The Oklahoma Sooners are 10 games into the season and haven’t found a consistent answer at quarterback in 2024. That’s such an anomaly for OU Football, a place that features four Heisman winners over the last 25 years and several more finalists. Poor quarterback play isn’t the norm in Norman.
The problems on offense are many. The offense has struggled with injuries, which has certainly impacted everyone around the quarterback. At the same time, turnovers in key situations once again killed any chance the Sooners had of winning a hard-fought game.
The Sooners’ defense gave Oklahoma a chance to win the football game. When OU only needed a field goal to beat the Tigers, Jackson Arnold fumbled the ball, and the game away.
Twice this season, turnovers have led to changes at quarterback. Arnold had another critical turnover on a night when he wasn’t productive in the offense, throwing for just 74 yards and 3.1 yards per attempt.
He and true freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. have each shown some good things this season. Neither has been able to stake their claim to the starting quarterback job with much authority.
Earlier this season, Brent Venables didn’t rule out the idea of using both quarterbacks in a game. With two games to go, the time may be now to do so.
What Oklahoma does at quarterback in 2025 is one of the bigger storylines ahead of the upcoming offseason. The Sooners have two more games to figure out if either guy can be counted on to be the guy next year or if they need to go into the transfer portal for a veteran quarterback option.
As the Sooners give some of the younger guys some snaps over the next few weeks, finding a scripted series or two for Hawkins could be good for his development. The last time he was on the field was early in the first quarter against South Carolina. He’s a better player than those first three series revealed.
Though Casey Thompson provides you with an experienced voice in the quarterback room, does it make sense to put him on the field and take valuable developmental snaps away from your young quarterbacks? I don’t think so. His experience is valuable, but in a lost season, you have to keep developing players and Arnold and Hawkins deserve the opportunity to finish the season on a high note.
Alabama and LSU will be tough matchups for whoever they put at quarterback. However, the Sooners should create an opportunity for Arnold and Hawkins to compete for snaps and playing time.
If practice is where players sharpen each other, allowing them to compete for playing time could be a catalyst for the final two games of the season and, perhaps, the future.
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