THE Heisman Trophy frontrunner is set to miss an extended period of time due to injury.
Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer will miss around a month after suffering a broken hand.
Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer is set to miss an extended period of time[/caption]
Mateer is undergoing surgery for a broken hand[/caption]
Oklahoma announced that Mateer will undergo surgery for the injury to his throwing hand.
His injury came in the first quarter of Oklahoma’s 24-17 win over Auburn.
According to ESPN, Mateer’s surgery is scheduled for Wednesday in Los Angeles with Dr. Steven Shin.
Shin is known as one of the top hand/wrist surgeons in the country and has done work on players like Drew Brees and Stephen Curry.
“After consulting with medical experts, it became clear that surgery is the best option for John and his short- and long-term future,” Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said.
“He’s extremely disappointed he will miss some game action but is eager to correct the issue and move forward.
“As he is with everything, we know he will be aggressive with his rehabilitation and work to return to the field as quickly as possible.”
Losing Mateer is a huge blow to Oklahoma’s push for the playoffs this season.
The team was off to a 4-0 start with him under center, with ranked wins over Michigan and Auburn.
Mateer already passed for 1,215 yards with six touchdowns this season.
He was also the team’s leading rusher with 190 yards and five more touchdowns.
Mateer’s hot start propelled him to the favorite in the Heisman race, but now it will be nearly impossible for him to win the award.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is now the favorite.
According to Venables, sophomore Michael Hawkins Jr. will take over as the team’s starting quarterback.
He will debut against Kent State on October 4.
College football top 25 rankings
BELOW are the AP top 25 rankings of college football’s best programs.
- Ohio State (3-0)
- Miami (4-0)
- Penn State (3-0)
- LSU (4-0)
- Georgia (3-0)
- Oregon (4-0)
- Oklahoma (4-0)
- Florida State (3-0)
- Texas A&M (3-0)
- Texas (3-1)
- Indiana (4-0)
- Texas Tech (4-0)
- Ole Miss (4-0)
- Iowa State (4-0)
- Tennessee (3-1)
- Georgia Tech (4-0)
- Alabama (2-1)
- Vanderbilt (4-0)
- Michigan (3-1)
- Missouri (4-0)
- USC (4-0)
- Notre Dame (1-2)
- Illinois (3-1)
- TCU (3-0)
- BYU (3-0)
*Poll released on September 21
Hawkins started four games for Oklahoma last season, passing for 783 yards and three touchdowns.
He will be in line to start against Oklahoma rival Texas on October 11 as well.
Oklahoma has six more ranked opponents on the schedule before the regular season ends.
There is no telling how many of those games Mateer will miss.
