OU defense needs a game-managing quarterback, and evidence grows that Arnold isn't that guy

He didn't get benched for Michael Hawkins just because of Tennessee performance.

There hasn't been a college football Saturday in recent memory where I so badly wanted to be in two places at once as much as this past Saturday.

Utah at Oklahoma State.

Tennessee at Oklahoma.

If only the Beyond the Boxscore coffers had enough for a helicopter.

Alas, private air travel will have to wait, and I had to choose: a game with huge Big 12 (and possible College Football Playoff) ramifications that I thought might be really close in Stillwater or a game where OU would make its SEC debut but that I feared could be lopsided in Norman?

In the end, I went with the game I thought would be more interesting, OSU-Utah.

Turns out, both games were interesting as both the Cowboys and the Sooners benched their starting quarterbacks mid-game.

Wild!

Being in Stillwater gave me a chance to write about everything that happened there with OSU's 22-19 loss, but even as I worked, I kept an eye on what was going on in Norman. Then, I wanted to dive into what Sooner coach Brent Venables had to say after the 25-15 loss.

As I did, it dawned on me: why not give you the transcript of his press conference, plus a few of my thoughts?

So without further ado ...

Thanks to Visit Stillwater for sponsoring my college football coverage this season.

Opening statement

Venables: Well, disappointed, obviously, in not getting a W and how we played, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, not taking care of the football. And really, a poor half of football. So obviously, made a change there. Felt like we needed to. Gave up 12 points off of turnovers there in the first half. Hoping we could bring Mike (Hawkins) in, and he’d give us a spark. And obviously he did on a few drives there in the second half. Had the couple touchdown drives there.

Thought our defense played really well tonight for the most part. Would love to have caused another turnover or two, but our guys played with tremendous effort. Thought they had a great plan defensively. Our coaches and players just played very inspired football. Proud of those guys, the toughness and the leadership that they showed.

A team like Tennessee, as we know, you can’t give them easy opportunities. They forced some of those as well. But I felt like our first interception, we just threw it up there. We just can’t make that mistake. Then we throw one behind the line of scrimmage. We don’t have that option on that play. That’s based on what the defense gave us. It’s a give all the way. That’s one of those mistakes that we just can’t do, can’t make. And then coming off our own end zone there, our own goal line, really poor execution there. Really, really poor.

Just gotta get better. Gotta put our heads down, and go right back to work. We have, obviously, a quarterback. Need to evaluate that and find out, figure out who the best guy is to help us get to No. 4 and find our fourth win. Put everything we got into getting ready, dust ourselves off and go right back at it. We got a good enough team to still have a really good year. We have a lot of football ahead of us, but we got a lot of improvement to make as well. That kind of goes without saying.

My take: An honest assessment. Jackson Arnold's play was atrocious. The defense's performance was splendid. About the only thing that feels squishy was where Venables said OU has a good enough team to still have a really good year. A good enough defense? Sure. A good enough team? Doesn't seem like it. And a really good year? I just don't see that happening. Not with the SEC schedule that OU has been given. I thought the Sooners' ceiling before the season started was 8-4, maybe 9-3. Now, people should do cartwheels down Jenkins Avenue if these Sooners get to 8-4.

Looks like you have a quarterback competition. What will you be looking for over the next few days?

Venables: Yeah, who’s the most consistent and can execute the basics of our offense consistently. You know, that’s not real complicated. And then you gotta get in the game, and you gotta perform, too. That’s part of it, too.

My take: I'm not ready to totally bail on Jackson Arnold, but with this strong of a defense, the Sooners can win ballgames with a quarterback who is more of a game manager. (Think, Trent Dilfer and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens.) OU doesn't need a quarterback who goes out and wins every game, but it needs one who doesn't lose them. Saturday, Arnold's bad decisions cost the Sooners.

Might what happened against Tennessee spark the quarterbacks?

Venables: Yeah, I would be surprised if that doesn’t bring out the best in ‘em. There’ll be some disappointment on Jackson’s part, absolutely. But again, he’s a tough young man, and he knows he needs to be better. And again, this is a game of performance, and he’ll have the opportunity to go right back at it here this week. He’s a great teammate. He’s a selfless guy. Again, nobody’s harder on him than him. He’s got incredibly high standards. Standards have always driven every decision he makes and who he is as a young man. He’ll respond in the right way.

My take: I freely admit, I was in the anyone-suggesting-Hawkins-take-over-for-Arnold-is-out-of-their-mind camp before Saturday night. If Arnold was getting killed behind the Sooners' offensive line, Hawkins, a true freshman, was sure to struggle. But that wasn't the case. He went 11 of 18 for 132 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Also no fumbles. Just a much cleaner performance.

What about Hawkins sparked the offense?

Venables: I think what you saw, and again, listen … I watched it the first time, and he’s a tremendous athlete. There were several times there where we had edge pressure that we didn’t block and he got outside of it. So, he has some playmaking ability, and he can hurt you with his legs. But also, that can’t be your game.

