Sooners HC Brent Venables attempts to answer the question everyone is asking regarding 2025 season
This is probably not how Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold imagined his second season going, and his first season as a starter. He played a few times last season when Dillon Gabriel was out, and the potential screamed at you when you watched him. He had the thing you look for in your young quarterback, […]
This is probably not how Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold imagined his second season going, and his first season as a starter. He played a few times last season when Dillon Gabriel was out, and the potential screamed at you when you watched him. He had the thing you look for in your young quarterback, and that made the 2024 season a very intriguing one for this offense.
But with this team's offensive issues—injuries, poor playcalling, bad scheme—the quarterbacks have struggled. They aren't innocent, but they certainly aren't 100% at fault. That caused Jackson Arnold to lose his job, and then true freshman Michael Hawkins to lose him, only for Arnold to get it back.
And, here we are, with Arnold playing well, but the offense still not being good. It looked like a bad unit against Ole Miss, which is an upgrade over what it was the weeks before. Arnold played a role in getting the offense to be better.
But, now the question stands: With everything that has happened so far in this tumultuous season, would Arnold even want to come back in 22025? I mean, it is a logical question, as he was contemplating a redshirt.
"I assume that you're dang right, but he wants to be back," head coach Brent Venables said earlier this week. "Why would he not? That's how I look at it. I don't have my head in the sand. I would be concerned if I was thinking in that way, 'I wonder if he wants to be back.' Well, shit, you're the starting quarterback at Oklahoma.
"This is your dream. You turned down a lot of good people to come here, and now that you've faced some headwinds, now you're just going to quit? I don't see that in him, and I don't see that in guys in our locker room. Does it happen in college football and in life? You're damn right, but not with people that are built with the right stuff-not at all. Jackson's got the right stuff."
While I appreciate the way Venables is going about these questions and answering them, I'm not sure it means much to be "the starting quarterback at Oklahoma" right now as compared to what it meant before the season.
You hope Arnold comes back, because they could really use a quarterback next year that has some sort of experience. But, at this point, it's really tough to say. I mean, can anyone blame him if he does leave? The Sooners will play the Maine Black Bears next.
Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables is ensuring the team doesn’t do what fans think has already happened
The Sooners aren’t giving up yet.
