Oklahoma QB John Mateer coughs up ball 3 times in second quarter; No. 2 Georgia romps struggling Sooners

The second quarter of Saturday's game between No. 2 Georgia and Oklahoma couldn't have gone much worse for Sooners quarterback John Mateer .

He turned the ball over three times, throwing one pick and losing a pair of fumbles.

The first of those giveaways was the most embarrassing.

With Oklahoma trailing 14-0 and threatening to make it a one-score game, the fifth-year signal-caller coughed the ball up near the goal line. He rolled to the left off a play fake, opened his hips as if he was going to throw, then proceeded briefly before trying to attempt a pass that never was.

The ball slipped out of his hand, bounced backward and was collected by Georgia linebacker Chris Cole , who galloped for an 85-yard scoop-and-score.

That 14-point swing made it 21-0 in the Bulldogs ' favor. Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC) ran away with a 41-13 victory at home.

Oklahoma (2-2, 0-1) went 2 of 14 on third down, 1 of 3 on fourth down and committed 4 turnovers, off which the Bulldogs scored 17 points.

Cole had himself a banner day. Midway through the third quarter, he already had six solo tackles and a sack. He finished with eight total tackles, including seven solos. Plus, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior flew like the wind en route to that defensive score.

He also picked up Mateer's next fumble, later in the quarter.

Facing a fourth-and-1 from the Oklahoma 43-yard line, Mateer faked an end around and evaded a blitzing Cole, only to then be wrapped up by linebacker Raylen Wilson , who jarred the rock loose by the sideline.

It stayed inbounds, as Cole gathered the fumble and raced 23 yards to the Sooners' 11, giving him 108 total yards on fumble returns Saturday.

Two plays after that, running back Chauncey Bowens found the end zone on a 6-yard rush to extend Georgia's lead to 28-0.

Sandwiched in between those fumbles was Mateer's pick. On third-and-9 from the Bulldogs' 43, Oklahoma snapped the ball to Mateer in shotgun. Soon enough, his clean pocket collapsed.

By the time he fired, he had a defender in his face. His pass over the middle was well short of wide receiver Jacob Jordan and was nabbed by Bulldogs safety KJ Bolden , who broke a couple tackles on a 29-yard interception return .

Mateer, a former Washington State QB who was a Heisman Trophy favorite early in his first go-around with the Sooners, is off to a head-scratching start in 2026. He came into the campaign healthy after navigating a hand injury that required surgery and clearly affected him down the stretch last season.

And yet, he completed merely 51.5% of his passes in a 17-10 loss to a Michigan team that was unranked following its near loss to Western Michigan in Week 1.

Last week, against Mountain West upstart New Mexico , Mateer tossed a pair of interceptions. The Sooners barely won that game, 14-10.

Since a 51-0 shutout in its season opener versus UTEP, Oklahoma has scored a combined 37 points in its past three games.

Meanwhile, Georgia is coasting through the first part of its regular-season slate. It wasn't perfect Saturday, either, but its defense and 130 rushing yards were enough to make a sizable difference.