The Michigan Wolverines’ defense will have their hands full on Saturday night against one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the country.
Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer was impressive last week in his first game with the program after transferring over from Washington State. Mateer was 30-of-37 in Week 1 against Illinois State, throwing for 392 yards with three passing touchdowns, one interception, and one rushing score.
Mateer, who’s 6-foot-1 and
224 pounds, is a dual-threat quarterback who put up stellar numbers at Washington State last season. Mateer passed for 3,139 yards last season with a 64.3 completion percentage, 29 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Mateer also rushed for 826 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. Mateer can run, but he’s not a gimmicky quarterback — he can sling it and Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore is aware of the challenge Mateer presents.
“He’s a gunslinger. People keep comparing him to Baker Mayfield because he’s a shorter quarterback, but he’s got his differences. He’s a quarterback that can make every throw, off-schedule throws,” Moore said. “He can run the football. We’ve got to do a good job of keeping him off schedule, but making sure that he can’t just free windows and covering guys up when they’re downfield, because they do have speed on the outside lanes to run. And O-line is good. We have to have a great plan to keep him rattled and change the picture on him so he’s not comfortable.”
Even when Mateer is rattled, he doesn’t make an abundance of mistakes. In Washington State’s four losses last season, Mateer threw just two interceptions despite being pressured heavily and being sacked 14 times in those losses, including eight times against Boise State. Even if there’s no surefire way of bottling up Mateer, pressuring him frequently will at least give Michigan’s defense a fighting chance.
“Very good athlete. He can throw on the run pretty good,” Michigan edge rusher TJ Guy said. “We’re going to have to keep him contained, minimize what he can do, and keep our eyes on him at all times. He’s a playmaker for sure.”
While there aren’t many negatives to think of when evaluating Mateer’s production, Maize n Brew’s Kyle Yost pointed out that Mateer completed under 50% of his passes against Power Four opponents (Texas Tech, Washington) with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
“He’s a tremendous athlete. I think he’ll be a good challenge for our defense to see how we handle it,” Michigan linebacker Cole Sullivan said. “We have to try to limit his playmaking ability as best as we can. I think we’re just excited to go out and see what we can do.”
Michigan’s defense hauled in three interceptions last week and tallied three sacks as well. If the Wolverines’ D can somehow put up similar numbers against Mateer, it’ll likely mean Michigan came out as road underdogs versus Oklahoma. However, it’ll be easier said than done. Mateer looks like the real deal.
