By Jay Berry
On Saturday night, the Oklahoma Sooners lost to Tennessee 25-15.
In the Sooners’ first SEC game, they faced one of the top teams in the conference and the country. Before the game, the question was whether Oklahoma could keep up with the high-scoring Tennessee Volunteers.
With a stellar performance from the defense, the Sooners hung close for a while. Unfortunately for the Sooners, their offensive woes showed up as they struggled to give their defense the support needed to win the game.
It’s especially frustrating with the way the defense played, the game was winnable if Oklahoma had a productive offense. Tennessee really only had to get a two-score lead, and the Sooners didn’t have enough offensive production to keep up.
The Oklahoma defense is disruptive and aggressive. Their offense is underwhelming, and now they have a quarterback competition to worry about.
Jackson Arnold looks like crap
— Mike Farrell (@mfarrellsports) September 22, 2024
More Sports News
Late in the second quarter, with the Sooners trailing 19-3. Oklahoma decided to bench starting quarterback Jackson Arnold and put in true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr.
Arnold struggled, completing only seven of his 16 passes, for 54 yards and an interception. Arnold also lost two fumbles in the second quarter, with one leading to a Tennessee touchdown.
Hawkins came in during the second quarter, made better throws and decisions, and looked more confident than Arnold. With reps in practice with the starting unit, Hawkins could provide the offensive upgrade that Oklahoma desperately needs.
“This kid is your quarterback next week,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said on the live broadcast. “This kid has done enough in these handful of series in the second half.”
The Sooner defense played well enough to win and gave the offense multiple turnovers to help. Tennessee is good, but they were beatable, only scoring 25 points and turning the ball over twice. Had the Sooner offense, especially the quarterback position, played better from the start, we could have saw a massive upset in Norman.
Hawkins led Oklahoma to punts in the first four drives, but he found his rhythm towards the end of the game.
By the time he settled in, Hawkins completed 61% of his passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, with a 141 passer rating. He also led the team with 22 rushing yards. In the fourth quarter, Hawkins led the Sooners on two touchdown drives. It was too little too late, though.
3rd Down Struggle
Oklahoma’s third-down struggles showed up once again. It was just three or 15 on third downs against Tennessee, and it had 222 total yards of offense in the game.
“It’s very frustrating,” head coach Brent Venables said about the offensive performance. “There’s just some bad football. Guys getting beat and not winning their matchups, I don’t like that at all. You’ve got to go back and watch it.”
The Sooners Potential
This Sooners team would be phenomenal if they had even a halfway decent offense.
If the Sooners can transform their offense as the season goes along, they could have something to build on. Offensive improvement is a must if they want to survive their very difficult schedule.
Oklahoma will play on the road next Saturday against Auburn, which is 2-2 following an ugly 24-14 loss to Arkansas. This will be Oklahoma’s first road SEC game and will kick off Saturday at 3:30 est on ABC.
