The Oklahoma Sooners haven't had the season they hoped for up to this point. The Sooners made the College Football Playoff last season and were ranked No. 10 in the preseason, but after starting 4-3, Oklahoma is unranked heading into Week 9.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer has played a key role in the struggles this season. Mateer has thrown for 1,591 yards, 11 touchdowns, and seven interceptions this season, while completing 66.7% of his passes. The turnovers have been a big issue for Mateer; he has nine total (two fumbles) this season. That includes two games with three turnovers.

However, he's coming off arguably his best performance as a Sooner. He completed 22-of-29 passes for 283 yards and two scores with no turnovers against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. He opened up about the challenges he's faced this season.

"It's been a challenge, as you can imagine," Mateer said via Sooners Illustrated. "I've thought I prepared well all year for every game. You keep going, and you get better every week at one thing, and it's encouraging. It's hard to look at the things that suck, but I'm going to be honest: in the third quarter, I thought, 'Well, I played well for 44 minutes last week, and I woke up on Sunday and felt terrible.' So, nothing matters... So, I said I don't want to wake up (Sunday) morning feeling some type of way. I want to win. I wanted everyone to feel good."

Mateer's performance against Mississippi State gave him a foundation to build on as Oklahoma enters the second half of the season. By eliminating turnovers and completing more than 75% of his passes, he showed what the offense can look like when he combines his playmaking with sound decision-making. The challenge now is sustaining that level of execution rather than treating one strong outing as the solution to every problem.