Oklahoma didn’t panic when Dillon Gabriel, who has nearly 15,000 passing yards in his career, hit the transfer portal after two prolific seasons with the Sooners. Instead, Oklahoma rallied around former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold and turned an anticipatory eye towards the future.
That future finally arrived Friday in the No. 16 Sooners’ (1-0) season-opening 51-3 victory vs. Temple (0-1) as Arnold took the field for his first regular-season start and showed that his coaching staff’s faith might just pay off.
Oklahoma lost Gabriel, who transferred to Oregon, but may have gained what looks like one of the SEC’s top arms.
Sure, it’s fair to consider the level of competition. Temple has nine total wins since 2021. The Owls haven’t had a winning season in almost five years, a fact that probably won’t change anytime soon.
But Arnold, who completed 17 of his 25 pass attempts for 141 yards and four touchdowns in three quarters of play, made throws and displayed traits that are applicable no matter the opponent. He also did it with a relatively shorthanded supporting cast.
Top wide receiver Nic Anderson was held out with an injury. Jalil Farooq left early in the first quarter after breaking his foot, an injury that coach Brent Venables said will sideline him for six to eight weeks. The Sooners also entered the game without offensive tackle Jake Taylor, and lost starting center Branson Hickman early due to an injury of his own.
Not that any of it was enough to knock Arnold out of phase. On his very first pass attempt of the night, Arnold stepped into an oncoming defender and delivered a beautifully layered ball over two Temple defensive backs into the arms of Farooq — prior to his injury — for a 47-yard connection.
Temple was able to generate consistent pressure throughout the night, and even sacked Arnold four times, a symptom of Oklahoma’s injury issues and the fact that the Sooners broke in an entirely new starting offensive line. Arnold had tremendous poise for such an inexperienced player.
His first touchdown pass of the night came as he rolled to his right, with defenders in pursuit, and flipped the ball 14 yards to tight end Bauer Sharp. Later in the first quarter, Arnold stayed in the pocket with a defender bearing down and threw a perfect 14-yard touchdown strike to Deion Burks.
Get used to that Arnold-Burks connection. The two teamed up for three of Oklahoma’s four first-half touchdowns. It’s clear that, no matter who is available, Oklahoma wants to get the ball into Burks’ hands.
Aside from his passing prowess, Arnold flashed the ability to make plays with his legs, both as a way to extend drives and on designed quarterback runs. He rushed for 47 sack-adjusted yards, which ranked second among both teams.
Most importantly, it’s clear that Arnold made tremendous strides in his decision making during the offseason. In Oklahoma’s 2023 Alamo Bowl loss to Arizona — Arnold’s first career start — he completed just 57.8% of his passes and had three interceptions.
Arnold didn’t turn the ball over against the Owls and, upon first viewing at least, avoided any really bad throws. On top of that, three of his eight incompletions were the result of wide receiver drops.
Oklahoma had a comfortable lead for a majority of the game and Temple’s defensive backs were clearly overmatched, so Arnold never had to force the issue. His first real test in that regard might not come until the Sooners matchup against SEC secondaries.
His numbers weren’t flashy, but Arnold showed that he’s poised for a potential breakout year. The Sooners are going to need it if they want to make a splash in the SEC.
