Here Today - Gone Tomorrow

 It was December of 1973. I was 8-years old and next in line to have a word with Santa at Richardson Square Mall. Currently residing in the big man’s lap was my 4-year-old sister but judging from the hysterical fit she was throwing, she wasn’t enjoying it – at all. It was a moment that I doubt Santa was relishing either considering the fact it took two elves to pry my sisters hands lose from the stranglehold she had on his beard and right ear.

“Come on up young man, have you been a good boy? Uh-oh.  My only hope at this point was that Santa hadn’t done his homework, “Yes,” I mumbled. “And what would you like Santa to bring you for Christmas this year?” “Santa, I want a bike for Christmas. But not just any bike,” I blurted out. “I want a Huffy Thunder Road Bike. The one with the padded front bar, grip handles, number plate and metal fenders" I added. “I’ll see what I can do kid, next…” he replied.

When Christmas morning finally arrived, I remember running down the hall and rounding the corner into our dining room, a room that looked like the 70’s had thrown up on it. But sitting in the middle of the lime green shag carpet was a beautiful sight - a Huffy Thunder Road Bike! To be honest, I didn’t notice that there was something wrong at first. I was too busy checking out all the awesome amenities of the bike. But as I made my way over to mount up – I stopped in my tracks. “Wait, there’s no seat! Where is the padded huffy seat. I can’t ride a bike without a seat!,” I shrieked. “Well, Bud, there was a problem,” my mom said. “Santa had some turbulence over China, had to make a sharp turn, which caused the seat to come off your bike and fall over-board,” she explained sans conviction. “But he promised to get us a new one by early next week.”

I was devastated. My first thought was that if this dude can land a herd of dear and a sleigh on roofs and slide down millions of chimney’s all over the world in one night, then surely he could’ve circled his fat-ass back around and picked up my bike seat. But then it clicked, the dude had looked into my claim of good behavior and now this is my punishment. Dang it!

It’s a story not to unlike the one currently involving Sooner QB Jackson Arnold and the Sooner Nation.

Jackson Arnold, out of perennial Texas 5A powerhouse Denton Ryan, was the #1 rated quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class. Despite the Sooners 6-6 record (before bowl game) during Brent Venables first season at the helm, the 2022-2023 Gatorade Player of the Year never wavered on his commitment. Yes, Christmas had come early for the Sooner Nation. OU had their QB, but we’d have to wait. 

Yes, Arnold spent his freshman season backing up returning starter Dillon Gabriel, then made his first start for the Sooners against Arizona in the 2023 Alamo Bowl, when Gabriel opted out. In retrospect, Arnolds 3-interception, 1-fumble performance in San Antonio that night turned out to be a prologue for the 2024 season. Our new QB had a flaw.

Look, there is no doubt that Jackson Arnold was delt a bad hand from the get-go this season. OU’s top 5 receivers have been huddling together for rehab not SEC opponents and the offensive line he plays behind may very well be the worst in Oklahoma football history. Throw in the fact that the Sooners first year in the SEC has them playing what is arguably the toughest schedule in the country – and you can see where this season might be a daunting task for any QB. I would’ve even been tempted to go as far as saying that those three factors are the majority of the reason that Arnold hasn’t played well all year, if not for one thing … that 2023 Alamo Bowl.

Just like a 9-year-old looking at a bike on Christmas morning – Sometimes you see what you want to see right up to the time it gut punches you. I didn’t want to ‘remember the Alamo’ as a game where OU’s heir apparent at QB was a turnover machine with a ridiculously bad mustache and a propensity for holding onto the ball way too long. Who wants to spend an offseason with that bad taste in their mouth? So instead, I chose to believe that what I saw that night was a 5-star recruit, who in his first start threw for 345 yards and showed a willingness to stand in the pocket. Three INT’s and a fumble? No Big Deal. Holding on to the ball too long? Nah. “Be patient, it was his first start, he’ll learn from it, and be better for it next season.” Be patient, just like the bike seat will be here next week and all will be fine.”…

But things haven’t been fine in 2024.  Far from it.  But Saturday night’s game against Missouri in the SHOW ME state, Jackson Arnold had a chance to SHOW his teammates, his coaches, and the Sooner Nation that his recent improvement was real. That there was still a chance he could become the QB this team needs him to be. But instead …

·    Jackson Arnold showed that he still can’t execute an RPO, a common staple of the Sooners offense. On OU’s first drive of the second half, the Sooners were faced with 4^th and less than a yard from their own 40-yard. Venables elects to go for it – and Finley calls an RPO (Run/Pass Option), a play that they’ve run 100 times or more this season. If Arnold reads it properly and keeps the ball, this paragraph wouldn’t be in my blog. But he didn’t, and as a result, Taylor Tatum got stuffed like a holiday turkey for a one-yard loss.

·       The Saturday night, Arnold finished the game 15-of-24 passing for 74-yards. Yes, you read that correctly. 74-yards. To put that into perspective, that is only 30 more passing yards than the OU punter had. On more than one occasion, Arnold had receivers running wide-open – all they needed was the football. Didn’t happen, but then again, wide-open receivers can be hard to see when your eyes are locked onto the Mizzou defensive lineman. How bad was Arnold throwing the ball on Saturday night? In the 4th quarter, with the game on the line, it was deemed a better option to have Arnold catch the ball than it was for him to throw it.

·       The cardinal sin of a QB is not protecting the football. Saturday night, Jackson Arnold cost his team another football game because he continued his season long practice of giving away balls like he was Bruce Jenner. His first two fumbles, which occurred on 2 of the first 3 drives of the game – crushed any opportunity the Sooners had of building an early lead.  His third fumble of the game – cost OU the game.

His performance earned him a QB rating of 30.3 – which was the worst rating for any QB in the country last Saturday, and not by just a little. His rating for the season is 42.4, which ranks him dead last in the SEC and 102^nd in the country. Yes, Jackson Arnold is getting us beat.

Bottom line - The Sooners have tried to wait patiently for Jackson Arnold to mature, to protect the ball, and to stop making the same mistakes over and over. They’ve been waiting for him to show that he can read an RPO correctly, to show that he is capable of getting the ball out on time to avoid disaster. They’ve been waiting for him to show that he could look downfield, locate an open receiver, and then deliver an accurate pass. They’ve been waiting for Jackson Arnold to be the reason they win games, not lose them. But unlike my bike seat, which showed up as promised, the promise that once surrounded Arnold, has not. For Brent Venables and the Oklahoma football program, they can no longer afford to view him as a viable solution to ride with at QB going into 2025. For BV to think otherwise, well, that will take him from the ‘hot seat’ to the unemployment line.  

 

Just the Opinion of One Mildly Interested Guy

Buddy Putty

The Overweight Armchair Sooner