Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold might not be getting his revenge game after all.
Oklahoma on Saturday will be Auburn's toughest test so far this season, one that has the potential to make or break the season for both teams. But more than that, it will be a barometer measuring Arnold's success after leaving Norman and Venables' guidance.
Analyst Josh Pate thinks that Venables will still have an edge over Arnold because of the QB's core limitation.
"I don't love this spot for Jackson Arnold," Pate states on his College Football Show." Their pass game is very limited. Watched a lot of Auburn football this year, and almost everything in the passing game is within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. And you look at these little green dots on that pass spray chart, and they're all underneath, and they're all out to the left and out to the right, and there is nothing over the middle deep third of the five. Nothing.
"And it's not because the guys aren't open. It's because the ball's not getting to them. So I'm thinking to myself, well, it's not like I expected Jackson Arnold to lead the country in passing. But boy, I'd love a little bit more than he's given here."
Auburn's passing game has undeniably not been strong since the start of the season. Although they have improved it week by week, is it enough to bring down a defense like the Sooners?
The Sooners' defense was the main pillar on which they built their win against Michigan. The Wolverines heavily struggled to even move the ball against the Sooners' defense, as have every other opponent this season.
An insult to the injury, it is Venables, who knows every strength and weakness of his former quarterback like the back of his hand, calling the defensive plays. That is where everything gets more precarious for the Auburn.
"And now I'm watching him go into Norman, Oklahoma, and I know good and well who the DC is there," Pate said. "And I know how good he is at taking something away. So I highly doubt that Auburn's just going to run wild. Jackson Arnold's just going to run wild. He'll get his yardage on the ground, but I doubt that he's going to dominate the game."
But any of this is not unknown to Arnold or Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze. They have basically prepared themselves to face Oklahoma with this information. Only time will tell who will come out on top.