Oklahoma Sooners QB Micheal Hawkins Jr. has all the faith he needs for Texas matchup from his most important peers

A lot of the talk surrounding the Red River Rivalry this week has been on the Oklahoma Sooners quarterback situation. They benched Jackson Arnold, who practically inherited the starting position from Dillon Gabriel, and put true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. in during their first-ever SEC game. Hawkins provided a spark, not enough to win the game, but a spark nonetheless.

Against Auburn, he made his first-ever start, went into one of the toughest places to play in America, and came away with a win at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Some of the things he did in the game showed everyone that he has the potential to be a great college football player.

Against the Texas Longhorns for the Red River Rivalry this week, he will play his toughest, and most important game of his entire career. I don't want to be another guy putting unnecessary pressure on him, but he has to play almost perfectly if this bad Oklahoma Sooners' defense wants a chance to stay in the game.

During the entire bye week, all we heard, and read, were quotes from Hawkins' peers that mean the most to him, and how they believe in him because of his mentality and confidence. All week OU Insider provided us with some of the best quotes on Hawkins. It's safe to say, he does have that dog in him, as the kids would say.

"Anything he says he's going to do, he will find a way to do it," Annabell Hawkins, Michael Hawkins mother said.

And, we have seen that a bit from him on the field. He wanted that touchdown against the Vols , well, he went and got it by doing a whole flip into the end zone. And then against the Auburn Tigers , he did the same thing after ducking a sack, but dove for a two-point conversion to give his team a three-point lead in the fourth quarter.

He has shown moments of that on the field. And you have to think, that's really just what we have seen. Imagine what he's showing during practice to his coaches.

“He has a lion inside of him," offensive coordinator Seth Littrell said recently to OU Insider.

Hawkins has the mentality that you want your starting quarterback to have. But, there's only one thing: They usually don't have that until they're a bit later in their college career, like a junior or a senior. Hawkins, as we have said a million times now, is a true freshman, and a star in the making.

The Sooners have something special going on, and I think it will be much more clear to see when they have more healthy pieces around him, as well as a good offensive system that's consistently performing well. How he does on Saturday against the Longhorns will be a great way to see who he can become in the future. Head coach Brent Venables seems to already think he's passed the litmus test.

Related: Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables seems to think Michael Hawkins passed the ultimate litmus test