Oklahoma

QB Jackson Arnold leading No. 16 Oklahoma into opener vs. Temple as Sooners settle into SEC

Published

1 year ago

August 30, 2024

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QB Jackson Arnold leading No. 16 Oklahoma into opener vs. Temple as Sooners settle into SEC

Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — It’s finally Jackson Arnold’s time.

The former five-star quarterback opens the season as No. 16 Oklahoma’s starter after waiting behind Dillon Gabriel last season. He will lead the Sooners against Temple on Friday night in his second career start.

Arnold steps into a position that has produced like few others in college football. Oklahoma has featured Gabriel, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams at quarterback in the past decade. Mayfield and Murray each won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma and Williams played a year with the Sooners before transferring to USC and winning a Heisman there. Mayfield, Murray and Williams were No. 1 overall picks in the NFL draft.

Arnold understood the history when he signed. He hopes to someday have a statue at Heisman Park across from Memorial Stadium – an honor previously bestowed upon Oklahoma’s seven Heisman winners, including four quarterbacks.

“It’s a ton to live up to,” he said. “But at the same time, I want to create a name for myself, create a legacy for myself, and really, I don’t want to be compared to one of those guys. I want to be the best version of myself, and hopefully I can get a statue out there one day.”

Arnold passed for 361 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in his first college start, a loss Arizona in the Alamo Bowl last season. He left an impression on Temple coach Stan Drayton.

“That was a very talented football player that we saw playing quarterback against Arizona,” Drayton said.

Backup quarterback

Freshman Michael Hawkins won the battle with Casey Thompson for the spot behind Arnold.

Thompson has passed for 5,338 yards in a career that took him to Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic before he landed where his father, Charles Thompson, played quarterback in the 1980s.

Coach Brent Venables considered it no small feat that Hawkins earned the spot over such a proven veteran. Venables said Thompson has been a great mentor for the younger quarterbacks, but Hawkins performed better overall.

“Mike has shown us a lot of things,” Venables said. “Tremendous playmaker, really focused and locked-in. Fundamentally sound. He’s got a big arm. He’s a quick decision maker. He can improvise and keep his eyes down the field. He can beat you with his legs. As I said, there’s not a route that he can’t excel in.”

Not naming a QB

Drayton resisted naming a starting quarterback between Forrest Brock, Evan Simon and Tyler Douglas. It wasn’t that he hadn’t picked one, it was that being undecided seems to have helped the Temple quarterback room.

“What I’m not going to do today is announce a starting quarterback,” he said during his weekly availability. “I have a great competitive situation going on in that room right now, and I don’t want to lose that edge. Iron sharpens iron mindset, and everybody in that room is is getting better.”

Temple Tuff

Temple has named its Temple Tuff players as selected by their teammates who will wear single digit numbers this season.

This year’s honorees are linebacker D.J. Woodbury (0), receiver Ian Stewart (1), safety Andreas Keaton (2), defensive end Tra Thomas (3), cornerback Elijah Deravil (4), receiver Dante Wright (5), defensive tackle Latrell Jean (7), tight end James Della Pesca (8) and defensive tackle Demerick Morris (9).

Stewart is the only one returning from last season.

Anderson out

Oklahoma receiver Nic Anderson will miss the opener as he recovers from an undisclosed injury. The 6-foot-4 sophomore caught 38 passes for 798 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Oklahoma already had announced it had lost receiver Jayden Gibson for the season with a knee injury.

Andrel Anthony, who led Oklahoma in yards receiving last season before being knocked out for the year with a leg injury, will be available.

Quotable

Drayton, after being pressed about the quarterback situation: “That’s for us, not for y’all. I apologize.”

___

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Oklahoma

Neighbors sift debris, help each other after suspected Purcell tornado

Published

9 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Neighbors sift debris, help each other after suspected Purcell tornado

PURCELL — Jennifer Fox had just fed the pigs behind her house early in the morning Thursday, Jan. 8, and began getting ready for work before she and her two sons heard something hit her bedroom window.

“I said, ‘Is it hailing?” she said. “My oldest looked out the window and he saw our awning across the back. He said, ‘Mom, the awning’s gone.”

Fox looked out the window and saw debris everywhere. She said she didn’t hear tornado sirens, but she and her sons immediately took shelter in a closet. By that time, the suspected tornado had already passed through her neighborhood off of Johnson Avenue in Purcell.

