Tag: Michael Hawkins Jr.

Former Oklahoma Sooners star reveals his pick for offensive coordinator

Dusty Dvoracek has his thoughts on who should replace Seth Littrell at offensive coordinator.

It’s no secret the offense has performed well below expectations for the Oklahoma Sooners this year.

With Jeff Lebby leaving to become the coach at Mississippi State at the end of the 2023 regular season, Sooner fans hoped coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ decision to promote from within the program would pay off. Instead, it’s done the opposite.

Seth Littrell and [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] were promoted to co-offensive coordinators. Littrell served as the quarterbacks coach and the primary play caller. Finley continued to coach the tight ends.

However, it only took seven games for Littrell to be relieved of his duties. The offense was (and still is) broken, and changes had to be made. Finley was installed as the interim play caller and offensive analyst [autotag]Kevin Johns[/autotag] was promoted to interim co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

After promising signs from the duo against Ole Miss and Maine, the offense sank against Missouri in a crushing loss. Finley and Johns will not be the answer next season, and the external search continues for Venables.

With questions over the choice at quarterback, [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] or [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag], looming and offensive line problems that have to be fixed, there are a multitude of issues for the new OC on the job to address this offseason.

In addition, the questions about what will happen to the other offensive position coaches on the staff will be interesting to watch. Emmett Jones (wide receivers/passing game coordinator), Bill Bedenbaugh (offensive line) and DeMarco Murray (running backs) will have a new boss, if they’re in Norman next season.

There are plenty of opinions on who Venables should hire, but one person who raises eyebrows is beginning to gain some steam. One former standout at OU has put his support behind a once-unlikely candidate.

Former star defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek thinks former Mississippi State and Florida coach Dan Mullen should take the reins of the Oklahoma offense. He joined fellow OU standouts Gabe Ikard and Teddy Lehman on “The Oklahoma Breakdown with Ikard and Lehman” last week to voice why he would call Mullen if he was Venables.

“On my list, my No. 1 person I’m calling is Dan Mullen,” the ESPN college football color commentator said. “I have no idea, outside of a major head coaching opportunity, if he’d even entertain this conversation. If you’re asking me what I’d do, I’d pick up the phone and make him tell me no. … The dude can coach offense with anybody in the sport, and he can develop quarterbacks as well as anybody in the sport.”

Dvoracek and Mullen are colleagues at ESPN. The latter has been a studio analyst and color commentator since the 2022 season. It’s been his gig since he was fired by Florida late in the 2021 regular season.

Mullen was Florida’s offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer when the Gators won two national championships in the 2000s. He developed Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow during that time.

He became Mississippi State’s coach in 2009 and served their until 2017. The Bulldogs had some of their best years under Mullen, including the 2014 season where they reached No. 1 in the rankings and beat Alabama. He mentored Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott during his time in Starkville.

He returned to Florida as the coach in 2018, leading to three good seasons before he was fired during a rough 2021 campaign. His supporters note his success as a play caller in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag], while his detractors call out his lack of a strong recruiting presence in his latter years with the Gators.

It’s absolutely imperative for Venables to nail this offensive coordinator search. His future and the program’s future ride so heavily on him getting this move right, heading into a make-or-break 2025 season.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.

Should the Oklahoma Sooners have a quarterback competition?

Should the Oklahoma Sooners open up the quarterback job to a competition with two games remaining in the season?

The Oklahoma Sooners are 10 games into the season and haven’t found a consistent answer at quarterback in 2024. That’s such an anomaly for OU Football, a place that features four Heisman winners over the last 25 years and several more finalists. Poor quarterback play isn’t the norm in Norman.

The problems on offense are many. The offense has struggled with injuries, which has certainly impacted everyone around the quarterback. At the same time, turnovers in key situations once again killed any chance the Sooners had of winning a hard-fought game.

The Sooners’ defense gave Oklahoma a chance to win the football game. When OU only needed a field goal to beat the Tigers, [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] fumbled the ball, and the game away.

Twice this season, turnovers have led to changes at quarterback. Arnold had another critical turnover on a night when he wasn’t productive in the offense, throwing for just 74 yards and 3.1 yards per attempt.

He and true freshman quarterback [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] have each shown some good things this season. Neither has been able to stake their claim to the starting quarterback job with much authority.

Earlier this season, Brent Venables didn’t rule out the idea of using both quarterbacks in a game. With two games to go, the time may be now to do so.

