Former Oklahoma Quarterback Headed to Auburn

Jackson Arnold will return to Norman next year as the former OU quarterback will join Hugh Freeze at Auburn.

Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold isn’t leaving the SEC. 

He’s signing with Auburn, On3, 247Sports and ESPN all reported on Saturday morning. 

And that means that OU fans haven’t seen the last of the former 5-star quarterback. 

Oklahoma will open its SEC slate in 2025 by hosting Auburn on Sept. 20 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. 

At Auburn, Arnold will slot into Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze' offense.

Arnold was in Norman for just two seasons, with one of those backing up Dillon Gabriel. 

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound quarterback arrived at Oklahoma as the Gatorade National Player of the Year, but he never lived up to the billing with the Sooners. 

He helped OU win a road game at BYU in 2023 when Gabriel exited the game just before halftime, and had an up-and-down performance in the Alamo Bowl to start the Arnold Era. 

But he then struggled under new offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. 

---

Follow Along: Oklahoma Transfer Portal Tracker

---

Oklahoma’s offensive line started 2024 banged up and the receivers were never healthy, hampering the Sooners’ passing game, but it was the turnovers that led to Arnold getting benched. 

He threw a pick six against Tulane to give the Green Wave life in Norman before Oklahoma shut the door, and then Arnold turned the ball over three times against Tennessee, leading OU coach Brent Venables to turn to Michael Hawkins Jr. 

Hawkins led the Sooners to victory against Auburn this year, so Arnold took no snaps against his future team, but he was reinserted in to the lineup after Hawkins turned the ball over on the first three possessions against South Carolina. 

Arnold had another poor game against Missouri, fumbling in the closing moments which the Tigers returned to win, but he carried the ball 25 times for 131 yards in Oklahoma’s stunning 24-3 win over Alabama.

When the dust settled on the regular season, Arnold finished with a 62.6 parent completion percentage, throwing for 1,421 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. He Ended the season with 444 rushing yards on 150 attempts and three scores on the ground.

Once the Armed Forces Bowl concludes and Casey Thompson officially graduates out of the program, the Sooners will only have two scholarship quarterbacks — Hawkins and 2025 signee Jett Niu. 

Oklahoma will have to add at least one quarterback in the transfer portal, but with Washington State’s John Mateer yet to announce a decision to either stay in Pullman, WA, or enter the portal to reunite with OU’s new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, the Sooners have done little to look into other names in the portal to this point. 

Hawkins finished his true freshman season in 2024 by completing 62.3 percent of his passes for 536 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. 

He also rushed for 143 yards and a score, but Hawkins didn’t see any playing time after Littrell was dismissed and Joe Jon Finley took over as the play caller — a move that at least brought marginal gains to the Sooners’ struggling offense.