Oklahoma Sooners addition tops list of player who will impact Playoff

The Oklahoma Sooners haven’t been to the College Football Playoff since 2019. Before the current five-season drought from the CFP, Oklahoma had made four out of the five previous playoff fields. With the playoff expanding, the Sooners hope to make it back in 2025, the second year of the 12-team field.

If OU is able to make it back to the CFP, they’ll likely do so on the shoulders of new transfer portal quarterback John Mateer. The FBS leader in total touchdowns a season ago followed offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle from Washington State to Norman. That duo is hoping to return the Sooners offense to form in 2025.

The 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game featured a pair of transfer portal quarterbacks leading their teams on deep playoff runs. Will Howard led the Ohio State Buckeyes to the title, and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard was the spark that led the Fighting Irish to the title game.

Can John Mateer have the same impact for Oklahoma?

College Sports Wire and For The Win’s Patrick Conn ranked the top 12 transfer players that could have an impact on the College Football Playoff race. Mateer was the No. 1 name on the list.

Looking back at the Oklahoma Sooners, who were 6-7 in 2024, one area that severely lacked was the quarterback play. The team moved on from Seth Littrell as playcaller and brought in Ben Arbuckle to run the offense. Arbuckle is from the Air Raid coaching tree. He served under Zach Kittley at both Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky, now he brings his quarterback John Mateer from Washington State. – Conn, College Sports Wire and For The Win

Mateer’s leadership and talent have already been on display in spring football, but it’s a big step up to the SEC from what was essentially a Mountain West schedule a year ago.

Mateer finished the 2024 season, playing in 12 games with a 64.6…

Source link : https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/sooners/football/2025/04/07/oklahoma-sooners-football-john-mateer-college-football-playoff/82967377007/

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Publish date : 2025-04-07 14:12:00

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