“I just didn’t perform”: Oklahoma QB John Mateer gets brutally honest about struggles after rushing back from hand surgery

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer returned unexpectedly for the Red River rivalry against the Texas Longhorns, 17 days after undergoing hand surgery after injuring his right hand in a controversial win against the Auburn Tigers. Mateer was not able to stop the Longhorns dominating the Sooners in a 23-6 win to hand coach Brent Venable's team its first loss of the season.

The former Heisman Trophy frontrunner went 20-of-38 for 202 yards, resulting in three touchdowns, while adding five rushing yards. During his postgame news conference, Mateer refused to blame his poor performance on his injured hand.

“Yeah, the pain level is nothing,” John Mateer said. “There’s no excuse. I was ready to go physically, but mentally I just didn’t perform. My eyes weren’t as good as they needed to be, and when your quarterback doesn’t play good football, it’s hard to win in this league. "That’s what happened. Honored to play in the game, get to see the atmosphere. But I just didn’t play good enough. I got to practice a good amount. It has nothing to do with how I performed. I was prepared and I studied film the same way. I just didn’t come out ready to play.”

John Mateer praised for toughness after Red River clash

Before he was injured, John Mateer had been having a stellar season for the Oklahoma Sooners. Despite a shaky performance against the beleaguered Texas Longhorns, led by quarterback Arch Manning, Sooners coach Brent Venables praised his quarterback's toughness during his postgame news conference.

“He (Mateer) epitomizes the guts and the toughness. Loves to compete. He loves his teammates," Venables said. "A week ago playing Kent State, he wanted to put the pads on. He didn’t want to be in the shorts, the hat, the sunglasses, jewelry and everything else. He wanted to be with his teammates in pregame. He wanted to be every part of game day. "He’s incredible. He went through all the protocols and all those kinds of things. Everybody’s body heals and responds differently and their ability to – there’s a pain piece to it and ability to grip the ball and the fundamental things you need to throw the football and hand it off and all those type of things. No surprise, whatsoever, who John is.”

John Mateer has registered 1,417 passing yards, resulting in six touchdowns and six interceptions, while adding 195 rushing yards on 57 carries, resulting in five touchdowns for the Sooners this season.

Edited by Cabral Opiyo