Michael Hawkins Jr. 'looking forward' to quarterback battle with John Mateer

Oklahoma will have an all-new offense next season after their hire at offensive coordinator in Ben Arbuckle. However, who will be running that offense is still to be determined between the returner in Michael Hawkins Jr. or the transfer in Washington State’s John Mateer.

Following the final game of the season in a 21-20 loss for the Sooners to Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl, Hawkins Jr. commented on the change in offense for OU. He and the rest of their team are looking forward to it in improving what they were doing this past season on that side of the football.

“Yeah, it’s a great opportunity for everyone,” said Hawkins Jr.. “I think the biggest thing for everyone else as an offense is just get the offense down as quick as you can together and get the chemistry right. Build Team 131 as an unbelievable team going into this season and just, you know, sticking together.”

As for the quarterback battle they’ve now set up between him and Mateer, Hawkins Jr. gets it. He also thinks they needed to add another player at his position. Now, he’s anticipating the competition against the top pickup in the portal during this cycle.

“You know, bringing a guy in. I think we need a guy. That’s just – we need a guy in that room,” Hawkins Jr. said. “John Mateer is a great guy. I talked to him, had breakfast. So he’s a great guy to be around. So I’m looking forward to that.”

Hawkins Jr. said this after what was the fourth start out of seven appearances as a true freshman. Behind or in place of Jackson Arnold, Hawkins Jr. was 76-120 (63.3%) for 783 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also had 69 carries for 204 yards and another score. That included his best outing in their bowl loss against the Midshipmen on Friday. He completed 65.1% of his throws for 247 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 61 more yards.

As for Mateer, he will now come to Norman after his first season as a starter at Wazzu under Arbuckle, who was the Cougars’ offensive coordinator. Together they posted the No. 8 scoring offense in the nation at 36.6 ppg. while averaging 442.8 yards. Mateer manufactured much of that with nearly 4,000 yards of offense himself while scoring 44 touchdowns.

Oklahoma will be wanting a better offense after one of their worst years for that unit in this century. With Arbuckle in place, it’s now about determining whether it’ll be Mateer or Hawkins Jr. as the QB1 of it between now and kickoff in August.