<body><div>NORMAN — <a href="https://247sports.com/college/oklahoma/">Oklahoma</a> has no plans to make another change at quarterback as it heads into the back half of its regular-season schedule.<a href="https://247sports.com/Coach/brent-venables-168/">Brent Venables</a> was asked Monday during his weekly radio show if the Sooners planned to continue with <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/michael-hawkins-jr-46116154/">Michael Hawkins Jr.</a> at quarterback when Oklahoma returns home to host <a href="https://247sports.com/college/south-carolina/">South Carolina</a> this weekend. The third-year coach confirmed Hawkins will start against the Gamecocks on Saturday (11:45 p.m. on SEC Network).It will be the third consecutive start for Hawkins, who replaced former five-star prospect <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/jackson-arnold-46115051/">Jackson Arnold</a> at quarterback shortly before halftime of Oklahoma's SEC opener against Tennessee. Hawkins showed promise in the second half of that 25-15 loss and led Oklahoma to a come-from-behind road win at <a href="https://247sports.com/college/auburn/">Auburn</a> the following week. However, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/oklahoma/longformarticle/statistically-speaking-oklahoma-offense-bottoms-out-against-texas-237973477/">the offense bottomed out in a 34-3 loss</a> to top-ranked <a href="https://247sports.com/college/texas/">Texas</a> in the Red River Rivalry despite having an extra week to prepare for the matchup thanks to a bye week in the schedule."You want to give guys a real opportunity to show what they can do and have a body of work, not be so quick to judge," Venables said on the show. "Let's see if we can make improvement on the thing that are, in our world, super easy. So, we got to do a great job, and we did that today (in practice) — of identifying what those things are. This isn't an either/or (proposition)… and if we do that, we feel like that'll give us the rhythm that we ultimately need."Over the last 10 quarters, Hawkins has completed 40-of-63 passes (63.4%) for 441 yards and one touchdown. He has also rushed for another 118 yards and a touchdown. However, he's coming off an underwhelming performance in the Red River Rivalry, where he became the first true freshman quarterback to start for Oklahoma against Texas. He was just 19-of-30 passing for 148 yards, with 27 yards rushing on 20 attempts and a lost fumble.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2AUYYf_0w6yp9DH00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2AUYYf_0w6yp9DH00" width="620" height="320" ><figcaption>(Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images, Getty)</figcaption></figure>His second-quarter fumble led to a Texas touchdown, as the game snowballed for Oklahoma shortly before halftime. The Longhorns ultimately scored 34 unanswered points, as the Sooners failed to score a touchdown for the first time since the 2022 edition of the game. Eleven of Oklahoma's 13 possessions against Texas covered fewer than 20 yards, including three drives that resulted in negative yardage. The Sooners' only red-zone trip came in the game's closing moments, with zero points to show for it.As Oklahoma's offense struggled to sustain drives and do much of anything for most of the game, Hawkins looked gun-shy at times, failing to find open receivers or take shots downfield when the opportunity presented itself against a stout Texas defense."There's a lot of young guys out there; it's not just Mike," offensive coordinator <a href="https://247sports.com/Coach/seth-littrell-161/">Seth Littrell</a> said after the game. "Again, we got to do a good job of making sure those guys stay comfortable, understanding how we're trying to accomplish the execution part of things. The things that we do well throughout the week of practice, we got to carry that over into games. It's been inconsistent, and that starts with me. I'll be the first to say it: I got to get better in putting them in situations to be successful, obviously."After the game, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/oklahoma/article/red-river-rivalry-postgame-notebook-oklahoma-no-thought-of-qb-change-against-texas-237889076/">Venables was asked if he considered making a change at quarterback at any point to try to jump-start the offense. He was succinct in his response: "No."</a>With two days to digest the loss, and despite the Sooners' unpalatable offensive performance against the Longhorns, Venables plans to stick with Hawkins moving forward, with the expectation the former four-star signal-caller will make improvements and necessary adjustments in his game."Jackson had a fantastic week of practice a week ago, and (we) just didn't feel that that's what we needed to do under the circumstances," Venables said. "Mike has shown a lot of really good stuff — both in his limited time against <a href="https://247sports.com/college/tennessee/">Tennessee</a>, and he had some really good moments and good stuff against Auburn and even in this game, he did some good things. Now let's see if we can learn from it going into the South Carolina game." </div></body>

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Oklahoma sticking with Michael Hawkins Jr. at quarterback against South Carolina

NORMAN — Oklahoma has no plans to make another change at quarterback as it heads into the back half of its regular-season schedule. Brent Venables was asked Monday during his weekly radio show if the Sooners planned to continue with Michael Hawkins Jr. at quarterback when Oklahoma returns home to host South Carolina this weekend. The third-year coach confirmed Hawkins will start against the Gamecocks on Saturday (11:45 p.m. on SEC Network).

Oklahoma sticking with Michael Hawkins Jr. at quarterback against South Carolina

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