Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer turned the ball over three times in the first half Saturday, Sept. 26, and No. 2 Georgia rolled to a 41-13 win.

The Sooners fell to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in SEC play at Sanford Stadium in Athens. A crowd of 93,033 watched Georgia improve to 4-0.

"To compete and win the game, obviously the number one priority is taking care of the football and certainly we failed miserably in doing that," coach Brent Venables said after the game.

Venables and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said they discussed pulling Mateer during the game. Arbuckle told Sooners Wire the staff "discussed all options on the headset" but kept Mateer in for every snap.

The turnovers masked a statistically decent passing day. Mateer completed 25 of 34 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns. Georgia's defense bottled up OU's ground game, holding the Sooners to 65 rushing yards on 35 carries, the OU Daily reported. Mateer himself managed just 7 yards on 15 attempts.

OU's defense showed fight in the second half. Sophomore defensive back Omarion Robinson intercepted Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton to open the third quarter, giving the Sooners the ball at the Georgia 35. Mateer cashed in with a 17-yard touchdown pass to sixth-year tight end Rocky Beers, cutting the deficit to 28-6.

Cornerback Courtland Guillory forced a fourth-quarter fumble from Bowens, and the Sooners recovered at the Georgia 37. But senior kicker Tate Sandell pushed a 54-yard field goal attempt left.

Sophomore wide receiver Manny Choice scored his first career touchdown on a 14-yard catch from Mateer with 3:23 left. That made the final score 41-13.

The turnovers continued a pattern for Mateer. After throwing two interceptions in OU's 14-6 win over New Mexico on Sept. 19, he told Sooners Wire: "I'm tired of getting up here and saying that I keep making mistakes and this and that, and I believe it'll change …"

Six days later, the mistakes got worse.

Oklahoma enters a bye week before facing No. 1 Texas in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday, Oct. 10, in Dallas.