At first, Fox didn’t think there was a tornado and attributed the damage and debris to strong winds.

But just one street over, the roof of one house had been destroyed. When she looked at the house behind hers, Fox said she knew a tornado had hit her neighborhood.

“I was thankful at the time,” she said. “I told my kids, I said, ‘It could’ve been a lot worse.’ We weren’t prepared, obviously. I really felt like it just barely missed us.”

Severe weather passed through central Oklahoma early Thursday morning, bringing reports of damage from a possible tornado in Purcell. The National Weather Service in Norman reported on social media that survey teams have found at least EF1 tornado damage in the Purcell area.

The Purcell Fire Department reported a tornado touched down in the city, causing roof damage to nine homes, a semi truck rollover accident on Interstate 35 with one injury and widespread power outages, downed trees and powerlines.

On Norte Street in Purcell, the suspected tornado wiped out the roof of a newly-built home, throwing debris onto the road, including a Christmas tree and blue ornaments. The houses across the street and next door were untouched.

Community members and local high school students gathered pieces of trash, plywood, insulation and other debris and hauled them off.

Next door to Fox, a man and a woman removed debris from their yard that appeared to have blown over from Fox’s house. Like a puppy, a tall brown horse followed the man as he picked up each piece of trash. Across the street, cattle laid in the middle of a field and watched as one person after another drove into the neighborhood to lend a hand.

About five miles northeast of Fox’s house, the suspected tornado knocked over a few powerlines near Purcell’s football stadium. A tree fell onto a small white house and took the tin roof off a large warehouse.

Ron Musgrave, the warehouse’s owner, lives six miles north of Purcell. He said he learned his property was damaged through a local news broadcast.

“They had the people out front and they had the helicopters, so I could see it,” Musgrave said. “They were flying over here. There’s a football field, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. If that’s the football field, that’s my warehouse.”

The retired home builder and property owner said he keeps building supplies in his warehouse and a black and white cat who’s in charge of exterminating any trespassing mice.

The cat was happy to see Musgrave as he surveyed the water damage inside of the warehouse. Though there was some wet spots, the roof took most of the impact.

“It’s a project,” Musgrave said with a smile. “I am down for it.”

Severe weather damage reported in Shawnee, Norman

Tree damage was reported in Cleveland County at 156th Street and East Tecumseh Avenue, according to Alyse Moore, Cleveland County communications director, along with damage to a car port and barn at 800 Moffatt Road north of Lexington.

Storm damage was also reported in Shawnee. Social media posts show damage to the Holiday Inn Express and Walmart Supercenter off of Interstate 40.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Sooners add transfer portal offensive lineman to the roster

Published

21 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Sooners add transfer portal offensive lineman to the roster

The Oklahoma Sooners made an under-the-radar transfer portal addition on Wednesday, bringing back a player who spent two seasons in Norman before transferring out last year.

Former Central Oklahoma offensive lineman Kenneth Wermy will be returning to play for OU out of the portal. Wermy played for the Sooners in 2023 and 2024 before spending 2025 at the NCAA Division II level with the Bronchos. He’ll add depth to an offensive line group that is in need of it after recent portal departures.

Wemry is a local product from Cache, Oklahoma, and he stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs 315 pounds. The Sooners have been busy adding big names in the transfer market, but with a week and a half left until the portal closes, the focus may soon turn to retention and building back depth on the roster.

Oklahoma had a busy portal day on Wednesday, adding Wermy and former Michigan linebacker Cole Sullivan. However, Oklahoma also lost three players to the portal, in linebacker Sammy Omosigho, defensive back Jaydan Hardy, and wide receiver Zion Ragins.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X@Aaron_Gelvin.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma bill aims to ban obscene materials in public school libraries

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma bill aims to ban obscene materials in public school libraries

A local lawmaker is introducing a bill to prohibit obscene materials in Oklahoma public school libraries.

Rep. Chris Banning, R-Bixby, filed legislation this week, House Bill 2978, that would update state law and prohibit the acquisition of materials that meet Oklahoma’s legal definition of obscenity.

The bill removes references to subjective community standards and relies on established statute, according to Banning.

“This legislation provides a straightforward statewide rule that helps ensure school libraries stay within the definition of education,” Banning said. “According to Black’s Law Dictionary, education is defined as providing proper moral, intellectual and physical instruction.”

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