How South Carolina’s D-line gave this QB his ‘welcome to the SEC moment’
One of South Carolina’s signature wins last season came when the Gamecocks went on the road and routed Oklahoma in front of the Sooners’ home crowd.
While Shane Beamer and Gamecock fans likely remember the game for the 35-9 win, Jackson Arnold remembers it for a different reason.
Arnold, who was a sophomore quarterback for the Sooners at the time but now plays at Auburn, remembered that day as his unofficial welcome to the SEC.
“They had a really good team, really good defense, that was probably the biggest ‘welcome to the SEC’ moment,” Arnold said Tuesday at SEC Media Days.
The matchup against South Carolina was Arnold’s second appearance in an SEC game. He appeared in four games during his freshman season when Oklahoma was a member of the Big 12 and had appeared in just one SEC game during 2024, a game against Tennessee in which he was ultimately benched.
Arnold replaced Michael Hawkins, who started at quarterback for the Sooners against South Carolina, after the Gamecocks jumped out to a 21-0 lead.
South Carolina’s defensive line stuck out immediately to Arnold.
“I remember walking out against South Carolina. Their D-line was unbelievable last year,” Arnold said. “And I’m like, gosh, dude, these dudes, their D-line was absolutely huge. You’ve got frickin’ 6-foot-6, looks like twins on the outside edges.”
While he didn’t say their names specifically, it’s likely Arnold was talking about South Carolina’s defensive line dynamic-duo of Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart.
Both Kennard and Stewart (technically listed at 6-foot-5) had stellar campaigns with the Gamecocks in 2024. Kennard was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, earned All-American honors and was the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner. Stewart was an All-SEC Freshman Team honoree and a unanimous Freshman All-American. The two combined for 51 tackles and 18 sacks on the year.
Both Kennard and Stewart tallied a sack in the Oklahoma game, both of which came when Arnold was under center. South Carolina totaled nine sacks on the day.
“I remember one of the first hits I took that game, it was like a power read and I got blown up in the A-gap,” Arnold said. “I actually crushed my finger. I looked down and my whole finger was purple. My whole fingernail was purple. That was like the welcome to the SEC moment.”
Arnold ended the game with 225 passing yards and one touchdown after going 18 for 36 through the air.
Arnold entered the transfer portal after the conclusion of Oklahoma’s regular season. He committed to Auburn a few weeks later where he will, coincidentally, avoid a rematch with Stewart and the Gamecocks in the regular season in 2025.
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM.
