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Oklahoma football was forced to make a quarterback change early this season. True freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. replaced Jackson Arnold during the Sooners' loss to Tennessee after Arnold had struggled mightily to move the ball. The results for the offense as a whole with Hawkins Jr. at the helm have been mixed, but the youngster adds a dimension with his scrambling ability that Arnold hasn't been able to.
On Tuesday, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was asked if they had considered redshirting Arnold since he has only appeared in four games and is now the backup, and Venables said that they had given it some thought but hadn't made a final decision on whether he would be redshirting, according to George Stoia III of Sooner Scoop.
“He wants to be the starting quarterback at the University of Oklahoma,” Venables. said, per Stoia III. “I feel like it’s only right to give Mike the opportunity a chance to be the guy and have a body of work.”
In nearly three full games, Arnold completed almost 60% of his passes with 588 yards and seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Hawkins has thrown for 458 yards and one touchdown this year while adding 128 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Oklahoma struggling to tread water in first year in SEC
Oklahoma's transition to the SEC has been a rocky one as they still try to recover from the loss of Lincoln Riley and reestablish themselves as a college football powerhouse under Brent Venables. After a couple of shaky wins against Tulane and Houston early in the season, the Sooners got dominated by Tennessee and Texas and have clearly fallen into the middle of the pack in the conference.
The quarterback play, both from Arnold and Hawkins Jr., hasn't been great, but it's not the biggest problem either. The offense isn't very explosive with either player behind center, and it's hard to tell what Oklahoma's bread and butter is that it can go to in order to get consistent yards.
The offense looked especially overwhelmed against Texas, when it mustered just three points and converted just four out of 15 third downs. On the other side of the ball, the defense is competitive and has been a good unit throughout this season, shining against Tennessee as the Sooners tried to scrap their way back into the game. However, they're not the kind of elite unit that can carry Venables and company in games where the offense is shut down.
There's a chance that change will come with time as Venables recruits more talent and gets his feet firmly cemented as Oklahoma's head coach. However, the drop off from Riley to the former Clemson defensive coordinator has been clear so far, and the SEC is taking advantage.
