Oklahoma announces starting quarterback for game against Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — Quarterback Jackson Arnold will get the start for Oklahoma in Saturday’s game against Ole Miss, Sooners’ head coach Brent Venables announced on his weekly coaches show Monday.

Arnold, a sophomore, was Oklahoma’s starter for its first four games of the season before he was benched in the 25-15 loss to Tennessee, a game where he committed three turnovers in the first half.

Freshman Michael Hawkins, Jr., who helped the Sooners to their only conference win of 2024 — against Auburn — was the starter in OU’s loss to Texas and then started in last Saturday’s loss to South Carolina.

Hawkins, Jr. committed three turnovers in the first six minutes against the Gamecocks — leading to 21 South Carolina points — and was, himself, benched for the remainder of the game as Arnold took over.

On the season, Arnold has completed 57.2% of his passes for 763 yards, eight touchdowns and has thrown three interceptions. Hawkins has completed 62.5% of his passes for 476 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Arnold will have a new play-caller as Oklahoma fired its offensive coordinator, Seth Littrell, Sunday after the loss to South Carolina. Now, Joe Jon Finley, who served as the Rebels’ tight end coach and passing coordinator in 2020, will take over play calling responsibilities.

The 39-year-old Finley joined Oklahoma’s coaching staff as tight ends coach under Lincoln Riley in 2021 and was promoted to the role of co-offensive coordinator alongside Littrell in late 2023.

Through its first seven games, Oklahoma’s offensive woes have been significant. They are scoring an average of a mere 22 points per game with a total average of 288 yards per game. Additionally, they have given up 29 sacks in their seven games — the second-worst in the SEC.

They head to Oxford ranked 128th nationally in total offense and 107th in scoring, and they have tallied 11 turnovers in seven games.

Ole Miss and OU kick off at 11:00 a.m. Saturday in Oxford on ESPN.