It's one thing for a sophomore to step into the starting quarterback role at a prestigious program like Oklahoma football. Jackson Arnold, though, must perform with that pressure on top of the school's transfer to the SEC this season, which is the sport's deepest conference.

Arnold opened up about his mindset coming into the season, via The Oklahoman's Colton Sulley.

“That was the biggest thing for me this offseason, was going into a situation where I knew I was going to be the guy,” Arnold admitted. “I knew that all these coaches had faith in me to go out and perform. For me, just building that leadership and the toughness that it takes to be the quarterback at, not only a Power 4 school, but at the University of Oklahoma. Just having the offseason to really prepare myself for what I was walking into was huge for me to build chemistry with my coaches and my teammates.”

Arnold was a prolific high school player, as he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2022. The Denton, Texas native also received the Landry Award, which is given to the top high school football player in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Arnold stepped into the starting role this year following Dillon Gabriel's transfer to Oregon. The 20-year-old had a good start to his 2024 campaign on Friday, completing 17-of-25 passes for 141 yards and four touchdowns in the 51-3 victory over Temple.

How can Arnold keep his momentum as the level of competition increases?

Jackson Arnold has support at Oklahoma football

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While the Sooners got the job done against the Owls, they need to do improve on third downs, via Sports Illustrated's Ryan Chapman.

“I think it’s just us getting behind the chains early on and getting in third and long situations,” Arnold said on Friday. “I think for us, for most OC’s, like 30 percent is really good for completion percentage on third, say, 10-plus. So I think getting behind the chains early on really hurt us.”

Oklahoma was just 1-for-12 on third down, which won't cut it once conference play begins. However, Arnold is confident that his chemistry with offensive coordinator Seth Litrell will help.

“Having a whole offseason to really know Coach Littrell, know his offense, know his coaching style and how he coaches really helped us create chemistry and create connection for this game tonight,” Arnold said. “I loved all the plays he called tonight and obviously called it good enough for us to score 51 points. Or I guess 44.”

Arnold's next chance to impress will come on Saturday against Houston at home.