John Mateer and 5 more college football quarterbacks who might need to be benched

The 2026 college football season has already featured many quarterbacks who have struggled for their teams, expected and unexpected. Now a quarter of the way through the year, it is time to decide which of these should continue to play and which should be shuffled aside to make room for someone else on the roster.

Some teams can still make a successful season with the right move and others are a lost case. Will this make a difference in the decisions? It should!

Byrum Brown, Auburn Tigers

When Alex Golesh came over from UCF to take over the reigns from Hugh Freeze, there were two questions. Why did Freeze last so long and how would Brown acclimate to the SEC with his unorthodox throwing motion?

While the first will never be known, the answer to the second one to this point has been a resounding, not well.

Not only is his delivery an issue at this point, so is his desire to stare down his intended receiver like they are a piece of perfectly cooked steak. This, added to his slow delivery, allows opposing secondaries the ability to jump routes for interceptions and pass breakups. 

Currently, Brown has five touchdowns to four interceptions through the air. On the ground, he has 180 yards and two touchdowns. It was just last season when Brown finished with 1,008 yards and 14 touchdowns for the season. So, these numbers show a clear regression being in the SEC and against better competition. Most of which he has not faced yet.

Although these stats are not completely disastrous, they are not what the coaching staff has wanted. Even more so than his stats, his inability to find the correct receivers and backs on the field has also become a point of contention. Auburn has starting the season by struggling with Baylor before losing to Florida at home in Week 3.

This week brings in Vanderbilt and freshman five-star quarterback Jared Curtis for Auburn. If Brown and the Tigers cannot find success against this defense, it will be time to think about moving on and starting sophomore Tristan Ti’a.

Ashton Daniels, Florida State Seminoles

This one is simple yet complicated. 

Ashton Daniels was not even the first choice for Florida State in the transfer portal. But, with the limited funds made available to coach Mike Norvell, Daniels was all he could afford, and now the Seminoles are regretting buying Walmart when they needed Nordstrom’s. Or even Kohl’s.

So far in 2026, Daniels has thrown for just 327 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while rushing for 101 yards with two touchdowns.

Daniels failed at Auburn in 2025 and never should have been given a starting job at a different school for 2026.

If Norvell wants the next coach at Florida State to get a chance to see either Kevin Sparry or early enrollee Jaden O’ Neal, he can bench Daniels now and make the move. If he wants to give himself any chance of winning and saving his job, Daniels, sadly, is still the best option.

We will learn a lot about how Norvell feels by the way he ends up managing this situation at quarterback. 

JuJu Lewis, Colorado Buffalo

Even if Colorado head coach Deion Sanders wanted to move on from Lewis, at this point he couldn’t.

After such a spectacle around Lewis coming in and being handed the keys by Sanders, he would be unable to do anything at this point.

Sanders, rather than looking at the whole issue, would rather put blame on a few others and remove them from the team and state that they were the real problem.

Much like others, it is difficult to see the trees through the forest when you refuse to even admit there is a forest in front of you.

Lewis and Sanders are tied together. At least for the rest of the 2026 season. After that, Sanders may decide to leave for health reasons or Lewis may decide to get true development at another program the way Dante Moore and Dylan Raiola have both done at Oregon.

Until the end of the season comes and these decisions are made, Lewis will be the starting quarterback for Coach Prime and the Buffaloes. 

John Mateer, Oklahoma Sooners

John Mateer came into Oklahoma’s starting lineup and was supposed to be the missing link. Despite a season full of ailments in 2025, Mateer was able to lead Oklahoma to the playoffs and a first-round home game against Alabama. Oklahoma lost this game. But coach Brent Venables got an extension out of it. So, that is all that matters.

Last year, Mateer finished with 2,885 yards in 12 games with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. This season has not been any better, with Mateer having just 652 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions as Oklahoma is struggling with offense under Mateer.

After scoring 51 points in a shutout of UTEP in Week 1, Oklahoma scored just 24 points in their last two games against Michigan and New Mexico. With Georgia on tap for this eek in Athens, their next game also does not look like  it has potential for another offensive explosion. 

Backup quarterback Whitt NewBauer, who sounds like a Harvard trained lawyer, is a transfer from Mercer where he finished 2024 101-of-179 passing for 1,398 yards, 12 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. This was his only significant playing time as he is only 3-of-5 passing for 12 yards during his time with the Sooners.

Mateer will not get Oklahoma to the playoffs this season unless a lot of changes are made with him and the entire offense. With the game against Georgia coming Saturday, and the next game being against Texas in the Red River Rivalry, the first chance to make the move is in three weeks. By that point, the season may already be over, and the move will just be a matter of why not. 

Marcel Reed, Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M was a playoff team in 2025 after finishing the season 11-1. But they were paper tigers, as the only solid team they played was Texas in Week 12, a game that ended in a loss. 

After this, the Aggies played Miami in the playoff game at Kyle Field and despite the 105,000-strong crowd, the Hurricanes won the game 10-3.

This season has been much of the same for quarterback Marcel Reed and the Aggies, who started the season with wins over teams with far less talent. In their first game against a Kentucky team that has had an upgrade in talent under Will Stein, the Aggies and Reed folded again at home. This time, losing 31-21. For the fifth time in the Aggies' past seven games, Reed threw multiple interceptions. In those games, Texas A&M has a record of just 2-3.

With the 2026 defense not being as good as the 2025 team, and with Reed struggling again despite the extensive experience, it is time for Reed to sit. At least for a week. This way he can get his head right and get a different viewpoint from the sidelines. Something that can help him overall, which is what is most important.

Sitting him permanently for sophomore Brady Hart may not be the right answer. But it will allow A&M to see what they will have next season in Hart, while also letting Reed regroup. Now is the time to do it before the season goes on too long and there is no chance to come back from the dregs. 

Bryce Underwood, Michigan Wolverines:

Underwood’s struggles have been well documented. So, there is no reason to relitigate them here.

Michigan, which has not looked good so far this season, is still undefeated and in the thick of the College Football Playoff race. Underwood has been a large part of the success, as he accounted for both touchdowns in Michigan’s Week 1 victory over Western Michigan. He also led the Wolverines past Oklahoma in Week 2.

If coach Kyle Whittingham truly feels that backup quarterback Tommy Carr is a better option for Michigan to compete, then he needs to make the move. But, coming into the recruiting class late, after switching his commitment from Miami of Ohio to Michigan as a three-star prospect, Carr is different from being a five-star and the top player in the country.

Underwood still has a massive talent advantage over Carr. Whether or not he is using it to the full effect is debatable. But, if the Wolverines are still in the hunt for a playoff berth, Underwood needs to remain the starting quarterback for the team. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow