Oklahoma's Jackson Arnold burns redshirt; QB1 job unclear

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables was noncommittal about the immediate future of the Sooners' quarterback position after benching first-year Michael Hawkins Jr. in Saturday's 35-9 loss to South Carolina, the latest low point of the season set and returned to second year Jackson Arnold Program 1-3 comes to life in the SEC.

Oklahoma stood by Hawkins in Week 8 after the Sooners lost 34-3 to Texas on Oct. 12. But after committing turnovers on each of Oklahoma's first three drives on Saturday, Hawkins helped the Gamecocks build a 21-0 lead in just 5 plays:20 – Venables and Co. turned back to Arnold, the former five-star prospect who hadn't played since being 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 worst home loss since a 45-24 loss to Ohio State in September 2017. With his fifth appearance this fall, Arnold will no longer be eligible to play a redshirt in 2024, giving him 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 game against No. 18 Ole Miss.

“We will talk about it when we are clear about what happens next,” Venables said. “But three drives in a row with turnovers – that’s a pretty easy decision.”

Hawkins, the freshman from Dallas, hadn't thrown an interception in 10 quarters as Oklahoma's starting quarterback before Saturday. The tide began to turn for 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 became.

The Gamecocks converted Hawkins' fumble into a 36-yard touchdown return on the next series, and the quarterback's day ended with Emmanwori's 65-yard pick-six on the ensuing drive, giving South Carolina a 21-0 lead with 9:40 left The lead came in the first quarter. Arnold stopped the bleeding with 9:24 left in the opening period and later provided one of Oklahoma's few highlights of the day with his 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 fall. According to ESPN Research, the loss marked the first time since 1998 that Oklahoma was held under 10 points in consecutive games.

“There were some that were good and some that weren’t good,” Venables said of Arnold’s performance. “But he did a lot of good things today. We also have to be good around him.”

After an undefeated streak in non-conference play, Oklahoma has lost three of its first four SEC games. Despite losses to Texas and South Carolina, the Sooners are now 69-12 outscored in the last eight quarters of football.

“What we put out as a football team today doesn’t come close to the standard here at the University of Oklahoma,” Venables said.

Oklahoma faces top-ranked SEC opponents in four of the Sooners' final five regular season games. Oklahoma follows its Week 9 visit to Ole Miss with November contests against No. 19 Missouri (Nov. 9), No. 7 Alabama (No. 23) and No. 8 LSU (Nov. 30).

A little relief should come when Maine visits Norman on Nov. 2, but the Sooners begin the rest of the season on shaky ground and with no certainty about the quarterback position.

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