NORMAN — John Mateer hopes his outing at Mississippi State will be a breakthrough. 

The Oklahoma quarterback “forgave” himself and put together an efficient performance. 

He focused on playing steady — not getting too excited or too down on himself, depending on the outcome of each play against the Bulldogs. 

The mindset worked in Starkville, but the Sooners have better defenses ahead. 

This year, Mateer has had a propensity to unravel when he makes a major mistake — something he’ll have to avoid to keep OU chugging along over its final five games. 

“You just gotta play each play separately of the other one,” Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said on Tuesday. 

Arbuckle believes that Mateer’s leadership style is a positive, but it does cause Mateer to take everything on his own shoulders. 

“He carries a lot. He wears a lot,” Arbuckle said. “That’s what it takes to be the quarterback at Oklahoma. I think he does a really good job of internalizing it and not letting moments get too big for him.”

The return of offensive tackle Michael Fasusi will help the offensive line throughout the rest of the season, but the Sooners need Mateer to be able to overcome mistakes and not tank the turnover battle. 

One key to that going forward, Mateer said, will be to focus on the task at hand every drive instead of dwelling on the past. 

 "It's just staying in the moment,” Mateer said. “Things are gonna happen. It's an imperfect game. That's why everybody loves it. That's why it's the greatest game. 

“You can learn so much. But yeah, just staying in the moment, knowing who I am, trusting in the week of preparation and just playing free. One play could go bad, but the next play matters."

Mateer resisted the urge to don a Superman cape at every turn against the Bulldogs, instead dumping the ball off to his running backs instead of holding onto the ball and opening the door for negative plays, which is something that can help him as the Sooners battle much better defenses for the rest of the year. 

“I thought what he did such a good job of the other day was making the play whenever it had to be made,” Arbuckle said. “Then taking the easy stuff that went with it, too. Not trying to do too much. Not trying to do too little. He just played his game and was confident out there.”

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