Mountain Time game turns tight with Dillon Gabriel’s injury
Playing without starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the second half, the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners managed a 31-24 win on a slippery Provo, Utah football field over a scrappy BYU Cougars on Saturday.
Backup freshman QB Jackson Arnold — a heralded recruit seen to be a future star in Norman — saw his most playing time, leading the Sooners after Gabriel was sidelined with a concussion sustained right before halftime.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby turned to the Sooners run game, both to ease the pressure on the freshman QB but also to capitalize on a BYU weakness. Gavin Sawchuk had the go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter and led Sooner rushers with 104 yards on 14 carries. Arnold carried the ball eight times for 24 yards.
But a late 3rd down conversion with 2:05 left in the game, with Arnold calling an audible and zipping a slant pass to junior receiver Jalil Farooq, sealed the game.
“I thought they were going to bring everybody (on a blitz), so I checked out of it and and threw a quick slant to Jalil,” Arnold said.
Farooq led the Sooners receivers with five catches and 53 yards.
Neither team managed to grab momentum in the game. But, Oklahoma turned three BYU turnovers into points. That was the difference.
It was an important win for Oklahoma, who upped their conference record to 6-2 (9-2 for the season) and kept their Big 12 championship game hopes alive.
But, the game also showed that while the Sooners have made significant strides since a losing season in 2022, they remain a work in progress even at this point late in the season.
They showed they are a good team, but remain below playoff worthy — particularly defensively, when the Sooners allowed a mediocre Cougars offense to gash it with runs by Aidan Robbins, who finished the game with 182 yards on 22 carries.
“We were not, uncharacteristically, gap sound … but our guys overcame that,” Coach Brent Venables said after the game.
Gabriel had a stellar first half, hitting Jayden Gibson on a 55-yard deep ball to set up the first touchdown, a 3-yard pass to Nic Anderson. He threw his second TD pass to Gibson for 27 yards to give Oklahoma a 14-7 lead.
The Sooners defense struggled stopping what was statistically a below-average BYU offense in the first half, unable to mount a pass rush (no sacks) and playing soft coverage in the secondary on a slippery field.
BYU had 213 yards offense at the half, converting on four of eight first downs and averaging 6.1 yards per play.
The Cougars kicked their longest field goal of the year to tie it up 17-17 at halftime.
Drake Stoops signals first down after a first half reception against the Cougars.
Dillon Gabriel did not return for the second half because of a concussion sustained late in the second quarter.
Arnold said being called to go in to a tie game right after halftime was “surreal.”
It certainly put the Sooner faithful on puckered-up watch, remembering what happened in 2022 when Gabriel was sidelined with a concussion and saw the ensuing 49-point debacle against Texas.
Older fans also remembered the last time Oklahoma played BYU and the Cougars knocked out QB Sam Bradford in a 13-14 loss during the first football game ever played at Jerry’s World in Arlington in 2009.
Arnold presents a more-than-capable backup, although his playing time before this game was limited.
With the Gabriel-less offense stymied early in the third quarter, the Sooners got a spark from junior defensive back Billy Bowman’s 100-yard Pick Six in the third quarter gave the Sooners a 24-17 lead.
Later, the kicking game failed (like it has through the season) early in the fourth quarter when Zack Schmidt missed a 28-yard chip shot wide left.
The Oklahoma defense stiffened in the second half, holding BYU to but one scoring drive and only 18 yards offense in the fourth quarter. LB Danny Stutsman lead tacklers with 10, despite fighting off the flu bug during the week.
“I didn’t think he (Stutsman) was going to play, but he said he was going to no matter what…he said, ‘my butt’s playing’,” Venables said.
As the Sooners have completed their last Big 12 road game and turn to the season finale against TCU next Friday, the injury to Gabriel remains uncertain.
“He’s got an upper body injury, but I think he’ll be back pretty quick,” Coach Brent Venables said of Gabriel’s injury.
The question remains whether Arnold will see his first start as the OU quarterback on Owen Field on the day after Thanksgiving.
Next up: Oklahoma vs. TCU, Norman. 11 am on Friday (FOX TV)
Photo credit: Rick Bowmer/AP
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