SAN ANTONIO — It was supposed to be Oklahoma's running start to the SEC.

OU head coach Brent Venables talked about it for weeks. The Sooners were debuting their shiny, five-star freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold and co-offensive coordinators Joe Jon Finley and Seth Littrell. What seemed like an open runway for success quickly turned into crash landing, as No. 12 Oklahoma (10-3, 7-2 Big 12) fell 38-24 to No. 14 Arizona (10-3, 7-2 Pac-12) on Thursday night in the Alamo Bowl.

Arnold, and his much-anticipated debut, fell short. He finished with 361 passing yards, two touchdowns and four glaring turnovers — three interceptions and a game-sealing fumble.

Alongside Arnold, Littrell and Finley led OU’s worst offensive performance of the 2023 season. The Sooners tallied six turnovers, their most in over 24 years, which resulted in 28 points for Arizona. The Sooners went 7-for-15 on third downs and were outscored 25-10 in the second half. Oklahoma’s offensive line gave up three sacks and seven quarterback hits.

There’s a lot of work to be done, and Venables has a full offseason to fix it. What OU’s head coach is hanging his hat on is the fight the Sooners showcased all season, the improvement from a 6-7 year in 2022 and another successful season of laying down his culture.

“We continued to fight together,” Venables said postgame. “The defense responded several times, and the offense continued to come right back, and that's that's what I love. Even in moments of adversity or when things went dreadfully wrong, we continued to respond on both sides of the ball, especially on offense with Jackson as (our) leader.”

Like it did in its two other losses this season, Oklahoma had multiple chances to seal the game but couldn’t close it out due to costly mistakes. By the end of the third quarter, the Sooners led 24-21 and had the game squarely in their hands. Arizona went on to score 17 unanswered points from that point forward.

Danny Stutsman and Jackson Arnold

Junior linebacker Danny Stutsman and freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold after the game against Arizona on Dec. 28.

After the game, Arnold took full blame for Oklahoma’s offensive woes, while his teammates and Venables stood right behind him. Like OU’s head coach preaches, the value of their brotherhood runs deeper than the loss itself, a defining principle they’ve built on and off the field.

Redshirt senior wide receiver Drake Stoops reiterated that message. He played his final game with the Sooners on Thursday and will now be gauging where he might land in the NFL draft process.

“We're just a reflection of our head coach,” Stoops said postgame. “That starts in the offseason and offseason training. … We just have guys that have the right stuff, and those are intangibles that can't be taught.

Gavin Sawchuk

Redshirt freshman running back Gavin Sawchuk during the game against Arizona on Dec. 28.

“We're fighting and we're climbing for a chance to win. If there’s time on the clock, we have a chance to win. I think when you have a group of guys like that, we’re gonna win a lot of games and the ones you don’t they’re gonna be close.”

So, where does Oklahoma go from here?

Its move to the SEC is six months away, and it will carry over a stinging loss into the offseason. Questions about its readiness for the most competitive conference will remain. Venables, like always, encourages his team to stay inside-out.

For a moment during OU’s postgame press conference, Venables looked side to side, and thanked every single player at the table. Through its ups and downs, Oklahoma unquestionably improved from a season ago and now will have another offseason to prepare for its new conference.

Arnold will have starting experience under his belt. Finley and Littrell will create their own offense and another group of transfers and freshman signees will make their way to Norman. For Venables, this one setback doesn’t take away from the workload seen from an entire season.

“I'm so thankful for all of you guys up here,” OU’s head coach said. “Just the guts, the fight and the belief, the commitment to your body of work, the young men that you are, (you guys are) just amazing people. … We got everything that we could out of this group of guys and you guys have led the way. We squeezed all the juice out of it that could be squeezed."

"We came off on the wrong end of it, but it didn't take away how amazing these guys are, the type of team that I believed in and the season that we had. Sure there's some disappointment, but there's a lot more to be thankful for.”

The Oklahoma Sooners played in their post-season bowl game against the Arizona Wildcats Thursday night in the Valero Alamo Bowl, falling 38-24.

Here is our best footage from the Alamodome:

Filmed by Kaly Phan

Edited by Kaly Phan

Thumbnail by Kaly Phan

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/infraction/typography

License code: MDOZHEKXFIQNBPAS

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