Jackson Arnold shares what he learned in Oklahoma's bowl loss

While Jackson Arnold got his first true taste of college football during the regular season against BYU, for all intents and purposes, his debut came against Arizona in the Alamo Bowl. A game Oklahoma fans maybe did not have too much interest in, getting a glimpse into the future built pregame buzz. Sure, a successful year with Dillon Gabriel but the Sooners have been waiting to see the former Five-Star Plus+ play for a long time.

Unfortunately, not everything went to plan and Arnold had some tough moments. He threw three interceptions and Oklahoma was not able to put away what should have been a win.

Arnold was asked what he learned from the loss during his postgame press conference, wanting to have the ability to battle through adversity. Arizona came out firing on the defensive end and may have been a shock for Arnold. But continuing to have confidence in himself moving forward is a must.

“I’d say just to battle through adversity,” Arnold said. “Our team chaplain this morning, that was the main focus was battling through adversity because it’s going to strike at some point, and it did tonight.

“Obviously there’s things that went bad tonight, but just learn to keep my head up and keep playing through it no matter what is something I take away from the night.”

Two of Arnold’s first eight passes resulted in an interceptions. Before the true freshman quarterback could even settle into the game, Oklahoma was behind 13-0 and having to play from behind. This led to newly hired offensive coordinator Seth Litrell calling on Arnold more often.

Arnold then showed out on his two touchdown throws, with one being an incredible toss to Nic Anderson just before halftime. Oklahoma then dialed up a deep pass to Brenen Thompson to begin the second half, connecting for a 63-yard score. A nice bounceback after a tough few drives.

Unfortunately, the adversity hit again after the success as Oklahoma turned the ball over three more times in the second half. Arizona responded with 17 points and was ultimately the difference in the game, making the Wildcats Arizona Bowl champions.

Oklahoma hopefully sees this as the low point of Arnold’s time in Norman, being the beginning of something special. Even with some bad moments, it was easy to see the potential he possesses. After all, Arnold just wrapped up his true freshman season.

Lessons will be learned, giving Arnold something to work with heading into the 2024 season.