Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer struggled to produce in Saturday’s 21-13 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats. He completed 24 of 40 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown but threw three interceptions.

Mateer’s performance drew significant backlash and criticism after the game. However, Oklahoma Sooners coach Brent Venables defended his quarterback despite the disappointing showcase.

“I saw improvement,” Venables said as per OU reporter George Stoia III. “Played well most of the game. .. I thought he battled his (expletive) off. … I thought he did really good stuff that we can build confidence from.”

Fans on social media disagreed with Venables and called him out.

One fan said:

“Unacceptable statement. This is OU.”

Another added:

“This program is cooked until BV is gone.”

One fan said:

“This is tone def. I thought the standard was the standard.”

John Mateer spent his first three seasons of college with Washington State. He then entered the transfer portal and joined the Oklahoma Sooners last season. In his debut campaign with the program, the quarterback threw for 2,885 passing yards and 14 TDs while rushing for eight TDs. Mateer helped the Sooners make the playoffs. However, Alabama eliminated them in the first round.

Before Saturday’s game against Kentucky, John Mateer threw for 1,038 yards and eight TDs, with four interceptions.

John Mateer shares his thoughts after disappointing loss to Kentucky

In the postgame presser, John Mateer said that they needed to brush up on the basics to be more productive on offense. The quarterback also said he needs to focus on improving his passing game.

“We need to do the basics better,” Mateer said. “Just get the ball to the open guy. Find him, check the play and make it happen. Just believe in the plays. Coach has been calling good plays. I just got to make it happen.

“I feel good. Going into every week confident, and I’ll find a way to go into the next week confident. It’s a game. Every week’s the season. I know who I am. I feel good and the guys are rolling. I’m proud of them. We just got to finish.”

Oklahoma will next face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Oct. 24.