You never want to see your starting quarterback go down with an injury, but the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners got bad injury news at a bad time. John Mateer, a Heisman-hopeful quarterback for the Sooners, is going to miss time with a broken bone in his right (throwing) hand that he suffered in the first quarter of Oklahoma’s controversial 24-17 win over Auburn.
Mateer underwent surgery on Thursday, and although it was successful, he’s expected to be out of game action for about a month. That means the Sooners will have to turn to backup quarterback, sophomore Michael Hawkins Jr., in Mateer’s stead.
For his part, head coach Brent Venables says he feels confident in what Hawkins can do for the Sooners. He does have starting experience. He started four games in 2024 as a true freshman.
“He just has put together a really good body of work over the last several months, and he’s always had a great work ethic and he’s always been really coachable,” Venables said of Hawkins, according to ESPN. “He’s hungry, he’s humble and ultra talented.”
Michael Hawkins Jr. will be feeling the pressure at Oklahoma
Hawkins may be “hungry, humble and ultra talented,” but this is going to be a pressure-packed situation for a backup quarterback to walk into.
Oklahoma is 4-0, and the Sooners have to feel like they’re a playoff contender. Hawkins will have a “warm-up game” against Kent State on Oct. 4, but the Sooners’ next three games after that feature No. 10 Texas in the Red River Rivalry game, a game on the road at South Carolina and a home against versus No. 13 Ole Miss.
The game against the Rebels is on Oct. 25, which means it will be exactly a month from Mateer’s surgery. There’s no guarantee he’ll be back for that one or the following week either, a road game against No. 15 Tennessee.
Brent Venables believes in his backup quarterback
Hawkins threw for 783 yards and three touchdowns last season with two interceptions. He also rushed 69 times for 204 yards. He’s a former four-star recruit out of McKinney, Texas. He was ranked as the No. 20 quarterback in the 2024 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. Some of his quarterback “classmates” include Julian Sayin of Ohio State, DJ Lagway of Florida and Dylan Raiola of Nebraska.
This is a big spot, but Venables is saying all the right things about his new starter.
“He’s a guy that understands that to play quarterback, you have to do a great job being good at just making layups,” Venables said. “And don’t try to win the game the first series of the game.”
It’s once again time for Hawkins to show what he’s made of in Norman.
