Brent Venables reveals his views on Jackson Arnold and possible advantages for Auburn Tigers and Hugh Freeze in Week 4 SEC matchup
Had Oklahoma been healthy in 2024, it seems Brent Venables would have loved to keep Jackson Arnold
Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers will face their greatest challenge of the 2025 college football season yet this weekend as they visit Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners.
This matchup is intriguing on so many levels. The “revenge game” narrative for quarterback Jackson Arnold as he plays his former team. It’s the only “ranked versus ranked” SEC game of Week 4. It will likely jump start one of these two teams towards a bid at the College Football Playoff. So many reasons to be excited.
Brent Venables had the opportunity to light the college football world ablaze with his comments on Jackson Arnold this week as he met with SEC media Wednesday morning, but instead his comments were all about downplaying everything, if not revealing that he still really loves his former quarterback.
Brent Venables reveals how much he respects Jackson Arnold and wishes things had gone differently at Oklahoma last year
When asked on Wednesday about the quarterback situation at Oklahoma in 2024 (that obviously did not go well for Jackson Arnold), Brent Venables easily could have thrown Arnold under the bus given how he was benched and struggled all season long for the Sooners. However, instead, Venables just said this:
“Well, the only thing I wish was different was that we had a healthy offensive football team.”
Part of the reason Auburn Tigers fans had so much hope for Jackson Arnold to succeed for them–and seemingly rightfully so–was that the Sooners spent nearly the entire 2024 season injured along the offensive line, and especially at their skill positions. They were quite literally rolling out their ninth wide receiver with the starters for several weeks last season.
Had Oklahoma stayed healthy like Auburn has for the most part so far this season, Jackson Arnold might have found great success, inevitably leading to him remaining with the Sooners.
Still, that “what if” question will never get answered. Jackson Arnold will face off against his former team this weekend and has a chance to make a major statement. But who has the advantage? Oklahoma because they know Arnold’s weaknesses? Or Auburn because Jackson Arnold knows the Sooners’ defense? Brent Venables weighed in:
“There’s a lot that you don’t know cause you’re not with [guys like Jackson Arnold] for the last eight months. [These guys who leave via the transfer portal often end up] playing their best ball at the end of their career. Jackson’s one of the most talented players in college football. He can throw. He’s got a big arm. He can run. He’s got great capacity intellectually as a football player. Great leadership skills. He’s been a winner his whole life. So I don’t think there’s any kind of advantage [for us] whatsoever. He saw our defense every single day in practice. There’s going to be a familiarity [for him]. Most defenses–everybody’s doing kind of the same stuff anyway. I don’t see any advantages necessarily one way or the other.”
It’s clear that Brent Venables still has great respect for Jackson Arnold, despite the two parties deciding to go their separate ways this past offseason. It may not be clear as to whether Auburn or Oklahoma will have possible advantages given Arnold’s history with the Sooners, but he’ll certainly have one major edge he didn’t have in 2024: a healthy football team around him.
Venables had already spoken on Arnold some on Tuesday prior to meeting with A to Z Sports and other SEC media on Wednesday and said just as much:
“I think [Jackson Arnold]’s the same guy. I think he’s got a healthy football team around him, and he’s having great success running, throwing, being really efficient. He’s taking care of the ball.”
Venables is right. The biggest difference for Arnold is that he’s got a great surrounding cast. He has an offensive coordinator who understands how to take advantage of his big arm and his mobility. Arnold has some of the best wide receivers in the country with Eric Singleton and Cam Coleman. The ground game is lighting it up for the Tigers too.
Jackson Arnold has everything going for him this year. He’s making good decisions. He’s seeing the field well. Now he just has to keep executing against his toughest opponent yet–one that is quite familiar with his tendencies. Auburn fans just need to hope that the steps he’s already taken forward this season in his development end up being enough alongside his newfound chemistry with the excellent team around him.
We’ll be back with more Michigan Wolverines coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
