After what looked to be a resurgent first half for the newly reinstated starting quarterback Jackson Arnold, the Oklahoma offense went quiet in the second half. The Sooners had one of their most impressive drives in weeks at the end of the first half, going 92 yards in 13 plays and ending in a scramble drill touchdown pass from Arnold to true freshman walk-on Jacob Jordan. With all of OU’s top five receivers still out and Arnold demoted to second-team the last few weeks, he and Jordan developed a good rapport that was on display on Saturday. OU went into halftime leading Ole Miss 14-10, but faded in the second half and lost 26-14.
Unfortunately for Arnold, he couldn’t replicate his solid first half performance. Down 12 points with about 11 minutes left in the game, he led the Sooners on a 14-play drive that started on their own two-yard line. But on Ole Miss’ 13-yard line, Bauer Sharp was tackled for a one-yard loss on a trick play and then Arnold was sacked three straight times to end the drive and OU’s hopes of a comeback. After Brent Venables’ defense forced the Rebels off the field, Arnold got another chance. But he threw two incomplete passes and then was sacked two more times, ending the game on a very sour note.
Arnold finished 22/31 with 182 passing yards and two touchdowns and was effective scrambling, but finished with just 39 rushing yards because of the nine sacks he took. He did fumble once, although shouldn’t be punished for it because his o-line let an Ole Miss defender through the line before he could even hand off the ball.
After firing play caller Seth Littrell last week and giving Arnold the starting job back, the offense did feel more lively, even if they couldn’t score more than 14 points. (Although, those 14 points are the most they’ve scored since September 28.) Perhaps Arnold and new play caller Joe Jon Finley may have found some things that they can extrapolate on going forward.
Up Next For the Sooners
Oklahoma will play a home game next weekend against the Maine Black Bears before finishing out their SEC schedule. After Arnold’s play against Ole Miss, it would be very surprising if he didn’t start against Maine too. Although given that OU should win that game in a blowout, it would also not be surprising to see Michael Hawkins Jr. get some reps as well, as the coaching staff continues to compare the two and decide who they like best for the rest of this season and beyond.
Maine should provide a brief respite from the physical SEC games that OU has been playing, hopefully giving Oklahoma a chance to get healthy on offense. Left tackle Jacob Sexton was injured twice against Ole Miss, and it’s unclear just how severe his injury is right now. Receivers Deion Burks, Nic Anderson, and Andrel Anthony all missed the Mississippi game and are desperately needed by Arnold and the rest of the offense. Gavin Sawchuk also missed the game with a quad strain, although he’s been largely a non-factor in 2024 after a great year in 2023.
Oklahoma is now 4-4 on the season and 1-4 in the SEC. Their season has become less about competing and more about solving the problems they can and seeing what they have for the future. Assuming they beat Maine, they’ll still need to earn a major upset over a ranked team on their schedule if they want to make a bowl game with six wins. Here’s hoping they do just that.
Main Image: © Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
