Jackson Arnold putting Alamo Bowl performance behind him, ready to lead OU offense
Jackson Arnold hated being the backup quarterback last season.
Arnold, now in his second spring at OU, said all the right things in 2023. He supported Dillon Gabriel and played his role. But deep down he wished he was the starter. Now, with Gabriel at Oregon, Arnold is QB1 for the Sooners.
“I love DG to death. That’s my guy. But it sucks being a backup. It really does,” Arnold said Monday. “As much as I love this game and love to play the game, it sucks to be on the sideline and watch somebody else play. So you know, last year, it was more kind of learn the offense and just kind of understanding my role in how to best fill my role last year, while DG was the guy. And this year, kind of settling into this new leadership role and kind of getting closer to my teammates and just learning to lead this team. It’s been really different, but it’s been really good so far.”
Arnold is coming off an Alamo Bowl performance in which he showcased tremendous talent, but also clearly has some growing to do. He threw for 361 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s well aware it wasn’t his best performance — hearing about it from fans on social media, which he said he has since deleted — but he also took a lot away from it.
“Just kind of putting it past me, using it as a learning opportunity,” Arnold said of his performance. “My freshman year in high school almost the exact same thing happened. I was thrown into our state championship game my freshman year in high school. Wasn’t ready. I was ready for this game, I didn’t play good at all, but that freshman year, from then, I just kind of learned how to battle adversity. Now looking at it, just kind of put it behind me and using it to learn from my mistakes and push myself going forward.”
Through two practices that the media has been able to watch, Arnold has been sharp. He’s thrown with precision, performing well in seven-on-seven. And he’s clearly grown a rapport with a few receivers.
Senior receiver Jalil Farooq, Purdue receiver transfer Deion Burks and Southeastern Louisiana tight end Bauer Sharp have been his clear go-to targets in practice.
Arnold said of Farooq: “Jalil’s been great. He’s always been great. But I think Coach V was referring to his leadership. That’s the one thing that stood out to me big this spring, is Jalil’s stepped into that leadership role for the offense. Where he was a leader last year, but it wasn’t as prominent, and other people can tell you that, too. It’s not a knock on Jalil at all. It’s just this year he stepped in and accomplished that role, and I’m super proud of him for that.”
Arnold said of Burks: “He’s a great player, man. But not only that, he’s a great person, too. He really loves the game, you can tell. He loves the game, he loves his teammates, he loves being here. And he loves putting in the work. The kids naturally get it. You’ll see that on the field come the spring game and come this fall. Great person overall and a super hard worker.”
Arnold said of Sharp: “He’s extremely athletic. He’s super physical too. Obviously he runs great routes and catches the ball, but he’ll go and move some people in the run game too which is what I love. He’ll do it all, you know? And of course, like you said, he’s super athletic and that showed the first week when he was here. We were running routes and you could tell this dude was a little different.”
It’ll be interesting to see who becomes Arnold’s safety blanket next season, similar to how Drake Stoops was Gabriel’s in 2023. But maybe more important will be how Arnold adjusts to having a new playcaller and offense.
Arnold was recruited by Jeff Lebby — now the head coach at Mississippi State — and played in a similar offensive system at Denton Guyer High School. Now, he’s learning Seth Littrell’s system and how he calls a game.
“There’s not too much of a difference,” Arnold said. “Littrell ran pretty much the same system back at UNT. That’s why he took this job at OU come last year. But, I mean, I think I’ll see when we get into more spring game and scrimmages this spring of how he calls stuff and what he likes to call and his tendencies and stuff. Overall, the scheme isn’t much different, but I’m sure his tendencies in the way he calls things are different, for sure.”
Arnold said the biggest thing Littrell has taught him is slowing the game down. The two have worked primarily on his progressions and reading defenses.
“A lot more comfortable. Seeing everything on the field happen a lot slower,” Arnold said. “Things have come easier. The offense is kind of second nature to me. So everything’s came a lot cleaner. Everything’s a lot smoother. It shows on the field, too, we’re all connected really well. We’re having a great spring so far.”
But for Arnold, he knows the area he has to grow the most is as a leader. Everyone knows he has the talent to be able to throw the ball in places most can’t. And he’s smart enough to learn a new offense. But can he be the type of leader that comes with being the starting quarterback at Oklahoma?
That’s to be determined. It took Gabriel a couple of years to really find his footing. And it seems, entering year two, Arnold understands that’s where he’s needed most.
“I think for me, it was more of me being vocal and speaking out to these guys and kind of showing that I am gonna be their quarterback, I am gonna be their guy, they’ve gotta trust on me and lean on me this spring,” Arnold said. “And it was more of the offseason workouts and stuff is kind of establishing that voice, and not only that but just showing ’em how I play on the field, too, to get those guys to trust me and connect with me.”
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