On Monday night, during his weekly coaches show, Brent Venables named true freshman Michael Hawkins as the starting quarterback for Oklahoma’s upcoming game at Auburn.
It wasn’t a shock to anyone on Saturday night when the Sooners benched Jackson Arnold in the second quarter in favor of Hawkins. And by Monday, Venables making it official was expected.
For three quarters against Tennessee, Oklahoma’s offense was completely stagnant. In the second quarter, none of their drives lasted more than three plays. The sequence was: fumble, safety, punt, fumble, punt. The third quarter wasn’t much better, with three straight punts.
In the fourth quarter, Hawkins settled in and led the Sooners on two promising touchdown drives, a stark contrast to their earlier struggles. The first ended with a two-yard touchdown pass to Jovantae Barnes, and on the next drive, Hawkins connected with Jaquaize Pettaway for a 46-yard pass before Barnes scored again. Though they missed the two-point conversion, Hawkins’ ability to move the offense stood out after the earlier offensive stagnation.
Hawkins’ performance was a silver lining in an otherwise tough night for Oklahoma’s offense. He finished 11 of 18 for 132 yards and a touchdown, showing flashes of what he can bring to the table, while Arnold struggled, completing just 7 of 16 passes for 54 yards and turning the ball over three times.
After the game, Venables spoke highly of Hawkins, saying, “He’s confident. He’s loose in the right ways. The moment’s not going to overwhelm him, even though again, he’s a young guy. Things happen fast. Mike gets pretty excited, you saw him. He’s three or four steps ahead of the play a few times. That’s going to happen too. Certainly got to slow things down and let things develop, there’s that piece of it, but he’s a great competitor, got a tremendous amount of talent, and he cares. There’s a lot that you really have an appreciation for Mike about.”
Offensive coordinator Seth Littrell also praised Hawkins, adding, “I think he got more comfortable as the game went on. He’s a tough kid. He’s full of energy. Obviously he can make you right in a lot of different ways. He’s talented not only in being able to extend plays, but [has an] extremely live arm and [is] strong in the pocket. He’s a tough kid. Great mentality. He’s a guy that we’ve been really excited about.”
Now, Hawkins is set to lead Oklahoma in their first road game at Auburn. Barring any changes, he’ll also be the first true freshman quarterback to start for the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry.
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