Dillon Gabriel's Alamo Bowl status not yet finalized, per Brent Venables

When Oklahoma takes on Arizona in the Valero Alamo Bowl at the end of December, the availability of star quarterback Dillon Gabriel will be key.

As of now, it’s unclear whether Gabriel will be playing in the game.

Head coach Brent Venables was asked Thursday if Gabriel will play and he said things were still up in the air.

“That hasn’t been finalized yet. I’ll comment on that when it’s the appropriate time,” Venables said. “Dillon has been amazing. He’s obviously played his best football this year. We wouldn’t have put ourselves in this position and had the kind of success we did, certainly the turnaround we did from year one to year two, without Dillon, his leadership, his commitment. He made everybody around him better.

“Really, really thankful and proud of Dillon. He’s going to have, whatever is next for him, I promise you, he’s going to have his hands all over it. It’s going to be a really successful transition for him.”

Gabriel has already entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal, but nothing would preclude him from playing in the bowl game should he want to. His presence would obviously provide a huge lift for the Sooners, though backup Jackson Arnold is no slouch either.

A former UCF transfer, Gabriel threw for 3,660 yards and 30 touchdowns this season, while tossing just six interceptions. He also ran for 373 yards and 12 scores.

That won’t be easy to replace in the event Dillon Gabriel does opt out of the Alamo Bowl.

The beginning of the Jackson Arnold era?

In the event Dillon Gabriel elects not to play in the Alamo Bowl, there will still be plenty of excitement around the Oklahoma program. Everyone has been waiting to see what the talented freshman can do.

Arnold could end up providing a glimpse at what 2024 could look like for the Sooners.

“People are very excited,” George Stoia III of On3’s Sooner Scoop said during Tuesday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “Let me put it this way — last year, all offseason, all we heard was ‘When is Jackson Arnold going to start? He’s definitely going to beat out Dillon Gabriel halfway through the season.’ Now that it is finally his time to take over, I think people are super pumped.”

Arnold played high school football at Denton (TX) Guyer, where he was a Five-Star Plus+ prospect. He was the No. 8 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

There was excitement surrounding Arnold from the get-go. And now, his playing may rejuvenate interest in Oklahoma’s bowl game after missing out on the New Year’s Six. Oklahoma fans are used to facing big-time opponents on a big-time stage and Arizona may not do it for them.

Having Arnold get the start will certainly draw a crowd on Dec. 28.

“I think OU fans were super disappointed to not get into a New Year’s Six bowl… I think they look at the matchup and think ‘Arizona? What kind of matchup is that?’ You’re playing in the Alamo Bowl, which isn’t as big of a stage.

“I think as soon as we found out Dillon Gabriel was leaving and that Jackson is likely going to start the bowl game, I think people got a lot more excited.”