Jackson Arnold not a bust; players around him need to be a lot better

This has not been the season that quarterback Jackson Arnold and his Oklahoma teammates envisioned for their first season as a new member of the SEC.

The once high-powered Oklahoma offense, beset by injuries and other debilitating issues, has been a shell of its former self this season. Things have been so bad with the offense that the Sooners have changed quarterbacks twice this season and dismissed first-year offensive coordinator Seth Littrell after just seven games.

Ranking near the bottom among FBS teams in most of the major offensive statistics, the Sooners have struggled against the five SEC opponents they have faced this season. In Saturday's loss to Ole Miss, the Sooner offense appeared to have the most spark, if only for one half, that it has shown since defeating Tulane 34-19 in the third game of the season.

Arnold, making his first start since the Tennessee game in Week 4, appeared the most confident and comfortable in the offense that he has all season -- and on the road against a very good Ole Miss team and with someone new calling the OU offensive plays.

The former five-star recruit and National Gatorade Player of the Year completed 70 percent of his passes (22 of 31) against Ole Miss for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Because of a wide-receiver group decimated by injuries, only one wide-receiver target caught more than one pass and that was freshman walk-on Jacob Jordan with six, including a touchdown catch that gave Oklahoma the lead, 14-10, right before halftime.

Arnold also was the Sooners busiest ball carrier on the afternoon with 24 carries for 39 yards. That total would have been over 100 rushing yards, however, were it not for the school-record 10 quarterback sacks and 64 lost yards allowed by OU's offensive front. Most important of all, Arnold played an error-free game against Ole Miss in terms of protecting the football.

Arnold directed an offense on Saturday that produced 329 total yards, Oklahoma's third highest total of the season and the most against an SEC opponent. Right before the end of the half, Arnold led the Sooners on a 13-play, 92-yard scoring drive, their longest of the season. Unfortunately, the Sooner offense went stagnant and scoreless in the second half, accounting for just 94 total yards.

Deemed as Oklahoma's quarterback of the future and the next outstanding quarterback to wear the Sooner jersey when he committed to OU as the highest-rated prospect in the Sooners' 2023 recruiting class, Arnold was both a casualty and contributor to Oklahoma's offensive struggles in the early going this season.

After losing a pair of forced fumbles and throwing an interception against Tennessee, Arnold was pulled from the game and benched late in the first half in favor of true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. Arnold viewed the next two and a half games from the sidelines as Venables and his staff stuck with Hawkins to see if he could provide the missing spark to give the listless Sooner offense some traction and consistency.

At home against an unranked and three-loss South Carolina team, however, Hawkins suffered a similar fate that had led to Arnold's benching. On Oklahoma first possession and very first play from scrimmage in that game, the young quarterback, playing in just his fourth collegiate game, threw an interception that set up South Carolina's first touchdown. Then, on the Sooners next two possessions, a Hawkins fumble was scooped from the turf and returned 36 yards for a touchdown. That was followed by a second interception the third time the Sooners had the ball that resulted in a 65-yard pick-six. Just five minutes had elapsed in the game, and Oklahoma found itself trailing 21-0.

By that time, Venables had seen enough, and Arnold was called back to duty. Although it burned a potential redshirt season (Arnold had appeared in the maximum four games to that point to preserve a redshirt season), he was ready and willing to do whatever it took to help his team win the game.

Two games in to his return to the starting role, Arnold seems to have seized the opportunity. As one local writer who covers the Sooners wrote over the weekend, "Arnold (in the game on Saturday) may not have looked like Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray. But he looked a lot more like the quarterback the Sooners' expected coming into the season."

It wasn't perfect by any stretch, but given all that the Sooners have been dealing with this season on the offensive side of the ball, you definitely have to consider it a step in the right direction.

Although self-inflicted mistakes led to Arnold's benching, this has never really been about his talent and ability or his attitude. During the time he was benched, Arnold worked hard to maintain a positive mindset and to be ready if called upon. Some young quarterbacks who have known nothing but success in there careers would be inclined to check out mentally and just wait for the offseason to transfer out for a new opportunity. That's not where Arnold is right now. He wants to play football at OU and be the Oklahoma starting quarterback.

The truth is, no matter how talented the quarterback is, he cannot do it all by himself. He needs to have a good supporting cast, including players willing and able to step up their game when others go down. That is something that is desperately missing from the Oklahoma attack this season, at every level of the offense.

Arnold is back in the saddle and admits that he is tackling the job with a different mindset. "We have nothing to lose right now," he said after the game on Saturday. "It's just a different mindset that I'm kind of attacking it with. A different level of confidence. And really just going out there and playing free."

Arnold has a new lease on his dream role, and you can expect that he will be doing everything he can not to let it slip away again anytime soon.