There was a comparison made to Oklahoma’s new starting quarterback that should have Sooner fans perked up.
OU coach Brent Venables on Monday during his weekly coach’s show announced that true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. will start at quarterback for the Sooners’ first SEC road trip against Auburn at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Hawkins replaced sophomore Jackson Arnold late in the second quarter of the Sooners’ loss to Tennessee on Saturday.
In just over a half of play, Hawkins was 11-of-18 for 132 yards and a touchdown without a turnover. It was his running ability that immediately raised eyebrows, though. Twice he ran into the end zone but had a touchdown erased and the ball placed at the goal line after a replay review. He led his team in rushing yards with 22 on 12 carries. Take away a pair of sacks, and Hawkins ran for 45 yards, averaging 4.5 yards a carry.
“I watched it the first time, and he’s a tremendous athlete,” Venables said after the game. “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.”
Arnold was benched after his ninth turnover in five career starts, but even outside of giving the ball away, OU’s offense sputtered through the first four weeks with Arnold at quarterback and Seth Littrell calling plays for the first time for the Sooners. But with Hawkins getting a feel for running the offense, the Sooners reached the end zone in two of their three possessions in the fourth quarter. Hawkins rushed for 22 yards during those two scoring drives.
“I think he got more comfortable as the game went on,” Littrell said. “He’s a tough kid. He’s full of energy. Obviously he can make you right in a lot of different ways. He’s talented not only in being able to extend plays, but extremely live arm and strong in the pocket. He’s a tough kid. Great mentality. He’s a guy that we’ve been really excited about, along with Jackson. Jackson has a lot of the same. They’re alike and similar in different ways. Both of them. They’re both young guys that gotta continue to grow up and I’ve gotta do a great job coaching them and putting them in the right situations.”
But maybe it wasn’t just Hawkins getting comfortable, but also Littrell and the way he enjoys calling an offense. No one has ever had more success in a Littrell offense than Mason Fine, who was a four-year starter under Littrell at North Texas. Fine left UNT with every career passing record the program had. But with only 57 career rushing yards, even Fine knew he could take Littrell’s offense to another level if he had an extra skill set.
“I’ll joke around about this, but the whole time when I was at North Texas, I think Littrell deep down wanted me to be a true dual-threat quarterback,” Fine told Sooners on SI before the season. “Me, I was just a little smaller. I wasn’t the greatest athlete in the world. But I think Littrell wants that deep down. But you go with the best quarterback at the time. I don’t want to put down Jackson Arnold or anything, because if a guy can sling it, and like I said earlier, he’s gonna work with his strengths, but a dual threat in this system, oh, I think Littrell, that’s kind of his bread and butter of wanting a dual threat.”
And what is Littrell’s bread and butter is also Hawkins’. Rivals ranked Hawkins, a 4-star recruit out of Frisco (TX), as the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the 2024 class. As a high school senior, according to MaxPreps, he rushed for 1,172 yards and 14 TDs. He ran for over 100 yards in five different games that season, averaging 78.1 rushing yards a game. He also threw for 3,039 yards and 41 TDs with only three interceptions.
“It helps me a lot,” Hawkins said of his running ability. “But I just try to stay consistent and do the little things right and keep my techniques right.”
Hawkins has been on campus since January, in time for OU’s spring camp. And after only one offseason and four weeks of the regular season, Hawkins’ teammates have already taken notice of his speed and ability to run from the pocket, especially those trying to stop him on a daily basis at practice from the defensive side of the ball.
“Freaky fast,” defensive lineman Trace Ford said. “I mean, he’s like Kyler Murray. He gets out that pocket, people are in trouble, and he showed that a little bit (Saturday night).”
Said defensive back Billy Bowman Jr.: “His maturity, you know, he does not feel like a freshman. And like you said, since fall camp, really since spring ball, since he got here, we’ve all seen, you know, the things this guy can do, how he can move the pocket, you know, use his legs and improvise. It is the situation we’re in now. And so having Mike Hawkins being able to be back there is good.”
And another OU defensive back, Robert Spears-Jennings: “I mean, he’s super fast, and he’s accurate. So he’s a true dual threat, so you gotta be cautious with him.”
After four weeks, OU statistically has the worst offense in the SEC. But desperate for a spark and Hawkins emerging as QB1, Littrell now might have his secret weapon for an offense designed for a threat like Hawkins.
“Biggest thing for me,” Hawkins said, “is just trying to stay relaxed and having our guys around me building me up and (knowing) that they’re behind me so when I get in, we can just move the ball and capitalize on big plays.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 15:00:00
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