Oklahoma, Auburn enter showdown with similar QB issues

It’s nearly the same scenario for two different SEC programs meeting this weekend.

Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables and the Auburn coach Hugh Freeze spoke to reporters Wednesday morning on various segments of the SEC coaches’ weekly teleconference ahead of their 2:30 p.m. game Saturday. Both coaches benched their starting quarterbacks in their last games, both of which were losses to start conference play. Venable has since announced hires Michael Hawkins Jr. as OU’s starter, while Freeze is still considering his options this week.

Venables immediately addressed the elephant in the room during his opening statement as Freeze was asked about his two quarterbacks on the second question of his 10-minute availability.

“We made a change to see if we could get the offense going,” Venables said. “We showed signs there later in the game and got within 10 points. Mike Hawkins is going to be our starter this week. I didn’t want that to stick in anybody’s head and have everybody speculate, kind of create an extra story. Mike is a really talented guy. He can really make things happen, makes quick decisions and is really athletic. I still believe in Jackson (Arnold)“It’s the right thing to do right now. And we’ve all seen it in college football, and certainly in this conference, you’re probably going to need two quarterbacks when it’s all said and done. We’ve got to get better around whoever’s at quarterback, and if we can do that, we’ve got a chance to have a really good season and be a really good team.”

Hawkins replaced Arnold late in the second quarter against Tennessee. The final straw was Arnold, who fumbled the ball for the ninth time in five starts. OU’s passing game also struggled, averaging 9.3 yards per pass, worst in the SEC and better than only seven teams in the entire FBS.

Auburn, even in the midst of a QB carousel, has excelled in that same statistic, averaging an SEC-best 16.46 yards per completion. But like the Sooners, the Tigers’ quarterbacks have turned the ball over too much to hold onto their starting jobs and impact Auburn’s 2-2 record.

The Tigers have turned the ball over 14 times this season in four games. Payton Thorne And Hank Brown The Reds were responsible for nine of those interceptions. Thorne, a starter on opening day, threw five interceptions and fumbled the ball once. Brown, a redshirt freshman, threw three interceptions last week against Arkansas. Brown was pulled after the third interception, but even after that, Thorne threw another interception later in the game.

Interceptions were the difference in both of Auburn’s losses. Thorne threw four of his five interceptions in the loss to California. Brown then got his first career start the following week against New Mexico, but the week after that he threw three interceptions in the loss to Arkansas.

“We can’t turn the ball over, and we obviously have to do a better job of coaching the quarterbacks and running backs in ball security and decision-making to be an effective offense,” Freeze said Monday during his weekly press conference. “It’s sickening, honestly, to know that you’re averaging almost 7 yards per carry and you’re creating explosive plays and you’re not scoring the points that should come with what those stats say. I’ve never been on a team that turned the ball over and won football games. Go watch the game, and you’ll see that we’re moving the ball. I believe in what we’re doing. I don’t think there’s any changes that need to be made, other than 10 turnovers in two football games, that’s tough.”

But there’s not much Freeze can do to fix these turnovers. Thorne and Brown are the problem, but one of them must also become the solution.

“We’re averaging 6 yards per carry, over 6 yards per carry, one of the best in the country in explosive plays per pass attempt, but we’re also one of the best in the country in turnovers,” Freeze said Wednesday. “So somehow we’ve got to eliminate those turnovers, and I think we’re all sitting here with different feelings, and so if there’s something we can do better as coaches to help with that, let’s have an open dialogue about it, but we’ve got to try to focus on the things that you do really well and that you feel really comfortable with. That’s really our goal this week with both of those guys to try to maintain the confidence level that they need to compete with a team as good as Oklahoma and Georgia and the Missouris and the ones that we have coming up.”

“It’s a challenge. I think both of them are very mentally strong and they’re eager to get another opportunity, no matter who we decide to play. So I think it’s a good thing and a positive that they’re both mentally strong.”