What Oklahoma does at quarterback in 2025 is one of the bigger storylines ahead of the upcoming offseason. The Sooners have two more games to figure out if either guy can be counted on to be the guy next year or if they need to go into the transfer portal for a veteran quarterback option.

As the Sooners give some of the younger guys some snaps over the next few weeks, finding a scripted series or two for Hawkins could be good for his development. The last time he was on the field was early in the first quarter against South Carolina. He’s a better player than those first three series revealed.

Though Casey Thompson provides you with an experienced voice in the quarterback room, does it make sense to put him on the field and take valuable developmental snaps away from your young quarterbacks? I don’t think so. His experience is valuable, but in a lost season, you have to keep developing players and Arnold and Hawkins deserve the opportunity to finish the season on a high note.

Alabama and LSU will be tough matchups for whoever they put at quarterback. However, the Sooners should create an opportunity for Arnold and Hawkins to compete for snaps and playing time.

If practice is where players sharpen each other, allowing them to compete for playing time could be a catalyst for the final two games of the season and, perhaps, the future.

Joel Klatt is panicking about the Oklahoma Sooners

FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt didn’t mince words about the Oklahoma Sooners.

It’s no secret that the 2024 college football season hasn’t gone the way the Oklahoma Sooners have hoped. With a 3-0 nonconference start, OU was a bit shaky, but undefeated heading into Southeastern Conference play. A tough loss against Tennessee hurt, but a thrilling comeback win over Auburn sent the Sooners into the bye on a high note.

Coming out of the bye week, Oklahoma has dropped back-to-back stinkers against Texas and South Carolina to drop to 4-3 overall on the season and just 1-3 in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play. Though their first loss to Tennessee was by just ten points, the Sooners have been blown out each of the last two weeks, failing to even make the games competitive.

Now they face the Ole Miss Rebels on the road, a very good team capable of embarrassing the Sooners once again. They’ll get a reprieve next week against Maine before a gauntlet of the final month of the regular season. That four-week stretch includes a game at Missouri, a bye week, a home game against Alabama, and a road game against LSU to close things out.

Simply put, Oklahoma is in serious danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 1998. They’ll have to find a pretty big upset on their schedule somewhere and take care of business at home against Maine just to get to 6-6.

OU’s season has many folks around the college football landscape concerned for the program’s future, including FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt. Klatt wrote an in-depth article detailing his thoughts on the rough seasons going on right now at Michigan, USC, and, of course, Oklahoma.

“The Sooners’ first year in the SEC has gone horribly wrong. We all knew Oklahoma’s schedule was difficult entering the season, and we actually discussed it at quite a bit of length,” Klatt said. “But the offense has been a disaster. I’ve been saying that since the Tennessee game and that it didn’t matter who the quarterback was. It didn’t change when [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] replaced [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] because the scheme is wrong. We have evidence of that now. Oklahoma fired offensive coordinator Seth Litrell earlier this week and Arnold is back in at quarterback. The Sooners rank 107th in scoring and 116th in total yards. It’s not working. “

Klatt dove deeper into the many problems with this OU offense, beginning with the caveat of all the injuries the Sooners are dealing with at wide receiver.

“To be fair to Oklahoma, it’s been decimated at wide receiver due to injuries … It’d be a convenient excuse to point at those injuries, though, for why the offense has struggled,” Klatt said. “When I watched the film, the entire offensive system was wrong. The offensive line is playing terribly. When the Sooners try to run the football, they can’t get anywhere. The scheme is wrong. When figuring out if the coaches, players or scheme are the reason for the issues, it’s the coach and scheme. Sure, you could say it’s a little bit of the players because of the injuries, but the coaching staff and scheme were wrong. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] fixed the coach part this week, so credit to him for that at the very least. Oklahoma has a placeholder offense, though. [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] won’t be its offensive coordinator heading into 2025. So, like Michigan, this is going to get worse before it gets better for Oklahoma. This is not the bottom …What is Oklahoma going to do offensively? Just play hard and that’s going to be the game plan with the placeholder offense.”

Overall, Klatt emphasized that he is “worried and panicking” about Oklahoma, and while it may not be fun to here, it’s what needs to be heard right now, because this team, mainly offensively, isn’t very good right now.

The offseason offensive coordinator search and hire for Brent Venables will be a telling moment in his career as Oklahoma’s head coach. If he gets it right, he could have a long and successful career patrolling the sidelines in Norman.

