Oklahoma appears to have a quarterback battle between two players heading into their fifth game next Saturday against Auburn. As the old football saying goes, if you have two quarterbacks, you have none.
Sooners’ head coach Brent Venables took the extreme step of benching Jackson Arnold during Saturday night’s 25-15 loss to Tennessee. In his postgame press conference, Venables said he benched the sophomore for Michael Hawkins Jr. after Arnold committed three turnovers.
Arnold threw one interception and fumbled the ball twice. Tennessee converted ten points off the turnovers in the first half.
Oklahoma turned to Michael Hawkins Jr.
Hawkins went 11/18 passing for 132 yards and one touchdown against Tennessee. The freshman added 22 yards on the ground. Unfortunately, neither quarterback was able to move the ball down the field enough to give the Sooners a chance to knock off the No. 6 Volunteers in Norman.
Venables said after the game that his staff will evaluate the quarterback position this week. Via a transcription of Venables comments by Eric Bailey of Tulsa World, Venables said they’d go with whoever can be the most consistent.
“Who is the most consistent? Who can execute the basics of our offense consistently? That’s not real complicated. And then when you get in the game, you got to perform,” Venables said.
Hawkins looked like the most consistent quarterback against Tennessee. Still, the offensive line didn’t help either quarterback’s performance on Saturday night.
“Some disappointment” for Jackson Arnold
Venables said Jackson would have an opportunity to win the starting job for next week’s matchup against Auburn.
“There’s some disappointment in Jackson’s part, absolutely,” Venables said. “But, again, he’s a tough young man. He knows he needs to be better. This is a game of performance and we have the opportunity to go right back at it again this week.”
Jackson is 54/86 passing for 484 yards, seven touchdowns, and two interceptions this season. He’s added another 159 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
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