Brent Venables shares message to Jackson Arnold after benching
Things went south for starting quarterback Jackson Arnold in Oklahoma‘s tilt with Tennessee on Saturday night, with the starter benched for a freshman in Michael Hawkins.
Coach Brent Venables had just had enough of the mental mistakes and the surprising gaffes Arnold made, costing the team in a close game.
But despite the benching and the fact that Oklahoma will stick with Hawkins going forward for now, Venables wants his previous starter to know he’s still got plenty of support.
“We needed some stuff to go right for us in the second half and not enough things did. And you learn from it,” Venables said. “Just like I told Jackson, ‘Man, that’s a bad moment, that’s a bad night. That’s not a bad career. So stay out of the gutter and focus on getting better.’ And that’s all of us.”
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In four games this season, Jackson Arnold had gone 61-of-102 passing for 538 yards, with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. He’d also rushed for 138 yards and two scores.
However, he did miss some key plays in clutch moments and the turnovers became difficult to swallow. Arnold threw an interception in three straight games leading to his benching.
Still, Venables wants him to keep his head up.
“As I expressed to Jackson, this is a moment,” Venables said. “Jackson’s going to have an amazing future and career, he’s going to play this game a long time. All of that will work itself out in due time, and that might be pulling the trigger even on Saturday night. You just, we know how the game of football is sometimes.”
Hawkins is indeed just a freshman, so there’s definitely a scenario where he also struggles and the Sooners opt to turn back to Jackson Arnold. Arnold needs to be ready for that possibility.
That means resisting the urge to sulk, the urge to sink less than 100% into preparation.
“He’s got to stay ready, and he understands where he has fallen short in his responsibility,” Venables said. “But anything that he puts on tape, to me, starts with us as a coaching staff. You’re either coaching it or you’re allowing it.
“But he understood. He had a great mindset. No surprise. He’s a tough guy. He takes responsibility. Didn’t make excuses. We know we’ve seen lots of different scenarios go down, but you put your head down and get better. That’s it. That’s what you can control. So he’s doing that.”