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Should the Oklahoma Sooners have a quarterback competition?

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Should the Oklahoma Sooners have a quarterback competition?


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.

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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.

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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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6 Oklahoma Sooners earn AP All-SEC Honors

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6 Oklahoma Sooners earn AP All-SEC Honors


The Oklahoma Sooners are readying themselves for the most crucial game of the season, and perhaps the Brent Venables era, when they host the Alabama Crimson Tide next Friday in the first round of the College Football Playoff. After a 10-2 season, which included a 6-2 mark in SEC play, six Sooners were named to the AP All-SEC teams.

That comes after 10 Sooners earned 11 All-SEC Honors as voted on by the coaches, and kicker Tate Sandell was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year.

Selected to the first team were Sandell, punter Grayson Miller, and wide receiver Isaiah Sategna.

Sandell has the highest field goal percentage in the conference and has made all seven field goal attempts of 50 yards or more.

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Miller is fourth in the nation, and first in the SEC, in punts downed inside the 20-yard line. Like Sandell, he’s been a special teams weapon for Brent Venables, helping Oklahoma win the field position battle in a number of their wins this season.

Sategna is tied for second in the SEC receptions with 65, yards with 948, and tied for fourth in the conference touchdowns. He’s been a big-play threat for the Sooners, especially in recent weeks. Sategna closed the season with back-to-back 100-yard days, giving him four on the season. He had more than 60 yards receiving in nine of Oklahoma’s last 10 games.

Earning second team honors for the Sooners were linebacker Owen Heinecke, defensive end R Mason Thomas, and defensive tackle Gracen Halton.

Thomas leads the Sooners with 6.5 sacks despite missing the final three games of the regular season, three and a half quarters vs. Tennessee (injury), and a half vs. Auburn (targeting suspension). He’s been a force each of the last two seasons, earning All-SEC second-team honors in 2024, and was a first-team selection as voted on by the league’s coaches this season.

Halton, like Thomas, was a member of Brent Venables first recruiting class in the 2022 cycle. He’s been awesome again this year, recording 3.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss, and 31 total tackles. He’s been a force in the middle, making life difficult in the running game and providing an interior pass rush for the Sooners.

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Heinecke has been one of a number of breakout stars for Oklahoma as part of a great linebacker rotation. Heinecke is second on the team in total tackles and tackle for loss, behind only Kip Lewis, and has two sacks to his ledger as well. He’s come up big in key moments for Oklahoma, including the sack and forced fumble against Tennessee, which led to R Mason Thomas’ long touchdown return that changed the momentum of the game, and perhaps the season.

The Oklahoma Sooners have a talented roster and a number of players like Peyton Bowen, Kip Lewis, Eli Bowen, Courtland Guillory, Jaren Kanak, Febechi Nwaiwu, Taylor Wein, and David Stone who deserved inclusion on the All-SEC teams. Even still, six players and a host of players worthy of mention is a great thing for the Sooners as they get set to take on an Alabama Crimson Tide team that earned just three selections to the AP All-SEC teams.

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 John on X @john9williams.





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Person dies after jumping from bridge near I-40 and I-35 in Oklahoma City

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Person dies after jumping from bridge near I-40 and I-35 in Oklahoma City


OKLAHOMA CITY –

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) says a person died Tuesday after jumping from a bridge near the I-40 and I-35 interchange in Oklahoma City, prompting an ongoing law enforcement investigation.

Troopers say the response created traffic delays in the area as law enforcement worked the scene.

Drivers should expect delays and consider alternate routes until the scene is cleared, officials said.

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OHP says more information will be released as the investigation continues.





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Oklahoma Contemporary to host free ‘Polar Party’ event with winter activities

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Oklahoma Contemporary to host free ‘Polar Party’ event with winter activities


OKLAHOMA CITY –

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center is inviting families, children and community members to participate in its monthly Second Saturday program.

Organizers say Second Saturday is a free afternoon of hands-on art-making and gallery exploration held on the second Saturday of each month.

Families can enjoy guided activities, family-friendly gallery chats and take-home art experiences designed for all ages. Materials are provided at no cost, and no advance registration is required.

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Periodically, the center expands the event into Second Saturday XL, which is a larger celebration featuring multiple art stations, performances and seasonal programming across the Oklahoma Contemporary campus.

The upcoming Second Saturday XL: Polar Party is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 13, from 1 p.m. 5 p.m.

Guests can take part in winter-themed projects, including wreath making, cookie decorating and snow-globe crafting, along with music, treats and additional family activities throughout the center.

See the full lineup of activities here.

All programming is free and open to the public.

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