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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
NORMAN, Okla. — No. 15 Oklahoma still hasn’t found its offensive footing this season, and during a 25-15 loss to No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday, a frustrated Brent Venables made a switch at quarterback, benching Jackson Arnold for freshman Michael Hawkins Jr.
The offensive woes sank Oklahoma’s first SEC game, and Venables said after the contest that the Sooners (3-1) are going to “evaluate” the position, and “figure out who the best guy is to get us to No. 4, find our fourth win.” The Sooners travel to Auburn next week, then face No. 1 Texas on Oct. 12 after a bye.
Arnold, the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2023 ESPN 300, won the job this spring following the transfer of Dillon Gabriel to Oregon. But he struggled in the first half, going 7 of 16 with 54 passing yards and an interception before the Sooners made the switch to Hawkins in the second quarter, who finished 11 of 18 for 132 yards and a touchdown.
The Sooners’ first four drives of the second quarter netted -28 yards with two fumbles by Arnold, both on the first play following turnovers by Tennessee, including one at the Tennessee six-yard-line. On another, following a fumble forced by a Trace Ford sack of Nico Iamaleava, Venables said Arnold made the wrong read on a run-pass option on the following play.
Arnold kept the ball, threw to his left behind the line of scrimmage, but the ball skipped, was ruled a fumble and was recovered after a 21-yard loss by Tennessee’s Jakobe Thomas.
“We come right back and have a lateral behind the line on an RPO that the read is run it all day,” Venables said. “We don’t have any backward RPO’s.”
The Sooners’ defense forced a punt on the next drive, but the Volunteers pinned Oklahoma on the four-yard line. On the next two plays, the Sooners had a false start that backed them up to the 2, and then Jovantae Barnes was stuffed in the end zone for a safety. “That’s 12 points in a game like that,” Venables said. “Every point matters. Just didn’t feel good. There was not enough other evidence that we’ll be just fine.”
Oklahoma failed to score a touchdown in the first half at home for the first time since a 30-13 loss to Notre Dame in 2012, according to ESPN Research, and Arnold was 1 of 6 for 12 yards and an interception on passes thrown 10 or more yards.
“Really a poor half of football,” Venables said. “So obviously we made a change there. Just felt like we needed to. Gave up 12 points off of turnovers there in the first half.”
Hawkins, a true freshman from Frisco, Texas, played the rest of the way, admitting to butterflies in his first extended playing time in front of 84,071 fans, before settling in.
“I felt pretty comfortable just getting those drives going and then finally getting points on the board,” said, Hawkins, who threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Barnes after a 10-play, 68-yard drive with 8:25 left in the fourth quarter.
He gave the Sooners life with his legs (he led the Sooners with 22 rushing yards) when Tennessee’s pass rush pressured Oklahoma on 49% of their 45 dropbacks, the highest pressure rate the Sooners have allowed over the past five years, according to ESPN Research. Both quarterbacks combined to go 2 of 12 for 14 yards under pressure.
First-year offensive coordinator Seth Littrell shared Venables’ frustration after the game, taking responsibility for the struggles and miscommunications and saying he’s going to get back to work at finding the right solution.
“They’re both young [quarterbacks] that’ve got to continue to grow up,” Littrell said. “I’m looking for a guy who can manage the game, that can execute at a high level and again, I’m not saying that about anybody. I’m going to evaluate it for myself tomorrow. It starts with me.”
Venables said he just needs his quarterback to “execute the basics of our offense consistently,” which he said is not very complicated.
“We’ve got a good enough team to still have a really good year,” Venables said. “You got a lot of football in front of us, but we got a lot of improvement to make as well. And that goes without saying.”