Brent Venables shares confidence in Michael Hawkins ahead of Red River Rivalry

On Saturday, quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. started in place of John Mateer, who is recovering from a surgery he had on his right hand. Hawkins led Oklahoma to a 44-0 win over Kent State. After the game, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables evaluated Hawkins’ performance and revealed his confidence in the sophomore QB heading into the Sooners’ Week 7 showdown against Texas.

“(Hawkins) has some experience playing in there last year. Really, my mindset is no different than it was going into today,” Venables said. “Again, we need to play well in the areas we are in control, taking care of the ball. Making layups when they’re there. Not trying to do too much. You look at some of our parts as a football team, to complement one or another. But I feel great about Mike.”

In the victory on Saturday, Hawkins completed 14-of-his-24 pass attempts for 162 yards and three touchdowns, without throwing an interception. Hawkins also recorded nine carries for 33 yards and a score.

While it was Hawkins’ first start this season, it wasn’t his first start at Oklahoma. Hawkins started four games as a freshman in the 2024 campaign.

In his debut campaign, Hawkins completed 63.6% of his pass attempts for 783 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing two interceptions. He notched 204 yards and a score in the ground game as well.

Although Hawkins had a strong showing against Kent State, Texas’ defense will obviously provide a much more difficult challenge. Oklahoma would undoubtedly like for John Mateer to be healthy for the Red River Rivalry game, but Venables said he doesn’t expect him to fully recovered by next weekend.

Hawkins had an underwhelming showing last season when Oklahoma fell 34-3 to Texas. Nonetheless, Venables isn’t the only one who’s confident in the second-year QB’s abilities.

“I believe in Michael Hawkins, and I have a lot of confidence in Mike Hawkins,” OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “He’s done that with his preparation and his work. I mean, whether John’s available or not, whether we play with Mike or whoever we play with, I got a lot of confidence in those guys. Again, it’s just the type of kids they are, the type of kid Mike is and the way he prepares himself too.”

On Oct. 11, Oklahoma will square off against Texas at 2:30 CT in the historic Red River Rivalry. The game will air live on ABC.