FORT WORTH — Sitting right next to his counterpart in Friday’s Armed Forces Bowl, Oklahoma’s Brent Venables didn’t want to disrespect Navy coach Brian Newberry.

But as their joint press conference unfolded Thursday morning at the Omni Hotel, the Sooners’ head coach almost immediately began fielding questions about OU’s 2025 quarterback race.

It’ll be true freshman Michael Hawkinswho starts in Friday’s 11 a.m. kickoff at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium. But with OU closing out a moribund 6-6 regular season, everyone’s eyes have already turned to newcomer John Mateer the hot-shot transfer from Washington State who will be reunited with his old offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, when spring practice begins in March.

“Excited about John,” Venables began. “I’ll try to keep this to the game that’s in front of us right now, but John’s a leader. He’s experienced. He’s got great arm talent. Really good instincts. He’ll make us better.”

A few questions later came a follow-up on Mateer — the moment he told Venables he wanted to play for the Sooners, the build-up to that moment, and what it means for the future of OU football to land the consensus No. 1-ranked player in the transfer portal.

I’ll keep it brief,” Venables warned, “just kind of on-task here. John, he grew up here in the Dallas area and is very familiar with Oklahoma. Certainly, Coach Arbuckle coming, there’s a great familiarity and comfort for him, but we’re incredibly thankful he chose to be a Sooner. It’s a very competitive space, as everybody knows. I appreciate the coaching staff for what they are able to do in convincing him to come and just improving that room. We had to really start over in that room, and it’s in a much different space now than what it was just a couple weeks ago, as we know.”

Now, of course, Sooner Nation’s attention turns to Hawkins and his fourth career collegiate start. He’ll have a tough time of it against a Navy squad that is expert-level at disguising defenses and creating pressure and swarms to the football with an older, experienced roster.

But Venables was impressed with Hawkins’ proclamation two weeks ago that he’s still at OU because OU is where he wants to be. His experience against the Midshipmen could serve to help or hurt his case when spring football kicks off in a few months.

“No doubt, the more you play, the better you get,” Venables said. “You go through the good and the bad, everything that you got to go through in order to develop. Mike’s taken it like a pro. He’s the same guy every day. He’s a quiet leader, but he’s ultra-consistent, very competitive, focused and locked in. He’s got a maturity about him that is priceless, and he values practice reps, what that — the mindset that you got to have and what that means for you on gameday.

“He understands that you play the game well before the game happens. I appreciate that mindset he possesses, and that bleeds over into the other guys around him as well. We do have some veterans that have really helped him and embraced him. I think the defensive players as a group have also really helped with his growth and maturation and his confidence along the way. I think the staff has done a really nice job at supporting Mike and helping him grow up.”

His teammates have also taken notice of Hawkins’ preparation and professionalism, as well as other traits he displayed last spring, during the summer, in training camp and even  during the season when he was the backup, then won the starting job, then was demoted again to Jackson Arnold’s backup.

“His energy and passion,” said linebacker Kobie McKinzie. “Man, for what that guy has gone through this year? Just getting battered and keeps showing up. … It’s just infectious out there.”

McKinzie said “everything’s a mind game,” especially when it comes to football — and especially from quarterback.

”Mike’s always been a guy who’s felt like he has to prove nothing,” McKinzie said. “That’s what I love about him. A lot of quarterbacks you see that they like all of the sudden get this chip on their shoulder, they’ve got to be somebody that they’ve never been, and Mike’s never been that guy. One thing that I would tell Mike and I would tell John, which I’m excited for both of them, is competition brings out the best of everybody.

“Either the best or the worst. It doesn’t matter who you are. If Tom Brady was in the NFL today, they’d bring somebody in to replace him. That’s literally the name of the game. Every year they’re supposed to do that, and so I’m excited for both of them, honestly.. I want the best quarterback, whoever that is.”