and did it.
It wasn’t easy for Mateer to walk away from the one program that gave him an opportunity to play Bowl Subdivision football, that plucked him from a commitment to Central Arkansas and told him he would sit and learn behind another rags to (money) bags story named Ward.
Mateer waited two seasons, and got his first opportunity to start in 2024. Three months later and after accounting for 44 touchdowns – a bigger and better season than anything Ward produced in Pullman – Cougars coach Jake Dickert knew what was next.
“He’ll be the most sought-after player in the transfer portal,” Dickert said.
It is here where we connect the dots, and explain the subtleties of player procurement in the current environment of college football. Two days after ...
