His Start Was Bad and His Debut Uneven, But Jackson Arnold Hung in to Show 'He's a Baller'

The Sooners' new starting quarterback overcame some early adversity and took control of the Alamo Bowl before things got away from him late.

SAN ANTONIO — Jackson Arnold grew up on Thursday night.

The one-time wunderkind quarterback, a can’t-miss 5-star prospect who chose Oklahoma and by the end of his first year in Norman was the Sooners’ starting QB, encountered and overcame a multitude of adversity against Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.

Arnold was equal parts bad and good in his first career start, just as much raw freshman as he was Johnny Fivestar, three crippling interceptions and two dazzling touchdowns, a steady diet of self-inflicted wounds early and late and two quarters of really strong football in between.

In the end, Oklahoma was beaten 38-24 by a Wildcats team that was gifted six turnovers — four by Arnold.

He’s come a long way — a verbal commit two years ago now, an early enrollee just 12 months ago, the third-stringer at the start of last spring, the backup this fall, and the starter in San Antonio — but Arizona showed how far Arnold still has to go to be a starter in the Southeastern Conference.

“He had some phenomenal moments tonight,” head coach Brent Venables said, “and gave us a chance going into the fourth quarter having a chance to win.”

Arnold passed for 361 yards, the fourth-best total by a Sooner quarterback in OU bowl history, completing 26-of-45 passes.

But he locked onto targets early, relied too heavily on Drake Stoops at first, was frequently indecisive in the pocket and, quite simply, underestimated the speed of the Arizona secondary. His first two interceptions were badly underthrown as he tried to force touch passes into Stoops, and his third one was a simple short slant on which the linebacker stepped unseen into the passing window.

It was typical true freshman stuff, throws that almost never got picked off in high school but became a pile of interceptions in FBS football. He knows now how adept major college defensive backs can be at closing the open space really quickly.

But here’s the thing: Arnold learned from his mistakes in the Alamodome. He actually learned on the fly, in real time. Coaches reminded him he has a rocket arm, so why not quit floating passes and cut it loose? Teammates reminded him to trust them in games like he trusts them in practice.

Arnold just didn’t see the defender on the third interception, but he stopped feathering the football after those first two picks and confidently powered the ball downfield the rest of the night.

Late in the game, Venables was seen on the sideline having a heart-to-heart with the Sooners’ newest quarterback. What did Venables tell him?

“We've got your back,” Venables recalled. “Don't throw late across the middle. And can't go broke taking a profit (short completions). And you don't have to try to win the game all in one play. Not that he did. Just normal coach-speak stuff.”

Arnold said his new offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, and co-coordinator, Joe Jon Finley, had a good game. The Sooners did compile 562 yards total offense and averaged 7.1 yards per play. OU had 361 yards through the air and 201 yards on the ground. But the six turnovers led to 20 points for Arizona and limited the Sooners to just 24 points in all.

“Those mistakes were on me,” Arnold said. “I’m going to take the full blame for that. I've just got to be better. I thought they put me in great positions to win tonight, and lack of execution was the problems that we had tonight.”

Arnold said the message at the OU team chapel on Thursday morning was battling through adversity.

“That was the main focus was battling through adversity, because it's going to strike at some point, and it did tonight,” Arnold said. “Obviously, there's things that went bad tonight, but just learn to keep my head up and keep playing through it no matter what is something I take away from the night.”

After the two ugly interceptions early, Arnold caught fire by completing 18-of-27 passes for 279 yards in the second and third quarters. He showed poise and confidence and athletic ability (he also rushed for 38 yards) and command of the offense.

“It's obvious Jackson is a baller,” said linebacker Danny Stutsman, “and we have full faith in him. First career start, he played his heart out. Every time he takes that field, I have so much confidence in that offense and everything that they do. I love him to death. He's a tremendous player.

“I know now there's going to be some adversity, but he needs to hang his head up higher than ever because Oklahoma has his back, that entire locker room with Jackson, and this changes nothing.”

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