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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.”

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Wisconsin fires offensive coordinator after 2 years

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Wisconsin fires offensive coordinator after 2 years

Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday, a day after the Badgers’ 16-13 home loss to No. 1 Oregon.

In a statement, Badgers coach Luke Fickell thanked Longo for his two seasons with the program, while adding, “We are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.”

Wisconsin ranks 97th nationally in scoring and 102nd in passing while operating an Air Raid-style offense that Longo brought with him from North Carolina and other stops.

The Badgers, who lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a season-ending injury Sept. 14, had only three points and 88 yards in the second half against Oregon, which rallied from a 13-6 deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin ranked 101st nationally in scoring in Longo’s 23 games as coordinator and failed to eclipse 13 points on its current three-game losing streak. Quarterback Braedyn Locke had only 96 passing yards against the Ducks.

Fickell did not immediately announce an interim coordinator for Wisconsin’s final regular-season games against Nebraska and Minnesota.

Fickell had long targeted Longo for a coordinator role, going back to his time as Cincinnati’s coach. Longo, 56, oversaw productive offenses at Ole Miss, North Carolina, Sam Houston State and other spots but never consistently got traction at a Wisconsin program that had operated dramatically differently on offense before his arrival.

“This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success,” Fickell said in his statement.

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4-star QB Jones, former FSU commit, picks Florida

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4-star QB Jones, former FSU commit, picks Florida

Four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. has committed to Florida, he told ESPN on Sunday, joining the Gators’ 2025 class four days after pulling his pledge from Florida State.

Jones, a four-year starter at Florida’s Mandarin High School, is ESPN’s No. 9 dual-threat passer in the Class of 2025. After multiple trips to Florida throughout his recruitment, Jones returned to campus Saturday, taking an official visit with the Gators during the program’s 27-16 win over LSU. A day later, Jones stands as the lone quarterback pledge in a 2025 Florida class that includes five pledges from the ESPN 300.

“I pretty much saw everything I needed to see when I visited last spring — I just love everything around the campus,” Jones told ESPN. “And then hanging out with the guys yesterday, seeing the camaraderie with each other, that really just sealed it for me.”

Jones was the longest-tenured member of Mike Norvell’s 2025 class at Florida State before his decommitment from the Seminoles on Thursday morning.

Jones’ exit came days after Norvell announced the firings of three assistant coaches on Nov. 10, including offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins. Jones was the first Florida State commit to pull his pledge in the wake of the staff shakeup but marked the Seminoles sixth decommitment since the start of the regular season, joining five ESPN 300 recruits who have left Norvell’s recruiting class across the program’s 1-9 start.

Jones’ commitment follows a key late-season victory for Billy Napier on Saturday and marks the Gators’ first recruiting win since athletic director Scott Strickland announced on Nov. 7 that Florida would stick with the third-year coach beyond the 2024 season.

Uncertainty over Napier’s future had weighed down Florida’s recruiting efforts in the 2025 class as the Gators began November with the No. 39 class in ESPN’s latest team rankings for the cycle. But Jones’ pledge comes as a boost for Florida one day after the Gators hosted a handful of high-profile flip targets, including five-star offensive tackle Solomon Thomas (Florida State pledge) and four-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (Texas pledge).

When Jones signs with Florida, he’ll arrive on campus flanked by fellow in-state offensive talents in four-star wide receivers Vernell Brown III (No. 44 in the ESPN 300) and Naeshaun Montgomery (No. 115), as well as four-star running back Waltez Clark (No. 223). Florida is also set to sign a pair of in-state defenders from the 2025 ESPN 300 between four-star defensive end Jalen Wiggins (No. 68) and four-star cornerback Ben Hanks Jr. (No. 121).

With Jones’ commitment, Florida has another jolt to its momentum on the recruiting trail as the Gators seek to chart a strong finish in the 2025 cycle next month. More imminently, Florida will host No. 11 Ole Miss on Saturday.

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Ted Williams’ 1946 MVP award sells for over $500K

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Ted Williams' 1946 MVP award sells for over 0K

A rare souvenir postcard picturing Hank Aaron as a rookie with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues sold for nearly $200,000 at a baseball memorabilia auction that also included Ted Williams’ 1946 AL MVP award, which went for $528,750.

The Aaron postcard from the scrapbook of scout Ed Scott, who discovered Aaron, went for $199,750 following a bidding war that soared past the pre-sale estimate of $5,000-$10,000, Hunt Auctions said.

The auction included 280 items from Williams’ personal collection that had been held by his daughter, Claudia, who died last year. Among the other items were a silver bat awarded for his 1958 batting title, which sold for more than $270,000, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to him by fellow naval aviator George H.W. Bush, which went for $141,000.

The sale also included items from the collection of Rutherford Hayes Jones, the business manager of the Washington Giants, one of the earliest Black baseball teams. The trove was discovered in 2001 in a suitcase, where it had been unseen for 40 years.

A first batch of items from Claudia Williams’ collection went up for auction in 2012 at Fenway Park and garnered more than $5 million.

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