Oklahoma’s quarterback situation has turned into a familiar kind of unease, the sort Brent Venables and the Sooners would rather not know so well. After Georgia overwhelmed OU and John Mateer’s three straight turnovers fueled 14 quick Bulldog points - capped by a fumble near the goal line that Georgia returned 85 yards for a touchdown - the conversation around the position got louder fast.
Venables and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said they talked about pulling Mateer at halftime. They stayed with him, but as Oklahoma heads into its bye, his hold on the starting job is still up in the air.
That uncertainty fits a long OU history of changing quarterbacks when things go sideways. Sometimes the move comes because the offense is spiraling.
Sometimes it comes because of injury. And sometimes it’s simply because the Sooners have no choice.
That was the case after Tennessee’s brutal first half in Oklahoma’s SEC opener, when Jackson Arnold’s fumbles and interception pushed Venables and then-offensive coordinator Seth Littrell to bench the five-star first-year starter for backup Michael Hawkins Jr. Hawkins handled a tough spot well enough to matter, leading two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter of a 25-15 loss.
That performance earned him the job for the next four weeks. Hawkins then became the first true freshman in conference history to go on the road and win his first career start when Oklahoma found some Sooner Magic against Auburn.
But the momentum didn’t last. After a crushing loss to Texas in the Cotton Bowl, Hawkins’ first nine plays against South Carolina produced two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, plus a fumble that was also taken back for a score. Arnold was put back in against South Carolina and finished the season as Oklahoma’s starter, going 2-3 over the final five games, including an upset win over Alabama in Norman.
Hawkins later returned to the starting role for OU’s bowl loss to Navy after Arnold said he planned to enter the transfer portal.
There’s also the Caleb Williams chapter, still impossible to separate from Sooner memory even with his eventual transfer. Against Texas, Spencer Rattler opened with two three-and-outs, then threw an interception and lost a fumble before Lincoln Riley made the switch.
Williams entered for a QB dive on fourth-and-1 with OU down 28-7, then ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run. Later, with the score 35-17, he came back in to finish the first half and guided a field goal drive.
From there, Williams sparked a comeback for the ages and played out the rest of the year for Oklahoma, except for a rough outing in Waco against the eventual Big 12 champion Baylor Bears. Riley kept juggling Williams and Rattler before settling on Williams for the rest of his OU tenure.
The same Texas matchup produced a very different outcome the year before, but it still ended with a quarterback change. Rattler started hot in 2020, going 5-for-8 for a touchdown, then lost the ball on a fumble and threw an interception.
Riley responded by benching him for Tanner Mordecai for the rest of the half. Oklahoma recovered well enough to go into halftime tied at 17, and Rattler returned after the break to lead two touchdown drives for a 31-17 lead.
The game still went off the rails in the fourth quarter, forcing OU to win after four overtimes. Rattler remained the quarterback the rest of that COVID-influenced season and helped Oklahoma beat Florida in the Cotton Bowl.
In 2014, the quarterback switch was tied to injury during a season remembered more for offensive frustration than anything else. As Baylor was blowing out Oklahoma in Norman, Trevor Knight was carted off after a hard hit.
Cody Thomas took over and started the rest of the season, going 2-1, with the lone loss coming in the “re-kick” Bedlam defeat to Oklahoma State. Knight returned to start in the bowl loss to Clemson, where Venables was in his third season as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator.
The 2013 season showed another version of the same volatility. Knight beat out Blake Bell for the starting job entering the year, but an ankle injury in Oklahoma’s second game - a 16-7 win over West Virginia - opened the door for Bell.
Bell beat Notre Dame, Tulsa and TCU, helping an undefeated Sooners team reach Dallas. Then came a rough Cotton Bowl loss to an average Texas squad.
Bell bounced back with wins over Kansas and then-undefeated Texas Tech before losses to Baylor and an injury against Iowa State.
Knight returned and led Oklahoma to a 48-10 win over Iowa State and a 41-31 victory at Kansas State. Against Oklahoma State, Knight got hurt again.
Bell had been both the starter and backup during the year, but Kendal Thompson was the one who entered next. Thompson started the second half and managed just one scoring drive - a fake field goal touchdown - across five chances.
Bell then came back in the fourth quarter and led the game-winning drive, sending Oklahoma to the Sugar Bowl against Alabama, where Knight would become an OU folk hero.
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