HC Venables confident QB Arnold will be back at Oklahoma

Oklahoma sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold has had an up and down season in Norman, to say the least. 

He started the first four games of the season but he was benched in Oklahoma’s SEC opener against No. 6 Tennessee, in which he completed just 7-of-16 passes for 54 yards and no touchdowns with an interception. 

Freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. was given the nod instead of Arnold for the next three games, but he struggled as well, with no touchdowns thrown and three interceptions to his name. After Hawkins Jr. led three consecutive turnover drives against South Carolina, head coach Brent Venables went back to Arnold.

Arnold got the start in a tough, 24-14, loss to No. 18 Ole Miss but he appears to have regained his status within the program. As such, no matter how this tough season ends for unranked and 4-4 Oklahoma, Venables doesn’t see the young quarterback going anywhere via the transfer portal this offseason.

“My assumption is that you’re dang right he wants to be back,” Venables said in a recent news conference (h/t On3). “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, s—, 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.”

That’s a strong endorsement of Arnold from the head coach, but in today’s transfer-portal obsessed environment, it will be interesting to see if Arnold really does stick with the Sooners. 

After all, life is sure different now that they’re in the SEC. From 10-3 last season in the Big 12 to 4-4 and 1-4 in SEC play, it’s a whole new world in Norman and the transition is far from over with No. 25 Missouri, No. 14 Alabama and No. 16 LSU still remaining on Oklahoma’s schedule.