Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold will go into enemy territory this weekend, but it’s certainly not unfamiliar.
The No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners will host the No. 22 Auburn Tigers at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday for Arnold’s return to Norman.
Arnold signed with the Sooners as a five-star recruit in 2023 before eventually getting the starting job as a sophomore last year. After a lackluster season and OU switching offensive coordinators, though, Arnold stayed within the SEC and transferred to Auburn this offseason.
Arnold gives Hugh Freeze insight before playing Sooners
Ahead of both teams’ SEC opener in a top-25 matchup, Auburn could have an upper hand with extra intel from a player who spent two years inside their opponent’s walls. However, a lot has changed at OU since Arnold’s departure, particularly on the offensive side of the ball under new OC Ben Arbuckle, who has transformed the Sooners’ offense.
Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was asked during his weekly press conference if Arnold gave his staff any extra insight about the Sooners, and while it sounds like Freeze will stick with game planning based on what they see from the last three games, Arnold warned his new coach about just one thing at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
“We haven't really talked about that,” Freeze said about intel from Arnold. “We talked about the stadium atmosphere and things of that nature because I've never been there. And I assume that it's going to be like an SEC stadium, and he confirmed that, and how tight the benches are, he says. I don't know a lot about that, but apparently, it's really, really tight.
"As far as schematics, we're going with what our breakdowns say and what we see on tape from this year and get a game plan that we hope gives him a chance to have success. But we really haven't talked about anything else other than that.”
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