The college football season starts in a matter of days, with Week Zero action on Saturday, August 24th featuring four FBS games. The slate is headlined by Florida State vs. Georgia Tech in an ACC battle taking place in Ireland. Six days later, the Oklahoma Sooners will take on the Temple Owls on Friday, August 30th to kick off their 2024 season.
There is optimism in Norman this year, despite the brutal realities of a very tough [autotag]SEC[/autotag] schedule.
Head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] enters Year 3 with a veteran-led defense that projects as the best Oklahoma has had in a long time.
On offense, sophomore quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] steps into the driver’s seat, a moment that Sooner Nation has been anticipating for years. He needs to gain experience and reps with live bullets flying, but his upside and talent have the coaching staff excited. He’ll be relying on a deep core of weapons and a rebuilt offensive line to help him put points on the scoreboard.
But just about every team is excited about their quarterback this time of year, whether it’s a new player or a returning starter. To cut through the clutter, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg “spoke with more than 25 head coaches and defensive assistants (mostly coordinators) during the spring and summer to gather intel on the top returning quarterbacks and what to expect (ESPN+) — both good and bad — this fall.”
Arnold was one of many quarterbacks profiled and a familiar name for Sooner fans went on record to give a very positive evaluation of the former five-star prospect. Here’s what Rittenberg heard on Arnold.
“The Sooners had a peaceful transition of QB power from [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] to Arnold, ESPN’s No. 3 overall recruit in the 2023 class,” Rittenberg said. “Like Gabriel, Arnold is a shorter quarterback (6-1) with dual-threat ability and a track record of prolific passing (more than 7,000 yards in high school). Arnold started the Alamo Bowl against Arizona and had 361 pass yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. His first season as OU’s full-time starter coincides with the team’s move to the SEC, which brings a schedule featuring Alabama, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri and LSU in addition to the [autotag]Red River Rivalry[/autotag] game against Texas.”
The coach that Rittenberg spoke to about OU’s new man under center was former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag], who recruited Arnold to come to Norman, coached him last season as a freshman and is now the head coach at Mississippi State. Predictably, Lebby is still very high on his prized recruit.
“He’s going to have a chance to have a really good year,” said Lebby. “They’ve got some really good pieces around him. They’re going to be better at tight end, better at running back, and they’ve got some great, great pieces in the receiver room. He’s set up really, really well.”
The pieces around Arnold are solid, as running back [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] and wide receivers [autotag]Deion Burks[/autotag], [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag], [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] and [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] are all really good weapons. If the tight end position improves as Lebby believes it will and the new offensive line gels, Arnold could be leading a very productive offense into battle each Saturday.
Arnold is now in the hands of co-offensive coordinators [autotag]Seth Littrell[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag]. The latter will continue to coach tight ends while the former will replace Lebby as the play caller and quarterbacks coach, meaning he’ll be speaking to Arnold throughout the game in college football’s new helmet communication system. Littrell and Arnold had a good relationship while Littrell was an offensive analyst in 2023. The development of the young QB is squarely on the shoulders of the former North Texas head coach.
Oklahoma’s success won’t depend entirely on Arnold going nuclear every week in 2024. However, the Sooners will need him to be a star if they want to navigate the difficult SEC slate successfully and take another step forward in Venables’ third season.
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