Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold burns redshirt; QB1 job unclear

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables was noncommittal on the immediate future of the Sooners’ quarterback position after he benched first-year passer Michael Hawkins Jr. and returned to sophomore Jackson Arnold in Saturday’s 35-9 loss to South Carolina, the latest low in the program’s 1-3 start to life in the SEC.

Oklahoma stood by Hawkins in Week 8 after the Sooners’ 34-3 loss to Texas on Oct. 12. But after Hawkins committed turnovers on each of Oklahoma’s first three drives Saturday — helping the Gamecocks build a 21-0 lead in just 5:20 — Venables & Co. turned back to Arnold, a former five-star prospect who had not played since he was benched in the Sooners’ Week 4 loss to Tennessee.

Arnold completed 18 of his 36 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown in relief as Oklahoma suffered its largest home defeat since a 45-24 defeat to Ohio State in September 2017. With his fifth appearance this season, Arnold is no longer eligible to take a redshirt year in 2024, leaving him with two years of eligibility after this season.

After the game, Venables gave no indication of how the Sooners plan to move forward at quarterback ahead of their Week 9 trip to No. 18 Ole Miss.

“We’ll talk about that when we figure that out as far as moving forward,” Venables said. “But three straight drives with turnovers — that’s a pretty easy decision.”

Hawkins, a freshman passer from Dallas, had not thrown an interception across 10 quarters as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback before Saturday. The tide began to turn on Hawkins when he was intercepted by South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori on the first play from scrimmage, setting up a five-play, 41-yard touchdown drive capped by  Raheim Sanders’ three-yard scoring run.

The Gamecocks converted Hawkins’ fumble on the next series into a 36-yard touchdown return and the quarterback’s day ended on Emmanwori’s 65-yard pick-six on the ensuing drive that put South Carolina up 21-0 at the 9:40 mark of the first quarter. Arnold entered to stop the bleeding with 9:24 left in the opening period and later provided one of Oklahoma’s few highlights with a 54-yard touchdown strike to Brenen Thompson after halftime.

But Arnold was sacked eight times in his first action since Sept. 21 and the Sooners finished under 300 yards of total offense for the fifth time this season. Per ESPN Research, the defeat marked the first time Oklahoma was held under 10 points in consecutive games since 1998.

“There was some that was good and some that wasn’t,” Venables said of Arnold’s performance. “But he did a lot that was good today. Again, we’ve got to be good around him.”

After an unbeaten run through nonconference play, Oklahoma has dropped three of its first four SEC games. In losses to Texas and South Carolina, the Sooners have been outscored 69-12 over their past eight quarters.

“What we put out there today as a football team is nothing remotely close to the standard here at the University of Oklahoma,” Venables said.

Ahead for Oklahoma are matchups with ranked SEC opponents in four of the Sooners’ five final games of the regular season. Oklahoma follows its visit to Ole Miss with November games at No. 19 Missouri (Nov. 9), No. 7 Alabama (Nov. 23) and at No. 8 LSU (Nov. 30).

A slight reprieve should come when Maine visits Norman on Nov. 2, but the Sooners embark on the rest of the season standing on shaky ground and without certainty at the quarterback position.

“The leaders in the locker room, I feel they’re going to continue to fight and stay committed,” Venables said. “That’s one of the hardest things to do.”