If he gets it wrong, his days in this role could be numbered, and the clock may already be ticking on him as we speak. That doesn’t mean he can’t turn it around, but it does mean that what he does next is incredibly crucial.

Kirk Herbstreit thinks Oklahoma Sooners are hitting ‘rock bottom’

ESPN College Football analyst Kirk Herbstreit thinks OU is hitting “rock bottom” right now.

The Oklahoma Sooners desperately need to rebound in a big way this week. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ team has lost two straight and three out of their last four games, and they’ll have to play excellent football to avoid a third straight defeat on Saturday. OU will face the Ole Miss Rebels on the road in Oxford, Mississippi.

One college football expert believes that things couldn’t get much worse for Oklahoma. That would be ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who took to his social media earlier this week to answer a few questions from fans about the current state of college football. He shared his thoughts on the top teams in the sport and a few programs that have been outright disappointing.

“The Sooners, they’re hitting rock bottom,” Herbstreit said. “Oklahoma is seriously reeling as an offense.”

That’s a pretty emphatic and blunt way to put it, but Herbstreit has seen the Sooners in some of their worst moments this year. He was on hand in Norman when Oklahoma hosted Tennessee in a 10-point loss and benched [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] in favor of [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] to try and find a spark for the offense. Herbstreit was also at the Cotton Bowl for the Red River Rivalry, when Texas defeated Oklahoma by 31 points.

Defensively, Oklahoma has improved from where they were a year ago. It’s the best defense of the three-year Venables era, and the best defense the Sooners have had in a long time. While Oklahoma certainly isn’t great on special teams, that unit has also improved a bit since last year. In fact, it may be the best special teams group of the Venables era as well.

But the offensive woes have kept Oklahoma from winning, or competing for the most part, in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] play. Hawkins was benched after three straight turnovers to open the game last week against South Carolina, and Arnold has been re-inserted as the starter. However, neither quarterback is getting much help at all from the pieces around them, and it wouldn’t shock anyone to see Hawkins back under center at some point this season. It also wouldn’t be a shock to see Arnold take things the rest of the way.

That’s where it’s at right now with this OU offense. With Seth Littrell relieved of his duties on Sunday, [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] has been promoted to the role of primary play-caller. Kevin Johns is now a co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. While the trio of [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag], [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag] and DeMarco Murray may not be directly responsible (as coordinators) for the mess on offense, each of their position groups needs to play better.

With the tough schedule the Sooners have coming up in November with games against Missouri, Alabama and LSU, this team will have to dig deep to find something, even if that something is just bowl eligibility for a 26th straight season.

Brent Venables names starting quarterback for week 9 vs. Ole Miss

Brent Venables named his starting quarterback for week 9 vs. Ole Miss.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been forced to play multiple quarterbacks this season. After [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]’s turnover frenzy against Tennessee, he was replaced by [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag], who turned the ball over on Oklahoma’s first three drives against South Carolina. Amid questions about red shirting in 2024, the Sooners reinserted Arnold into the lineup to try to find a spark offensively.

And the Sooners appear ready to hand the keys of the offense back to Arnold. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] stated during the Rudy’s Coach’s Show that Arnold will start for Oklahoma when it makes the trip to Oxford to face the Ole Miss Rebels this Saturday.

SoonerScoop’s Georgia Stoia shared the news on X.

Now, the turnovers aren’t completely on the quarterbacks, as the offensive line play, lack of separation from wide receivers, and poor game planning from the now-departed Seth Littrell put way too much on the quarterback’s shoulders in 2024.

But as Arnold replaced Hawkins in the first quarter against South Carolina, the Sooners found a little offense, even if it’s still not to the standard expected at Oklahoma.

In the loss to South Carolina, it was the first time a quarterback had thrown for more than 200 yards in a game this season. Arnold showed improved poise and decision-making. He was 18 of 36 for 225 yards and a touchdown. Pro Football Focus credited Oklahoma pass catchers with six drops, though it felt like more than that.

It wasn’t a perfect performance, and there is still a lot of development that needs to happen, but Arnold had a few solid moments like the 54-yard touchdown to Brenen Thompson.

The Ole Miss Rebels will provide another challenge for Oklahoma’s offense. It can’t be all on the quarterback to help the Sooners find their scoring touch, but if Arnold can build on his performance against South Carolina, it might give them more confidence in the direction of the offense under Joe Jon Finley.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Best Photos of Oklahoma Sooners matchup with South Carolina

Best photos from Oklahoma Football’s matchup with the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Oklahoma Sooners were blown out again for the second straight week. But this time it was by the South Carolina Gamecocks, a team that came into the game an even 3-3 on the season.

