"He played a D2 school": CFB fans refuse to believe in John Mateer after breaking Baker Mayfield's record in Oklahoma debut

Fans reacted as John Mateer impressed on his debut as the Oklahoma Sooners' starting quarterback. In their season opener against the Illinois State Redbirds on Saturday, the Sooners secured a dominating 35-3 victory.

The quarterback completed 30 of 37 passes attempted for 392 yards and three touchdown passes, along with one rushing touchdown.

In the process, John Mateer broke the previous Oklahoma debut passing yards record set by Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield in 2015. In that year's season opener against Akron, Mayfield had recorded 388 yards and three TDs passing in a 41-3 victory.

Fans shared their reactions to Mateer breaking Mayfield's program record.

"Played a D2 school dawg," one commented.

"'It's Illinois State' let us have this, we had to suffer through a Jackson Arnold-led passing offense last year," one said.

"My pick for the Heisman trophy," another wrote.

"Reminds me of Cam Ward, guys go off at Wazzou and the next school they go," one said.

"You outmached Illinois State so much they didn't even have a spread available lol," one wrote.

"Give him the Heisman," another commented.

Mateer began his collegiate journey with Washington State in 2022. He was their starting quarterback for two years. During his three-season stint, the quarterback played 24 games and recorded 3,406 yards and 32 TDs passing.

In December 2024, Mateer joined the Oklahoma Sooners after Jackson Arnold transferred to the Auburn Tigers.

John Mateer shares thoughts on scintillating debut for Oklahoma against Illinois State

In the post-game press conference, John Mateer opened up about his impressive performance in the season opener against Illinois State.

The quarterback expressed his gratitude for being able to play high-level college football and expressed his love and passion for the game.

"I would say it's a relief," Mateer said. "It's just joy and passion is for football.

"Like I didn't, you know, I didn't come here for the media. And so we could get, I could get the hype. I came here to play football at a high level and to do that and that was awesome. You know, not because of the reactions it's going to get out to anybody."

The Sooners next take on the Michigan Wolverines on Sept. 6. It will be broadcast on ABC at 7:30 p.m. ET.

About the author

Priyam is a College Sports content executive at Sportskeeda with a master's in Advertising and Marketing Management and over two years of experience as a writer. When it comes to reporting, Priyam believes doing a technical deep dive is one of his biggest strengths and he loves to dissect plays on the field and factor out the strengths/weaknesses of players.

A fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Priyam sees Nick Saban as the greatest coach of all time. He is also rooting for Alabama quarterback Jalen Milore after following his progress over the years. The Michigan Wolverines football team is another of his favorite programs and it will be interesting to see how both these teams perform in new coaching eras.

When he’s not reporting, Priyam is usually at the gym or indulging in music. He has been a guitarist and a drummer for the past 17 years and finds his time of peace when playing music.

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Edited by Bhargav