Alamo Bowl’s ‘newcomers’ put on a show as No. 14 Arizona rallies to beat No. 12 Oklahoma

Entering the 31st Alamo Bowl, the No. 14 Arizona Wildcats and the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners both came into the matchup with different personnel than they had all season.

The Sooners came into the contest with only 70 scholarship players after several players, including starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, either entered the transfer portal or sat out the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft.

Gabriel transferred to the Univerity of Oregon, where he’ll wear Heisman trophy winner Marcus Mariota’s number (8), which he explained was approved by Mariota in his social media announcement.

The Wildcats had to restructure their offensive line after star left tackle Jordan Morgan decided to enter the NFL draft and forgo playing in the Alamo Bowl.

So how did both offenses do without some of their top players?

At the start of the game, it looked like the Wildcats were going to be better off by putting Joseph Borjon in at the left tackle spot to replace Morgan. Arizona turned two of backup-turned-starting quarterback Jackson Arnold’s interceptions into points, taking a 13-0 lead.

But then Arnold and the Oklahoma offense settled in and answered with two touchdowns to take a 14-13 lead into halftime.

The Oklahoma Sooners put the “boom” in their Boomer Sooner phrase with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Arnold to Brenen Thompson to take a 21-13 lead.

Jackson Arnold, a native of Denton, showed how comfortable he is playing in his home state but another costly mistake would cut into Oklahoma’s lead.

Arnold’s pass was tipped in the air and intercepted by Arizona’s Gunner Maldonado who returned a fumble-six 87 yards. A two-point conversion added to the costly mistake, making it a 24-21 game. Another interception thrown by Arnold gave the Wildcats the ball deep in Oklahoma territory which led to Arizona kicking a field goal to tie the game at 24.

After an Oklahoma drive ended with a punt, the Wildcats would retake the lead and Arnold was put in another tough spot, leading his Sooners on a game-timing or even game-winning drive. Arnold wouldn’t be able to make magic happen as he was sacked and fumbled the ball with 3 minutes left. Arizona would then add to its lead to win the 2023 Valero Alamo Bowl.

Arnold’s final stat line: 26/45 with 361 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two interceptions, along with 38 rushing yards.