They’d played some good ball, losing close ball games to Alabama and Georgia but had also narrowly beat Old Dominion and were blown out by Ole Miss. On Saturday, the Gamecocks took advantage of three early turnovers caused by pressure from their dynamic defensive front to jump out to a 21-point lead. And that was all she wrote.

With Oklahoma in catch-up mode, the Sooners tried to throw more than they would have liked to get back in the game. That was a recipe for disaster, playing into exactly what the Gamecocks do best: rush the passer. Jackson Arnold didn’t have much of a chance.

By the end of the game, the Sooners had allowed nine sacks and lost by 26 points.

It was another wasted defensive performance by an offense that has been mostly anemic in 2024.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Sooners loss to South Carolina

Turnovers and a poor performance on the offensive line sunk the Oklahoma Sooners in their week 8 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Oklahoma Sooners fell to 4-3 on the season with their loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks. In the offseason, most observers would have chalked the Gamecocks off as a win in their preseason predictions.

I, and many others, underrated the Gamecocks and vastly overrated the Sooners. In particular, the turnover the Sooners faced on the offensive line this offseason turned out to be too much to overcome.

Sure, the wide receiver injuries and the inconsistent quarterback play haven’t helped, but on Saturday Oklahoma’s pass protection was inadequate and didn’t give either quarterback a chance. After the three turnovers to open the game put Oklahoma in a 21-0 hole, South Carolina was in a perfect position to get after the quarterback.

Ultimately, the Sooners are a long way off from being a contender in the SEC. There’s a lot of work to be done.

Let’s take a look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Week 8.

The Good – Defense Steps Up

The defense played really well. There might be a case to be made that South Carolina got conservative in the second half and that’s probably accurate. But they didn’t need to do anything more on offense to win the game.

But the defense did their job even in the first half.

Zac Alley’s unit gave up just one touchdown drive when South Carolina started on their side of the 50-yard line. Other than that, the Gamecocks were gifted with short fields by the offense.

The Sooners held South Carolina to 1.8 yards per carry, recorded six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Can’t play much better than that, especially after the offense puts you in a 21-0 hole less than six minutes into the game.

More: Sooners Tumble, new No. 1 in SEC Power Rankings

Up Next: Turnovers Bad, but not all on QB

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Early turnovers, offensive ineptness doom Oklahoma Sooners in loss to South Carolina

The Oklahoma Sooners offense turned the ball over four times and allowed nine sacks in their 35-9 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Oklahoma Sooners were going to need at least a solid performance from their offense to have a chance against a talented South Carolina defense. And they didn’t get it.

Oklahoma turned it over on their first three drives. Two interceptions and a fumble by [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] The Gamecocks took advantage of the short field and took a 7-0 lead. South Carolina then forced a fumble of Hawkins and returned it for a touchdown, and then they got a pick-six on the third offensive possession for the Sooners.

That was the day for Hawkins, who was replaced by [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag].

Less than six minutes into the game, South Carolina was up 21-0 and the hole was too big for an offense that has struggled during SEC play.

Oklahoma was held to just a field goal in the first half for the second straight week and trailed 32-3, the largest deficit the Sooners have trailed at half since the late 90s.

Though Arnold came in and moved the ball, the Sooners offensive line couldn’t hold up against a relentless South Carolina pass rush. The Gamecocks came through with nine sacks on the day. No player had more than one sack on the day.

It was going to be a difficult matchup for Oklahoma’s offensive line, but the Sooners struggled not just with the pass rush, but the Gamecocks coverage units made life difficult for the Sooners offense.

Oklahoma turned the ball over four times and nearly had several more turnovers in the game. South Carolina had just one drive that originated in Gamecocks territory. That one drive was an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Otherwise the Sooners’ defense forced eight punts and 254 yards of total offense, including just 185 yards in the first half.

Coming off the bench, Jackson Arnold finished the day 18 of 36 for 225 yards and a touchdown. The highlight came on a 54-yard touchdown strike to [autotag]Brenen Thompson[/autotag].

True freshman and walk-on wide receiver Jacob Jordan led the Sooners in receiving with six catches for 86 yards. [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] played hard all day, carrying the ball 17 times for 70 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per carry for his best day of the season. Barnes also added four catches on five targets for 21 yards.

