NORMAN — Making layups. That was OU football coach Brent Venables and his offensive staff’s central message to the Sooners‘ quarterbacks during the bye week.
Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold showed flashes of potential against South Carolina, Mississippi and Maine. Then, his turnover woes returned and he fumbled three times in a road loss to Missouri.
Arnold reclaimed his starting spot after Michael Hawkins Jr. turned the ball over three times against the Gamecocks.
“They learn from all of it,” Venables said of his quarterbacks Monday night during his coaches show. “The good and the bad. Certainly, it’s not a lot of fun when you have to teach through failure but that’s the best opportunity to learn and grow and improve. Our staff has done a nice job of looking at that with our players and certainly I do that as well.”
The Sooners will need better quarterback play, starting Saturday when they host Alabama, to win one of the next two games and clinch a bowl berth.
Arnold recognizes this. He turned to the game film immediately following the Mizzou loss to identify the mistakes he made.
He credits the Tigers for playing well, acknowledging he can’t play perfectly while at the same time aiming to limit untimely turnovers.
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“Obviously it was a heartbreaker, you never want a game to end like that,” Arnold said after practice Monday. “For me, in the quarterback room, I’ve got to look back at the film and watch it. I can’t fumble like that, can’t turn the ball over but at the same time, we’ve got two more games. We’ve got two more great teams we’ve got to play, so we’ve got to put it behind us and move forward.”
In the days following OU’s fifth loss, there’s been speculation about Arnold’s future with the program.
Dominoes will fall where they will following the season but now Arnold is focused on finishing this season on a high note. He’s continued to stay off social media, a practice he started during preseason camp to limit outside noise.
“I don’t look at anything, ever,” Arnold said. “I stay in my lane, I stay focused. I have Snapchat, so I talk to my friends, talk to my family, call them and talk to my girlfriend, but other than that I don’t go on any social media. And regarding my future, we’ve got two great teams left that we’ve got to go against, I’m just taking it week by week.”
It’s been nearly a month since the firing of former offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, who developed a close relationship with Arnold. In the wake of Littrell’s exit, analyst Kevin Johns was promoted to quarterbacks coach.
While he didn’t begin his new gig until Oct. 20, Arnold and Johns forged a bond a few weeks prior when the young quarterback was benched.
“He was right there for me,” Arnold said. “He shared some of his, not struggles, but his similarities to when coach (Mike) Elko went to A&M and he didn’t go with him. He opened up to me and we really bonded over that, talked to each other. Now that he’s actually my quarterbacks coach, he’s teaching me things that I didn’t know before, whether that’s footwork, or timing and rhythm.”
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In addition to Johns’ coaching, the bye week helped Arnold regroup from the loss to the Tigers and get ahead on prepping for the Crimson Tide.
“The bye week was awesome,” Arnold said. “Getting a week off was really nice, especially playing a schedule like this. Honestly, it’s tough. Week after week you’re playing some studs, playing some really good teams.”
Arnold was named a captain for OU’s game against Alabama at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. While he knows he says it every week, he feels like the Sooners’ offense is ready to be unlocked at any moment.
Each week, Venables has an analyst intercut plays the quarterbacks missed with the same formation, defense and play call from three separate college and NFL plays. The bye week was no different.“What we’re doing, what you’re seeing, it’s all the same,” Venables tells the quarterbacks. “Watch them execute.”
Venables showed the quarterbacks six NFL clips last week and in each one there was a receiver wide open.
“That’s one example,” Venables said. “We’ve just got to be a little more consistent. To me, that’s a layup.”
Colton Sulley covers OU athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football quarterback Jackson Arnold aims to bounce back vs. Alabama
