Oklahoma QB John Mateer shares clear stance on potentially winning Heisman Trophy in 2025

The Oklahoma Sooners have a new quarterback to look forward to in 2025. Former Washington State signal-caller John Mateer decided to transfer to Oklahoma back in December.

He reunites with former Washington State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ben Arbuckle, who signed on as Oklahoma's new offensive coordinator just days before Mateer decided to transfer.

Speaking to George Stoia of On3’s Sooner Scoop of Heisman Park, Mateer said that winning a Heisman would be nice, but at the end of the day, his focus is winning football games for Oklahoma.

“It’s pretty clear. I don’t think about it every day,” Mateer said. "I want to win games and if you win a lot of games, that could happen … That’d be cool, but I want to win games.”

Syndication: The Oklahoman - Source: Imagn

Mateer enters an Oklahoma program that is rich in quarterback history as of late.

The likes of Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray were the program's latest to win the Heisman Trophy in recent years. Jalen Hurts, who is fresh off his first-ever Super Bowl victory, finished runner-up during his Oklahoma tenure. Now, Mateer is the next man up and hopes to continue that rich tradition in 2025.

Mateer could be exactly what the Sooners need to man their offense in 2025. He comes off a season in which he threw for 3,130 yards, 29 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.

The dual-threat also ran the ball 178 times for 826 rushing yards and a whopping 15 touchdowns. During the 2024 season, Mateer faced two power conference teams early in the year, beating both Texas Tech and Washington.

John Mateer hopes to help Oklahoma turn things around in 2025

Oklahoma finished up the 2024 season with a disappointing record of 6-7, with a two-game losing skid to close out the year. The Sooners also lost their bowl game appearance, dropping the Armed Forces Bowl to the Navy Midshipmen.

Coach Brent Venables hoped the addition of John Mateer could help his program get back to a winning record. They finished with an overall record of 10-3 in 2023 (played in Big 12).

Of course, it will be no small task for Oklahoma, which needs to compete in a talent-packed SEC conference that includes programs such as Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and many more.

It will be interesting to see if Mateer will be the missing ingredient that Oklahoma needs to get back into playoff contention in 2025.