Provo, Utah — Oklahoma may have been a 25-point favorite, but it took a couple of big plays for the Sooners to avoid a major upset at BYU.

The Cougars, on the heels of a three straight losses, nearly pushed the Sooners to the brink. The game was tied 17-17 entering halftime and 24-24 entering halftime. But thanks to a couple key turnovers and a big third-down throw from Jackson Arnold to Jalil Farooq, the Sooners escaped Provo with a 31-24 win.

The Sooners (9-2) remain viable for the Big 12 title, but they'll need a win over TCU on Friday and a loss to Oklahoma State to make it there. But before we look ahead, here's a few of the notable quotes from the Sooners after Saturday's win:

On the second-half defense: "The defense continued to fight. You know, they’ve played pretty dang good on the season, so this is one of those moments where if they’re not prepared for the worst-case scenario mentally and physically, if they don’t have good leadership, things can go south there in the second half. Just can get pretty splintered, and that’s not how they responded. They responded like you would want them too, like a champion would do. A group of guys that are highly, highly invested. They care about each other. They care about their opportunity. And they care about their product they put on the field. They took ownership and figured stuff out there in the second half."

On Billy Bowman's pick-six: "I think it's appropriate to say we were on our heels. They were tempoing. We were trying to play a tempo defense. Note to self: if they’re playing tempo offense, you got to make sure you bring the tempo defense on the road. But they did a great job. He was in great position. Exactly where he was supposed to be. Fantastic play. Showed his speed. That quarterback can fly. And he did a great job.”

Was this game an example of the increasing parity in college football? Or just how tough it is to win on the road?: "A little bit of everything... I put it on us as coaches, first, indicative of that. I’m just talking about the defensive guys. Putting them in a better spot, working some things more. Players will take the right accountability too. It’s a really mature group of guys. Then the other thing is (BYU has) played well at home, backs against the road. I’m not looking for any excuses. What is it indicative of and all that? They’ve shown at times this season. They went to Arkansas at the beginning of the year and won. They’re in the SEC, right? They won that game. They beat a pretty good Texas Tech team. Tech has beaten some really good teams, and they smashed them right out here. And they lost their quarterback. Backup guy, third start. I don’t like him having success. They had way too many explosive runs and things like that. It was a lot of them and some of us as coaches and players. We have to be better..."

When did you find out Dillon Gabriel was out, and Arnold was in?: "So, got wind of it there right before the half. So, kind of knew as I'm coming down, so putting some things together, knew we were going to get to a couple more things from a QB-run standpoint but wanted to still play aggressive and give him a chance to go play the game. Then dialed back a little bit and leaned on our run game and knew he was fully capable to go execute and go win the game.

Gavin Sawchuk with another 100-yard day?: "What I loved is that the first guy never tackled him. I don't think the first guy tackled him all day and he got better as the game went on and with the situation that we were in, we needed that and he produced and he made it happen.

"He's done a really good job of just being back in playing shape. It's taken awhile but said it, I think last week after the game, he is playing his best football and proud of him for, man, just staying the course. Look forward to continuing to lean on him when we need him."

How did Gabriel play before he was injured?: "I thought DIllon was playing pretty good. They were incredibly aggressive with all the man to man and the pressures, but I thought we were able to pitch it around really well. Hated that we didn't punch it in down there when we were first-and-5 at the 5, missed on the fade and then Dillon's run on second down and then we were close on third down right there on the over that we didn't hit on. Thought he played well. Didn't like the first-down sack we were able to overcome but really did play pretty clean."

Are you getting better at running through tackles?: "You gotta be able to run through trash. That’s one thing we’ve emphasized in the running back room this whole season, is not only just being able to make the right reads, but running through trash, making plays out in open space, winning your one-on-one battles. So that’s the emphasis we’ve been focusing on.

The OU defense?: "They did great. Billy Bowman with the pick-six, it happened so fast, I didn’t even get to see it. But I’m proud of them, they stepped up really when we needed them. They did their job, same with the offense. We did our job when the team needed us to. So everybody was stepping when we were needed."

On the defense bouncing back: "I was really proud of the way they rebounded. We made some mistakes that we’ve got to clean up, that we’ve got to get fixed. But at the same time, made a lot of game-changing plays when we needed to the most. Played complimentary football. Overall, not pleased with the performance, but at the same time again, really showed the belief and the resiliency this team has. And proud of our guys and the way they competed. Made a bunch of big plays there in the second half that kept the game and obviously helped us win.”

Struggles defending the run?: "“I think it’s a combination of things. Some of it was them, some of it was us. And again, I give them credit. And at the same time, we’ve got some things to fix. So we’ve got to get them fixed and we will.”

On the pick-six: "We got down there with our backs against the wall and they're not in till they're in. But anyways, I was supposed to blitz and I seen a man for BYU wide open, so I just said forget it. I'm not gonna blitz. Then I went to cover him. Got my eyes back and the ball was right there."

What's it like to have that type of play?: "I've been playing this game for a long time and I've had a few like that, but this was probably one of my most favorites and definitely a memory for sure. It was great."