Jackson Arnold, the Oklahoma quarterback, was knocked around, but not by Alabama

Owen Field became a mosh pit of excitement and long-overdue delight as Sooner Nation swarmed the field after Arnold raced for 131 yards.

NORMAN — Jackson Arnold had nowhere to go. He was just engulfed by the flood of red.

Not the football squad from Alabama. The Oklahoman fandom.

The Sooner quarterback, who was once again surrounded by a small crowd of media, declared late Saturday night in the Red Room, “I am really sore.” “I feel like the crowd’s freaking grasping my arms has made me more sore.”

That is more than Arnold was subjected to by Alabama’s defense.

Arnold looked more like one of Barry Switzer’s former option quarterbacks than the 5-star passing prospect on the biggest stage of his young career, against a program that has ruled college football with a crimson scepter for the majority of his life. He ran for a career-high 131 yards in OU’s 24-3 victory over formidable Alabama.

Arnold only threw 11 passes for a total of 68 yards. However, he gained 199 total yards and committed no turnovers throughout his 25 runs with the football.

OU coach Brent Venables remarked, “Jackson Arnold went out there and executed in a really efficient way.” “Jackson was excellent. Rushing a career. was 9-for-11, simply efficient, and made wise choices. We took the necessary actions to win.

In their first season in the league, Venables’ team lost four straight SEC games and was a two-touchdown underdog. He said he wanted his team “to play a shortened game,” which means fewer offensive possessions, thanks to an aggressive rushing offense that picked up first downs, stayed on the field, and didn’t give the football away.

“Among college football’s most explosive teams is Alabama,” Venables remarked. “We wanted to play off of each other and do exactly what we did.”

Both the Sooner defense and Oklahoma’s attack had their finest games of the year. Despite only having nine possessions, OU managed to score two touchdowns and a field goal, but they also lost a fumble, missed a field goal, and dropped a touchdown throw. For Bama, this might have been far worse than a three-touchdown deficit.

Along with Arnold’s running attack, true freshman Xavier Robinson gave the Sooners a career-high 107 yards on the ground. This evening, against Alabama of all teams, the Sooners had two 100-yard runners (or 100-yard receivers) after failing to record either in the first half of the season.

Joe Jon Finley, the offensive coordinator, stated, “That’s what we’ve been doing best here the past couple of weeks.” “We have a quarterback who can run and a handful of talented young running backs. We wanted to move the ball and sustain drives so that our defense could rest on the sidelines.

Arnold, who kept the football for runs of 12, 6, 11, 28, 8, 5, 6, 12, 9, and 18 yards, was the trigger man. There were no responses from the Alabama defense.

It wasn’t a coincidence. That’s what I can assure you of,” Finley remarked. However, there were several ones that were reads. He might have given it or kept it. “We’re going to make him beat us,” I believe they were going to remark. All night long, he ran hard. tended to the ball. I am really proud of him.

“It was enormous,” Arnold said. “We obviously had a lot of things in the game plan for the entire week, but we placed a lot of focus on running. According to certain statistics regarding Alabama, you would win the game if you had more than 200 rushing yards or defeated them in a rushing contest. Because the running game was doing so well today, we concentrated on it and took fewer shots.

After running it eighteen times, Robinson extracted gains of forty, twelve, eighteen, and six. Arnold had plenty of space since the Tide concentrated what it could on him. He made wise choices as OU gained 257 running yards.

Arnold remarked, “I’m really proud of X.” “Our O-line stepped up and played their ass off tonight, and I think he stepped up and had a great game.”

That offensive line could finally be starting to get into their groove eleven games into the season. Oklahoma averaged 7.2 yards per run in the first half and 5.2 for the game thanks to the clearing efforts of Logan Howland, Heath Ozaeta, Troy Everett, Febechi Nwaiwu, and Spencer Brown. A

And the impetus was Arnold, who was frequently chastised for his errors and reluctance to throw the ball downfield. Arnold slid through gaps up front and grounded out four third down runs, even though Alabama needed stops in the second half.

Finley remarked, “He’s running like a running back right now.” I’m quite proud of him. For someone who came out as a huge, five-star quarterback who throws the ball constantly, it is not easy. He carries the team on his shoulders and is a difficult quarterback, which is what we are expecting him to do at the moment.

After it was finished, tens of thousands of hungry Sooner supporters flocked to the field to join their victorious heroes. Since Bob Stoops, Josh Heupel, and the 2000 team defeated No. 1-ranked Nebraska en route to the national title — the last, spectacular chapter of OU’s renowned “Red October” run — OU supporters had not flocked to Owen Field in such a large number.

“These guys deserve this moment,” Finley remarked. “I had a great time on the field. I’m receiving high fives from parents, mature guys, college students, and other people. However, I had a great time outside. I genuinely just wanted to witness our boys’ joy.

After Jalen Milroe’s third interception, Arnold and the Oklahoma offense took control of the game with seven minutes remaining. They then consumed the whole back half of the fourth quarter with a single, excruciating drive that crushed Bama’s last hope.

Then, twice, the stands at Memorial Stadium were empty. Due to the fall of both goalposts and their tranquil placement on the grass, the game was paused for many minutes with only 28 seconds remaining, resulting in a false start. The clock restarted once the fans had left the field, and the strangeness returned.

“It was a little crazy,” Arnold remarked. Before the game had even ended, they rushed the field. Before the game ended, I was on the sidelines chatting with a few of my friends. It was fantastic. When they had the ball with seven minutes remaining, I knew we were going to win the game since time was running out. It’s a strange sensation.

Naturally, there won’t be a national championship this year. However, there is a silver lining for 2024: stadium security did not mace any spectators. In any case, October was the previous month. Finally, this Oklahoma club is attempting to establish its own identity.

Perhaps this was the time. Perhaps here is where it starts, with Finley high-fiving mothers, fans pulling Arnold in all directions, and Venables hugging his two girls.

“It was awesome,” Venables remarked. “It was quite enchanted.”

“It’s enormous,” Arnold said. This will be a memorable victory for me as a player, I’ll say. There aren’t many like this. When I play, I don’t sure if the field will ever be rushed again, but it’s unique.

John E. Hoover

As a sportswriter for several newspapers, John has won several state, regional, and national accolades over his five decades of employment in Oklahoma. John covered a wide range of sports teams throughout his time in newspapers, including the Kansas City Chiefs, the Dallas Cowboys, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks, and many more. John transitioned into radio in 2016 and started a YouTube channel. Since then, he has established DanCam Media, a prosperous independent media business. Since then, John has hosted daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and around the state, and written for Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation, and a few other local and national publications. In an attempt to increase the number of licensed sports trainers in Oklahoma’s public high schools, John has also given speeches on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City. John is most proud of his two “Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting” Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association, Oklahoma’s “Best Sports Column” from the Society of Professional Journalists, and his national “Beat Writer of the Year” award from the Associated Press Sports Editors, among the dozens of honors he has received. John graduated from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications. John was reared in North Pole, Alaska, and attended Ada High School in Ada, Oklahoma, where he wrote for the school newspaper and played football. He lives with his wife and two children in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and loves to read, watch movies, and travel.