Oklahoma star quarterback John Mateer is getting set to miss a lot of time as he will undergo surgery on Wednesday on an injury to his throwing hand he suffered during Saturday’s win over Auburn, head coach Brent Venables announced Tuesday.
Brent Venables said in the release that Mateer is expected to return at some point this season.
“After consulting with medical experts, it became clear that surgery is the best option for John and his short- and long-term future,” Venables said to 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.”
Breaking: Oklahoma QB John Mateer will undergo surgery Wednesday to address a right-hand injury he sustained against Auburn, head coach Brent Venables announced.
Venables said the expectation is that Mateer will return to action sometime this season. pic.twitter.com/LaVfJRFNAl
— ESPN (@espn) September 23, 2025
As the 2025 college football season continues, multiple players have emerged as hopefuls for the Heisman Trophy.
Quarterback John Mateer was certainly one of them, and now he is expected to miss a handful of games due to his upcoming surgery.
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This is back to back months for Mateer having to deal with something off the field. Last month, Mateer faced some serious accusations following a screenshot of Venmo transactions denoting sports gambling surfacing online.
What Do The Sooners Do Without John Mateer?
Unfortunately for Oklahoma Sooners fans, quarterback John Mateer will be down for a few games after receiving surgery to repair an injury to his throwing hand during last week’s victory over the Auburn Tigers.
He was easily one of the frontrunners for the Heisman before this unfortunate news.
Mateer is expected to miss about a month, and Oklahoma hopes to have him back before the end of October.
Losing him hurts since Mateer ranked second nationally with 351.3 yards of total offense per game. He rushed for at least one touchdown and passed for one touchdown in each of his last 10 games. That is a ton of offensive power that is not going to be around for some time.
In the meantime, Oklahoma will start Michael Hawkins Jr. in its next game against Kent State. The team hopes to win that game and then head into its bye week before it has to go to Texas on Oct. 11.
