Jackson Arnold describes how much more comfortable he is knowing he's the guy at QB
Jackson Arnold is feeling his confidence grow as the starting quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners entering the 2024 campaign.
After sitting behind Dillon Gabriel for the majority of the 2023 season, it’s Arnold’s job to lead the Sooners into the SEC. Following the team’s spring game, Arnold explained why this offseason of growth has been much easier on him.
“Very comfortable,” Arnold said, regarding the difference in knowing he’s the starter for the Sooners entering 2024. “It really helps with my confidence too, just knowing that I’m going in as the starter, for a game like today. Last season, Dillon was the starter for the whole year. I went into the Alamo Bowl, but it’s not the same as now.
“Having this whole spring to get with these guys, step in and be their leader, it’s been very comfortable for me, and helped me build a lot of confidence.”
Alas, Arnold will have a ton of expectations placed on him entering 2024, as he’s slated to be the next in line among Oklahoma’s history of phenomenal quarterback talents. Will he live up to those expectations? That’s anyone’s guess.
Nevertheless, Jackson Arnold is putting in the work, and hoping to be great for the Sooners. We’ll see if he’s able to get the job done for Oklahoma in 2024.
Jackson Arnold evaluates his performance in Oklahoma’s spring game
Continuing, Jackson Arnold was the man in charge at quarterback for the Sooners during their program’s spring game over the weekend. Arnold assessed his outing from Saturday’s scrimmage in Norman with the media afterward.
He thought that he played well, even though he doesn’t believe it was perfect either, so his expectations are remaining high.
“Yeah, I thought I played good,” Arnold said. “Obviously there’s some plays and some throws I want back but, overall, I thought I was solid.”
Arnold gave credit where he felt credit was due, though. He said it was a great performance by the entire offense, who won 65-58 over the defense, as a unit.
“The O-line played great and just the offense as a whole played great in my opinion,” said Arnold. “The O-line played great, receivers played great, running backs played great.”
Arnold went 10-20 at 50% completion for 233 yards, a pair of touchdowns, and no interceptions. That was his first stat line since completing 26-45 (57.8%) for 361 yards, two scores, and three picks during a loss to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.
Most of that came from the new quarterback to one of the new wide receivers. Arnold hit Deion Burks, a transfer wideout for Oklahoma, for five catches that went for 174 yards and two touchdowns. One was a 64-yard touchdown catch to start off in the game before they connected again for another score of 50 yards.
Plenty is riding on Arnold as he leads the Sooner offense from here in his sophomore year. He’s off to a nice start, though, with what he showed in the inter-team matchup yesterday.
On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.