NORMAN — Remember when John Mateer was favored to win the Heisman Trophy and Ben Arbuckle was being floated for head coaching jobs?
It wasn’t even six weeks ago.
The package duo from Pullman, Washington, was the pride of the prairie. Mateer was doing his best Baker Mayfield impression and Arbuckle was the second coming of Lincoln Riley. And with a vintage Brent Venables defense backing them up? The vibes were exquisite.
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But life comes at you fast in the SEC.
The once 5-0 Sooners have lost two of their last three games. Mateer hasn’t looked like the same guy post-hand surgery. Which is understandable, of course, no matter how much he swears that his hand is not the issue. Regardless, he’s been inaccurate. He’s not seeing the whole field, which has nothing to do with his hand. His timing and decision-making seems askew. He’s not the same instinctual runner we saw in September.
OU’s offensive woes aren’t all on Mateer. The offensive line is shaky. The run game is inconsistent. There’s not a true No. 1 receiver. The novelty of Jaren Kanak has worn off. The onus is on Arbuckle to figure things out.
But nothing is ever as good or bad as it seems. And maybe that’s the lesson with these Sooners — this OU offense specifically.
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MUSSATTO: Can OU football replicate magic of Sooners’ 2000 Red October in tough November slate?
After being too quick to anoint Arbuckle and Mateer in September, let’s not bury them after an up-and-down October. Because who knows what to expect in November? OU kicks off the month in Knoxville, Tennessee, in what will be a virtual College Football Playoff elimination game between the Sooners and Volunteers.
Maybe Mateer can channel Mayfield’s magic of 10 years ago.
“Just get your arm around him, talk, (be) open and honest with him,” Venables said Tuesday when asked how to handle Mateer. “Try to help him manage the burden of expectations and the burden of responsibility.”
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Venables was blunt, though.
“I’ve said this a lot: You’re playing good people, you can’t have a quarterback that plays poorly and expect to win, but you don’t have to play perfect to win, either,” Venables said. “You just have to manage the game well.
“For the most part, he’s done a really good job with that … The success that we’ve had has been because he’s done a great job of playing well at all the right times.”
Mateer was clutch in big wins against Michigan and Auburn. His two worst games, Texas and Ole Miss, have coincided with OU’s two losses.
“It’s no secret, and John’s said it, he didn’t play his best ball,” Arbuckle said Tuesday of the Ole Miss game. “I don’t think that’s all on John. Were there moments where you’d like for him to be on point and deliver the ball where it needs to, or make the toss when he needs to? Absolutely. But I also look at myself in the mirror whenever that happens.”
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Sep 6, 2025; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) hugs offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle after the game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
As for what Arbuckle’s self-evaluation looks like after a game?
“You watch it a couple of times for a few different things,” he said. “You watch it, one, to see how the flow of the game went. You watch it to see the execution of what you called, and you watch it to see, ‘Would I have done something different in that situation?’”
Those aren’t the only questions Arbuckle asks himself.
“How can I be better at practice?” he continued. “How can I be better at installing a gameplan to leave zero gray area and have maximum clarity? … That’s the biggest part of the self-evaluation piece for me, is how can I have these kids play in such a way that they’re going to be successful?”
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Overall, the Sooners are a team with a superb defense and stodgy offense.
The Sooner defense, with Venables serving as the primary playcaller, ranks first among SEC teams in yards allowed per game (240.3) and yards allowed per play (3.91).
The Sooner offense, in Arbuckle’s debut season, ranks 10th among SEC teams in yards per game (376.5) and 13th in yards per play (5.5).
Mateer has graded out as the 13th-best quarterback (fourth-worst) in the SEC, according to Pro Football Focus. Auburn’s Jackson Arnold, Florida’s DJ Lagway and Kentucky’s Cutter Boley are the three SEC quarterbacks with worse grades than Mateer.
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CARLSON: Brent Venables and his OU football defense got Lane Kiffin’s wrath — and they deserved it
Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) runs the ball during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Ole Miss Rebels at Gaylord Family Ð Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Ole Miss won 34-26.
The SEC’s best quarterback, per PFF? Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar. Advantage Vols at the quarterback position Saturday.
OU has failed to top 30 points in each of its last 15 games against Power Four opponents — a streak that dates back to November 2023, when OU beat TCU 69-45 in the Big 12 days. Jeff Lebby was OU’s offensive coordinator.
Those 2023 Sooners, albeit against an inferior schedule, ranked third nationally in total offense. Dillon Gabriel led the Big 12 with 30 touchdown passes against six interceptions. He completed 69% of his passes.
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Mateer has thrown eight touchdowns against six interceptions in seven games played. He’s completed 64% of his passes.
In hindsight, we underhyped the Lebby/Gabriel offenses of 2022 and 2023 — both of which ranked tops in the Big 12 in yards per game.
Similarly, we overhyped (raises hand) the Arbuckle/Mateer duo through the first five games of this season— three of which came against Illinois State, Temple and Kent State.
Give it another six weeks, though. Our minds might change again.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Can Ben Arbuckle, John Mateer pull OU football offense out of rut?