But we did have a few drives where we got into a nice rhythm, and he showed that he can make some plays. And then there’s some plays out there that we had opportunities, and we didn’t execute. Throws that we didn’t (make). But that’s the game of football. In his first real action, there’s some things that you liked about it and certainly some things you didn’t.

My take: All that's true. Hawkins wasn't perfect. But his imperfection was way better and less detremental than Arnold's.

Despite all the talk about quarterbacks, there seemed to be an overall lack of execution on offense. What's your level of frustration with that?

Venables: It’s very frustrating. Just some bad football. Some guys getting whupped and beat and not winning their matchups. Don’t like that at all.

So you gotta go back and watch it. The No. 1 thing I look at is, what are we doing from a scheme standpoint, coaching standpoint, to put our guys in position to be successful? Enhancing the strengths, protecting our weaknesses. So there’s a lot that goes into that. And we gotta get better.

I mean Tennessee’s really good. So’s a lot of the teams that we play. Part of that, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, in regards to going right back and going to work.

Got a few guys back this week. Lost some guys early in the game. Nic (Anderson) restrained his quad, lost Deion (Burks) and Taylor Tatum went out. Kendal Dolby, I think it’s an ankle fracture, so he’ll have surgery pretty quickly. Dislocation. Trying to think, any of the other guys would be day to day.

What's Burks' prognosis?

Venables: I don’t know. I don’t know the extent. It’s soft tissue.

My take: Injuries continue to pile up. And with an offensive line that isn't getting great results, losing playmakers like Burks, Tatum and Anderson is a gutpunch. Those are the types of players who can turn a 2-yard play into 8 or 10. If all three of those guys are lost for an extended period of time, the Sooners' offensive woes could get even worse.

It looked like Jackson was never comfortable. What was your sense of that?

Venables: You saw that early. We were just a little off. So again, everything happens a little faster. The windows are tighter, the gaps are smaller, all those things. I’ll wait until I watch the tape and figure it out.

My take: Tennessee's defense is good, but the bad news for the Sooners is that even better defenses are coming on the SEC schedule.

What was the process in deciding to make the QB change, and had you considered it any earlier?

Venables: Maybe a drive. Again, the first turnover, was like, ‘Whoa, gotta throw that one away. Don’t force that.’ Jackson’s been really good about not forcing things. That was a little bit not like him. Then we throw the one behind us, we fumble the ball right after we force a fumble, we fumble the ball right there in the red zone. You don’t like that. Sometimes that’s football. They got big guys. Gotta do a better job of protecting the ball.

Come right back, have a lateral behind the line, on an RPO, that the read is run it all day. The safety as well. So that’s 12 points. In a game like that, every point matters. Just doesn’t feel good. It was not enough other evidence that we’ll be just fine.

My take: I said before the game that Arnold and the offense couldn't give points to the Tennessee defense if OU was going to win. The safety wasn't a killer, but getting no points when you get the ball on the 5-yard line? When you start a drive first-and-goal? That was giving points to the Tennessee defense.

The defense never backed down. What was your assessment of them?

Venables: Come out at halftime, you look at all the statistical information, where we’re at in the game. Obviously, we’re down one in the turnover margin. Everything else, for the most part, was a push, under the circumstances. So, 'Hey, defense, go out and get a stop. Get the offense the ball back, and we’re down two scores, and we got a great chance.' Gotta play well. Gotta play well together and take care of the ball. And again, listen, I understand, Tennessee, everything changed a little bit with what they were going to do. I also saw us play, when everything was wide open, they had a wide-open playbook, and watched our guys compete and perform at a really really high level. Things were going to be difficult all night long, based on what I saw.

My take: Defense is Venables' baby, so he's always going to be more critical of that unit. But still, he's right — Tennessee adapted its offensive strategy after the OU offense showed itself to be so inept. No reason for the Vols to take a bunch of chances. Just run the football, something Josh Heupel loves to do, and go home with an easy victory. That means the OU defense didn't face the full arsenal. Even though the Sooners did their job, the Vols could've made it much more difficult.

On the second fumble, the lateral, just to be clear, Arnold read it wrong? It was supposed to be a run?

Venables: We don’t have any backward RPOs.

My take: Patience with Arnold is wearing thin.

You've had a bad spate of injuries. Injuries are part of the game, but have you been able to figure out why these injuries are happening?

Figure out why? Why do we get to this location? His ankle? I don't know how to begin how to answer that. Other than if injuries were on all three phases or on both sides of the ball, maybe so. Just one of those years. I don't really have an opinion.

My take: There doesn't seem to be a common thread with all these injuries. It's just bad luck. Athletes and coaches don't always like to admit that luck plays a part in sports, but this is a harsh reminder that it does.

Your defense allowed some long passes. What was happening there?

He did a good job of hitting the guy in the seam a couple times. 