Still, it was a bad offensive performance for the Oklahoma Sooners who have yet to have a good performance in SEC play. The offensive line isn’t capable of providing enough protection for Oklahoma’s quarterbacks and the they haven’t gotten enough help from the players around them to be successful.

But the start to the game torpedoed any hope the Sooners had of winning the game. With the loss, the Sooners fell to 4-3 on the season and 1-3 in SEC play. Next week, Oklahoma goes on the road to face the Ole Miss Rebels.

More: 5 Takeaways from Oklahoma’s loss to South Carolina

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

3 Keys for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

How can the Oklahoma Sooners pull off a in over the South Carolina Gamecocks? Here are three keys to the game.

The Oklahoma Sooners have a big opportunity to right the ship with a tough matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday.

On the surface, you might say, “South Carolina? Tough?” Yeah. This is a team that beat Kentucky, who beat Ole Miss in Oxford. These Gamecocks were a two-point conversion attempt away from sending their game with Alabama to overtime. In Tuscaloosa. The Gamecocks played LSU to a three loss. South Carolina had the lead until the final minutes of their loss to the Tigers.

Shane Beamer has them playing tough regardless of opponent. Although they were blown out by Ole Miss, they’re a better team than they showed on that day in Columbia.

It’s a tough matchup for a Sooners team hoping to rebound from their blowout loss to the Texas Longhorns. So what do they need to do to pick up the win? Let’s check out this week’s keys to the game.

1. Get the Ground Game Going

The best way to take the pressure off of your young starting quarterback is to find an effective running game. The best way to neutralize an elite pass rush is to find an effective running game. Ipso facto, Oklahoma needs to find an effective running game.

That may be a tall ask at this point in the season as the Sooners have struggled throughout and are one of the worst rush offenses in the country. At the same time, there have been positive signs in each of the last two games. Yes, even against Texas.

After Oklahoma forced a three-and-out on the Longhorns’ second drive, the Sooners opened up with a three-yard run by Gavin Sawchuk, followed by an eight-yard run by Jovantae Barnes for a first down. From that point, Seth Littrell had Michael Hawkins throw it on three straight plays, one of which turned into a 13-yard sack knocking them out of Texas’ side of the field and ultimately forcing them to punt.

A three-yard run might not be much to write home about, but getting to second-and-seven gives you more options than throwing incomplete on first down and being in second-and-10.

Second and third-and-long is a place Oklahoma doesn’t want to be in against the Gamecocks. They can get after the passer as well as anyone in the country with their talented defensive front. South Carolina can get home with just four, so they can drop seven into coverage and make Hawkins dink and dunk. But if the Sooners can grind out some yards in the run game, it may force the Gamecocks to commit more defenders to the box on early downs.

The dirty, three-yard runs can be effective. Just keep churning them out and grinding away. While there’s been a lot of talk about explosive plays, Oklahoma simply needs to move the ball. If it’s only three and four yards at a time, so be it.

Sure, a lot of the outcome of this game does ride on the quarterback, but the Sooners need to get the run game going. Lean on Jovantae Barnes, Gavin Sawchuk, Taylor Tatum, and an offensive line that’s coming together instead of putting everything on your young quarterback.

Up Next: A Complete Game

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Predictions for Oklahoma Sooners vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

The Oklahoma Sooners take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday and here are Sooners Wire Staff’s predictions.

To say a game in week eight is a must-win feels weird, but at the midway point of the season, sitting at 4-2 and with their remaining schedule, the Oklahoma Sooners have a tough road ahead.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are a tough matchup for anyone. Just ask LSU and Alabama. Shane Beamer’s squad lost two really close games to the SEC titans by a combined five points. Sure, this year’s Bama team isn’t the same as the Nick Saban squads from year’s past, but they’re still a talented team.

The Gamecocks boast one of the more impressive defensive end duos in college football with Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart. They’re long, athletic, and disruptive. Along with an athletic and aggressive secondary, the Gamecocks will pose a difficult challenge for the Sooners offense and true freshman quarterback [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr[/autotag].

Offensively, the Gamecocks are a bit of a roller coaster, riding the arm and legs of first-year starter LaNorris Sellers. Though only a three-star prospect coming out of high school, Sellers sat for a year behind Spencer Rattler and has a high ceiling because of a strong arm and great athleticism.

This has a chance to be another thriller in SEC play and there’s no telling how the game could go. But our staff here at Sooners Wire shared their thoughts on how Oklahoma’s first matchup ever with the Gamecocks will go.

Up Next: Sooners Wire Staff Predictions

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