Brent Venables declares himself a 'big fan' of Jackson Arnold

Norman, Okla., will be the site of a homecoming of sorts on Saturday when former Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold leads No. 22 Auburn into Saturday’s SEC opener at No. 11 Oklahoma (3:30 pm ET, ABC). Arnold transferred to The Plains this past offseason following a rollercoaster two seasons with the Sooners in which he started 10 games at quarterback.

Over his two seasons in Norman, Arnold boasted 1,984 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. He added another 560 yards on the ground, along with four touchdowns. His play didn’t quite equate success for the Oklahoma program, however, as it was just 5-6 in games where he was the featured quarterback.

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables opened up about Arnold on Friday’s edition of ‘The Paul Finebaum Show‘ ahead of their clash on Saturday. He revealed that he still thinks very highly of Arnold, despite the fact that he is no longer with the program.

“Two things can be true,” Venables said. “He can be an amazing young man and a tremendous talent and we want to whoop him tomorrow afternoon. If we’re gonna do that, he’s gonna have a bad day and that goes with it. But I’m a big fan of Jackson Arnold. He’s raised the right way by his mom, Todd and Sharon. Just an amazing family. He’s got tremendous talent.

“Last year, we know the issues that were here with a roster that was depleted on the offensive side of the ball. It was gonna be tough for any quarterback, from Joe Namath to Dan Marino, and go on down the list of guys that would have struggled. Without a supporting cast, you cannot play quarterback alone. So Jackson is gonna have a fantastic career. I have no doubt about it.”

Arnold has looked the part as Auburn’s QB1 this season

Through three games this season, Arnold has looked like the former five-star recruit. He’s completed 69.6% of his passing attempts for 501 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s also rushed for 192 yards and four touchdowns, bringing his touchdown total to eight.

His replacement at Oklahoma, John Mateer, has been very, very good as well. Mateer has garnered Heisman Trophy talks by passing for 944 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions this season. He, just like Arnold, also boasts four rushing touchdowns.

“I think he’s the same guy, I think he’s got a healthy football team around him and he’s having great success running, throwing, being really efficient,” Venables said of Arnold earlier this week. “He’s taking care of the ball. And the people around him are good. You can’t play quarterback by yourself, right? So I think their offense and defense complement one another, and he’s really done a great job.”

On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this article.