Bad News: Hand injury sidelines Mateer
The Sooner’s season dimmed Tuesday with the news that QB John Mateer will undergo right hand surgery Wednesday that will likely sideline him for the next month.
Head coach Brent Venables said he expects Mateer, who is No. 1 on most Heisman watch lists, to return to the field at some point in the season, but when is up in the air.
Mateer sustained the injury to his throwing hand early in Saturday’s exciting win over Auburn. The fact he finished with 271 yards passing and one touchdown through the air while also rushing for a score in the fourth quarter is remarkable, considering he was playing with a fractured thumb.
“After consulting with medical experts, it became clear that surgery is the best option for John and his short- and long-term future,” the Oklahoma coach told reporters. “He’s extremely disappointed he will miss some game action but is eager to correct the issue and move forward. As he is with everything, we know he will be aggressive with his rehabilitation and work to return to the field as quickly as possible.”
Sooners go 4-0 with 24-17 slugfest win over Auburn
Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer resurrected a floundering offense for a late fourth quarter come-from-behind 75-yard touchdown drive and a tenacious Sooner defense scored a safety on its school record 10th quarterback sack of the game in Oklahoma’s 24-17 slugfest win over Auburn.
The Sooners go 4-0 for the season, likely meaning they will be undefeated in early October entering the Red River Shootout against Texas.
Mateer completed 24 of 36 passes for 271 yards for one touchdown and he ran for one touchdown. He completed 16 of his last 17 passes in the game.
His 9-yard go ahead touchdown run with 4:54 left in the game turned out to be the winning score, but it was the OU defense’s control of Auburn QB Jackson Arnold, who was pitted against his former team, that was the story for most of the game.
Pass rusher R Mason Thomas, who had to sit out the first half because of a targeting infraction the week before, sacked Arnold to sealed it. He also sacked Arnold in his first play of the second half.