OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and head coach Brent Venables held their weekly press conference Tuesday. The Sooners, after beating Temple 42-3, are set to open Southeastern Conference play against Auburn at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium.
Here are key takeaways from the press conference:
Jackson Arnold returns
The OU-Auburn matchup marks the return of former Sooner quarterback Jackson Arnold.
As Arnold comes back to OU, Venables was not willing to share the conversation he had with Arnold before the quarterback went a different direction.
"l just keep that between (us), and obviously, things worked out well for him and us both," Venables said. "Those are things that are never easy, but it's just the environment that we're in."
In 2024, Arnold recorded 1,421 passing yards and rushed for 444, but he was sacked 34 times and contributed to an OU offense that was No. 126 in Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools. In 2025 so far, Arnold has thrown for 501 yards and ran for 192, including 137 while rushing against Baylor.
"Jackson Arnold is completing 70% of his passes, averaging 167 yards a game, four touchdowns, no interceptions, no turnovers at all, ran for just under 150 yards against Baylor," Venables said. "He's playing really, really well, and I'm really happy for him that he's having great success."
Troy Everett suffers season-ending injury
Venables announced that redshirt junior offensive lineman Troy Everett will miss the remainder of the season.
"He had a season-ending injury a week ago, last Tuesday — hate that for him," Venables said. "It's just devastating — same injury, other knee that he had a little over a year and a half ago."
Everett sprained his knee during the spring before the 2024 season and missed the first half of the season. The Sooners were hoping to benefit from his on-field leadership a full season in 2025, but that will not be the case.
"(He's been) having a really good year and just a great leader and helped lead in a different type of way, really hurt for him, get all the pain, the sacrifice that he's been through," Venables said. "But he's really tough, and he'll move on."
Depth of wide receiver room
The OU offense has put up 949 receiving yards through three games, with wide receivers, redshirt junior Deion Burks, redshirt junior Isaiah Sategna and redshirt senior Keontez Lewis, each recording over 100.
"I trust our receiver room," Arbuckle said.
Outside of the three leaders, sophomore wide receiver Zion Kearney put up an impressive debut against Temple with 31 receiving yards on two receptions. This comes after Kearney recorded 66 yards in OU's Armed Forces Bowl against Navy, including a 50-yard touchdown.
"My favorite thing with Zion is just seeing the confidence that he's been building," Arbuckle said. "You think about his last three catches. One of them was like a 50-yard touchdown against Navy, and then the last two were two catches for (31) yards — two explosive passes. ... The biggest growth that I've seen with him is just his confidence because he's strong, fast, has big hands, runs great routes smooth. As long as he goes out on the field confident knowing that he's a good ball player, I think good things will happen."
Another Armed Forces Bowl performer lies in sophomore wide receiver Ivan Carreon, who led the team in receiving yards with 72 against Navy, and he has impressed Arbuckle despite not appearing in a 2025 game.
"Ivan Carreon, just like throughout all fall camp, was maybe the most consistent guy out there. ... That dude's a great teammate where he's supposed to be, physical when he needs to block and make a tough catch, just a great teammate who's ultra consistent," Arbuckle said. "And consistency leads to trust."
Redshirt junior wide receiver Javonnie Gibson has also worked diligently despite not appearing yet in 2025. Gibson, who recorded 1,215 receiving yards at Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2024, has been working back from a broken leg in the spring.
"Javonnie is self-motivated, and he loves football," Arbuckle said. "He's ready to play football, so keeping him engaged hasn't been that much of a challenge. ... Whenever the moment comes for him to be back, I think he'll be ready for it."
Between leading receivers and developing ones, OU feels confident in its depth at receiver.
"Without question, I feel great about our receiver room as a whole," Arbuckle said.
