Oklahoma's Gabriel exits win over BYU with upper-body injury

Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel didn't play the second half of Saturday's 31-24 win over BYU due to an upper-body injury, head coach Brent Venables announced postgame, according to George Stoia III of On3 Sports.

Venables added that he thinks Gabriel will be back "pretty quick."

True freshman passer Jackson Arnold replaced Gabriel, who was coming off one of the best performances of his career after accounting for a single-game school record of eight touchdowns in last week's victory over West Virginia. Arnold attempted only nine passes in his relief appearance Saturday, completing five for 33 yards.

Gabriel left the game versus BYU with the matchup tied 17-17. He completed 13 of 21 pass attempts for 191 yards and two touchdowns before exiting. It was previously reported that Gabriel went down with a head injury. The senior QB seemingly suffered an injury in a scramble near the end zone late during Oklahoma's final drive of the first half.

Oklahoma's defense came up clutch against BYU, scoring a 100-yard pick-6 in the third quarter. The Sooners also forced a fourth-quarter fumble.

A former UCF signal-caller who transferred to Oklahoma in 2022, Gabriel entered the contest against the Cougars with a 70.5% completion rate to go along with 36 scrimmage touchdowns.

With Gabriel's injury, Oklahoma was forced to burn Arnold's redshirt, as Saturday's game marked the highly touted freshman's fifth appearance this year. Arnold joined Oklahoma as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the 2023 class.

"He's put the work in," Venables said of Arnold on Saturday. "The moment wasn't too big for him. ... He's a winner. He's got tremendous courage and great belief in himself and the guys around him."

The Sooners, who host TCU next week, improved to 9-2 with the victory.