NORMAN — Brent Venables and his coaching staff have had discussions with Jackson Arnold about the quarterback’s future in the weeks following his demotion from starter to backup. Specifically, Venables and Arnold have had discussions about whether the sophomore will redshirt this season to preserve a year of eligibility after being supplanted by Michael Hawkins Jr. as QB1 for the Sooners.
“It’s been discussed between us,” Venables said. “What was told to Jackson was, ‘If we put you in, it’s because we need you to help us go win.’ We’re certainly sensitive to everything. We’re not sitting here with our head in the sand or naïve to what it is, but man, he’s a great teammate. He wants to be the starting quarterback at the University of Oklahoma.”
Arnold has appeared in four games this season, which is the NCAA limit for allowable appearances in order for a player to redshirt. The former five-star quarterback started each of Oklahoma’s first four games of the season after taking over the starting role at the end of last year’s regular season following Dillon Gabriel’s transfer to Oregon.
Arnold was paraded as the new face of the program throughout the offseason, even being one of Oklahoma’s three player representatives at SEC Media Days in July, but he struggled through his first four starts as OU opened its inaugural SEC season. In four games, Arnold completed 59.8% of his passes for 538 yards and seven touchdowns, but he had issues with turnovers — throwing three interceptions, including a pick-six against Tulane, and losing a pair of fumbles against Tennessee in the SEC opener.
***JOIN SOONERS ILLUSTRATED NOW AND GET 30% OFF AN ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP***
The five turnovers, paired with some questionable decision-making and inefficient all-around play as Oklahoma’s offense meandered out of the gate this season resulted in Arnold getting benched shortly before halftime of the Tennessee game. His benching came after his third turnover of the half, as he twice lost fumbles on the Sooners’ first offensive play after the defense forced a turnover in Vols territory.
He was replaced by Hawkins, the true freshman and former four-star recruit, who had some success in the second half while leading OU’s offense to a pair of touchdowns in a 25-15 loss. Hawkins has maintained the job since, helping Oklahoma to a fourth-quarter comeback victory at Auburn before last week’s debacle in a 34-3 loss to top-ranked Texas, in which he completed 19-of-30 passes for 148 yards and lost a fumble. Afterward, Venables said there was no thought of making a quarterback change against the Longhorns.
Venables announced Monday night that Hawkins will continue to serve as Oklahoma’s starter heading into this weekend’s game against South Carolina, which is set for an 11:45 a.m. kickoff Saturday at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (SEC Network). Arnold has not seen the field since his benching against Tennessee.
“His focus and his priority is with the team, where he is right now,” Venables said of Arnold. “He’s practiced extremely well the last couple of weeks. I feel that it’s only right to give Mike the opportunity to be the quarterback and to have, again, a body of work that says he either is or isn’t the right guy…. You want to give guys an opportunity to show how well they can quickly pick up those things and execute them on gameday, things of that nature.
“Jackson’s been fantastic, all things considered. He’s taken it in a really toughminded way, and he’s ready to play. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t still be here every day.”
As it stands, Arnold’s redshirt is still intact. That’s subject to change, however, depending on if Venables and the offensive staff, including offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, feel the need to call his number in the second half of the season whether due to injury or because they believe it gives Oklahoma the best chance to win a game.
It’s also worth recalling that Oklahoma initially planned to redshirt Arnold last season during his first year on campus. However, that plan changed at halftime of the BYU game in mid-November, when Gabriel sustained a concussion and was sidelined for the second half of that game. Arnold guided Oklahoma to a hard-earned road win in Provo, Utah, that afternoon in what was his fifth appearance of the season. He went on to see the field in the regular-season finale against TCU before making his first career start in the Alamo Bowl against Arizona.
For as tough a situation as Arnold has been in this season, ceding the starting job to Hawkins after 3 ½ games, by all accounts he has comported himself well in the weeks since his benching.
“He’s a competitor,” center Troy Everett said. “Obviously, he wants to go out there and play. I’d be worried if he was just kind of over there like, ‘Eh, it’s going to be OK.’ But every single person wants to get out there and compete. I’ve talked to Jackson multiple times one-on-one, just trying to talk to him because college football is hard, and you got to learn a lot of life lessons once you get in here.
“For him, he’s learning a life lesson right now, and he’s handling it amazing — a lot better than I probably would’ve handled it myself. I’m proud of him, and I think it’s going to make him a better football player and a better man for it.”
