Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables was noncommittal on the immediate future of the Sooners’ quarterback position after he benched first-year passer Michael Hawkins Jr. and returned to sophomore Jackson Arnold in Saturday’s 35-9 loss to South Carolina, the latest low in the program’s 1-3 start to life in the SEC.
Oklahoma stood by Hawkins in Week 8 after the Sooners’ 34-3 loss to Texas on Oct. 12. But after Hawkins committed turnovers on each of Oklahoma’s first three drives Saturday — helping the Gamecocks build a 21-0 lead in just 5:20 — Venables & Co. turned back to Arnold, a former five-star prospect who had not played since he was benched in the Sooners’ Week 4 loss to Tennessee.
Arnold completed 18 of his 36 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown in relief as Oklahoma suffered its largest home defeat since a 45-24 defeat to Ohio State in September 2017. With his fifth appearance this season, Arnold is no longer eligible to take a redshirt year in 2024, leaving him with two years of eligibility after this season.
After the game, Venables gave no indication of how the Sooners plan to move forward at quarterback ahead of their Week 9 trip to No. 18 Ole Miss.
“We’ll talk about that when we figure that out as far as moving forward,” Venables said. “But three straight drives with turnovers — that’s a pretty easy decision.”
Hawkins, a freshman passer from Dallas, had not thrown an interception across 10 quarters as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback before Saturday. The tide began to turn on Hawkins when he was intercepted by South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori on the first play from scrimmage, setting up a five-play, 41-yard touchdown drive capped by Raheim Sanders‘ three-yard scoring run.
The Gamecocks converted Hawkins’ fumble on the next series into a 36-yard touchdown return and the quarterback’s day ended on Emmanwori’s 65-yard pick-six on the ensuing drive that put South Carolina up 21-0 at the 9:40 mark of the first quarter. Arnold entered to stop the bleeding with 9:24 left in the opening period and later provided one of Oklahoma’s few highlights with a 54-yard touchdown strike to Brenen Thompson after halftime.
But Arnold was sacked eight times in his first action since Sept. 21 and the Sooners finished under 300 yards of total offense for the fifth time this season. Per ESPN Research, the defeat marked the first time Oklahoma was held under 10 points in consecutive games since 1998.
“There was some that was good and some that wasn’t,” Venables said of Arnold’s performance. “But he did a lot that was good today. Again, we’ve got to be good around him.”
After an unbeaten run through nonconference play, Oklahoma has dropped three of its first four SEC games. In losses to Texas and South Carolina, the Sooners have been outscored 69-12 over their past eight quarters.
“What we put out there today as a football team is nothing remotely close to the standard here at the University of Oklahoma,” Venables said.
Ahead for Oklahoma are matchups with ranked SEC opponents in four of the Sooners’ five final games of the regular season. Oklahoma follows its visit to Ole Miss with November games at No. 19 Missouri (Nov. 9), No. 7 Alabama (Nov. 23) and at No. 8 LSU (Nov. 30).
A slight reprieve should come when Maine visits Norman on Nov. 2, but the Sooners embark on the rest of the season standing on shaky ground and without certainty at the quarterback position.
“The leaders in the locker room, I feel they’re going to continue to fight and stay committed,” Venables said. “That’s one of the hardest things to do.”
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.