My take: Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is what OU hoped Arnold would be.

How did you think Eli Bowen played at corner?

Eli got in and did well. He probably should have played a little more. The other guys played good. He's done well. Whatever opportunity he's got, he's done a nice job. Plays big. Plays with fantastic technique, and he's a highly skilled guy.

My take: More proof of OU's defensive depth. A true freshman stepped into the secondary against a good Tennessee offense, had two tackles and one pass breakup.

The offensive line issues, is it physicality, execution, something else?

Venables: We had a couple of tackles for loss. We got the wrong communication, and that goes back to us as coaches. Every unit on the team has to communicate. That's part of the game of football. I'm tired of watching the same thing. So just go back. I'd rather everybody be wrong and be on the same page than just one guy doing this and one guy doing that. You can't play good football when you are doing that.

My take: Yeesh. What a trainwreck.

How do you balance having young quarterbacks and letting them play through things?

Venables: You give some grace, and yet there's a body of work that you evaluate. You maintain a perspective. You know that there's a pace at which everybody grows and matures to some degree. When I talk about having some grace, young guys are going to make some mistakes. But again, tonight was one of those nights where we felt like to have a chance, to give ourselves any chance to win, based on a body of work early in the first couple of quarters of the game.

My take: Arnold didn't get benched only because of what he did against Tennessee. My guess is, he had decisions in the first three games that concerned the coaches. They might not have led to turnovers or major issues, but they were part of the decision to replace him.

Can you take anything from the improvement the offense showed in the fourth quarter?

Venables: I'll just use it for what's appropriate, just in context. You asked, and I'm just responding. I'm not sitting here promoting that everything was great. There was a couple of drives where we executed and got into a nice rhythm. Guys were making plays, and I have a great appreciation for the leaders on this team. They went into the locker room. It's never going to be fun. It's never going to be good. But there are a lot of guys who are heavily invested. And, again, we got a lot of football in front of us right now. 

We got some really sloppy, ugly football at times tonight and, man, there was some fantastic football too. So I don't want to ever not recognize that, too. My job is to put it all together and give us an opportunity to win, so that's what we'll do. We'll evaluate a few things, hopefully we can get some guys healthy. We got a lot of work to do as a staff. Certainly, we've got a lot of improvement to do as a team, and we'll put everything we've got into the next week just like we do every week. We've got a great challenge going on our first road game at a place like Auburn. Got a lot of work to do.

My take: Auburn isn't a good team, but right now, OU isn't all that good either. This game is winnable, though, for the Sooners. Taking advantage of winnable SEC games is vital.

Why was Hawkins ready for the moment?

Venables: I love Mike. Mike is ... 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 appreciate for Mike about.

My take: These four- and five-star quarterbacks generally come into college with a pretty good mental approach, but as we're seeing, all those stars don't always lead to the same results. Iamaleava and Arnold were basically ranked right around each other as recruits, and right now, the results have been vastly different.

Did you talk to Jackson after change?

Venables: No. We didn’t. I didn’t. Coach Littrell did, but I didn’t at the time. Just relayed to him, 'Hey, Mike’s going in.'

Did you talk to him after the game? 

Venables: I haven't yet. 

How do you all keep him from putting too much weight on his shoulders? 

Venables: Again, appeal to his voice of reason. He's a competitor. He knows what comes with the territory. He’ll be the first to tell you that body of work deserved exactly what happened. So he'll have the opportunity to respond and come back and get after it. I think he will.

My take: It's anyone's guess what will happen with the starting position moving forward, but the Sooners can't lose Arnold. Can't have him check out. They need to keep him engaged, growing and improving.

Are the young QBs not seeing it well, things that were there weren't getting recognized or what? 

Venables: There is some opportunities. We had some quick game there early and some of our reads that we've got to get it out and get it on time. There's some times that Jackson, (was) inconsistent. That inconsistency led to us not being in any kind of rhythm. You've got to take the ones that are there and go back and look at it and see where the ownership lies, but feel confident that was the right move under the circumstances. 

My take: I didn't think Arnold would be perfect early on, but man, I never thought things would go as sideways as they've gone.

What was it like facing Josh Heupel? 

Venables: I've known Josh, like I said going in. Josh is a great coach. We knew that. He's been successful wherever he's been. I don't think that's ever been in question, and proud of all the success that he's had. Disappointed in our team tonight. It's not one of those moments where you're happy for him because you're not, but that just kind of comes with the territory. But they've got a really good team, and they've got excellent defense and an excellent offense and really good in the kicking game, so they're going to win a lot of games.

My take: For OU fans, the whole Heupel storyline kind of fell by the wayside once the game started. Sooner fans had way more concerns than who was coaching the Vols. But Venables is right: Tennessee looks like a team that could win a lot of games. I still think Texas and Georgia will play in the SEC title game, but if Tennessee ends up being there, I wouldn't be shocked.