Why Oklahoma’s 2025 Quarterback Edge Could Redefine College Football’s Future

The buzz around the Oklahoma Sooners is impossible to ignore this offseason, and for good reason. Snagging John Mateer from Washington State has folks around Norman feeling optimistic like never before — I mean, we’re talking a serious upgrade at the quarterback spot, which has been a tough pill to swallow the last season. Remember 2024? Yeah, Oklahoma was playing catch-up at QB for most matchups, especially against those SEC powerhouses — definitely not the norm for a program used to dominating under center. Here’s the kicker: J.D. PicKell, a sharp mind covering college football at On3 Sports, thinks the tide is turning for the Sooners thanks to Mateer. He even broke down Oklahoma’s 2025 schedule on his podcast, spelling out games where the Sooners might sneakily hold the QB advantage — and it’s against some big names too, like Michigan, Texas, and Alabama. It feels like the pieces are finally falling into place for Oklahoma, with Mateer and new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle aiming to rewrite the playbook for Year 2 in the SEC. Excited? You should be. LEARN MORE

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X@Aaron_Gelvin.By all reports, the Sooners look to have a quarterback in the saddle again who can change games for them in a positive way. Mateer and new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle are trying to make sure that Year 2 in the SEC goes differently than Year 1 did for Oklahoma and head coach Brent Venables.PicKell believes Oklahoma has the quarterback advantage against Michigan (Bryce Underwood), Auburn (Jackson Arnold), Texas (Arch Manning), Ole Miss (Austin Simmons), Tennessee (Joey Aguilar), Alabama (Ty Simpson/Austin Mack/Keelon Russell) and Missouri (Beau Pribula). He declined to say the Sooners have the QB edge against South Carolina (LaNorris Sellers) and LSU (Garrett Nussmeier).

“The schedule for Oklahoma and the quarterback matchups they have, I think it’s very, very sneaky that Oklahoma, I think, is gonna have the advantage in a lot of those games,” PicKell said on his podcast, “The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell.”We just went through that entire schedule and there’s two games that you’re talking about a superior quarterback for the opposite side, as we sit here right now,” PicKell said.

Going through OU’s 2025 schedule, PicKell proceeded to say which games he believes the Sooners have the QB edge in, excluding matchups against lesser competition like Illinois State, Temple, and Kent State.When the Oklahoma Sooners made the offseason addition of former Washington State quarterback John Mateer, they made a massive upgrade at one of the most important positions on the team.

In 2024, for the most part, OU was at a QB disadvantage against almost every team they played, especially in the SEC. That’s extremely uncommon for a program that is used to having the better player under center. J.D. PicKell, who covers college football for On3 Sports, believes that the script has flipped in Norman, due to the presence of Mateer.