SAN ANTONIO, Texas — As the balloons rained down at the Alamo Bowl, signaling Oklahoma's 38-24 loss to No. 14-ranked Arizona in its season finale, linebacker Danny Stutsman took Jackson Arnold aside.

It had been a wildly up-and-down night for Arnold in his first collegiate start. But Stutsman had a message for the true freshman.

"It's obvious Jackson is a baller and we have full faith in him," Stutsman said in the postgame press conference. "First career start, he played his heart out. Every time he takes that field, I have so much confidence in that offense and everything that they do. I love him to death. He's a tremendous player. I know now there's going to be some adversity, but he needs to hang his head up higher than ever because Oklahoma has his back, that entire locker room with Jackson, and this changes nothing."

It was a vote of confidence in Arnold, who showed his potential and also revealed areas where he can grow.

Arnold turned the ball over four times, with his first interception coming on the offense's third play of the game. Two possessions later, Arnold saw Drake Stoops open on a wheel route down the right sideline but saw it too late and the pass was underthrown, and it was easily intercepted by Gunner Maldonado.

Those two interceptions led to 10 Arizona points, allowing the Wildcats to take a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter. It appeared Arnold was settling in for a rough night in an inevitable blowout loss.

But that's when he settled in.

On the ensuing drive he completed 5-of-6 passes for 50 yards, which included a 20-yard completion to Gavin Sawchuk on third-and-nine from the Arizona 38-yard line. That set up an 18-yard touchdown run by Sawchuk to put the Sooners on the board.

Two possessions later — following a fumble by Jalil Farooq at the Arizona eight-yard line — Arnold delivered the best play of his young career. He scrambled left found Nic Anderson for a 10-yard touchdown in the left corner of the end zone.

It's also worth noting that a 19-yard run from Arnold preceded the play. And all of a sudden, the Sooners led 14-13 going into halftime.

Arnold flashed his arm strength on the second play of the third quarter, finding Brenen Thompson for a 63-yard touchdown.

After a disastrous start, the Sooners totaled 24 points and 437 yards of offense in the second and third quarters combined. Arnold during those 30 minutes? 279 passing yards on 18-of-27 attempts and two touchdowns. And it was enough to give the Sooners a 24-13 lead with 6:59 left in the third quarter.

But, as they did in the first quarter, turnovers again became an issue. The most critical one came late in the third quarter.

A seven-play, 61-yard drive was finished without points after Farooq fumbled the ball in the air, which was recovered and returned for an 87-yard touchdown by Arizona (the play was initially recorded as an interception before officially being changed to a fumble). Two plays later Arnold threw his third interception of the game, compounding the issue.

The final turnover came midway through the fourth quarter when Arnold fumbled as he was hit by an Arizona defender. That led to the game-sealing and final touchdown by Arizona, marking the Sooners' third loss of the season.

The Sooners finished with six total turnovers, which led to 28 Arizona points.

"I'd say just to battle through adversity," Arnold said on his takeaway from the game. "Our team chaplain this morning, that was the main focus was battling through adversity because it's going to strike at some point, and it did tonight. Obviously there's things that went bad tonight, but just learn to keep my head up and keep playing through it no matter what is something I take away from the night.

"... Those mistakes were on me. I'm going to take the full blame for that. I've just got to be better. I thought they put me in great positions to win tonight, and lack of execution was the problems that we had tonight."

However, his teammates and coaches had a different view of Arnold's performance.

This was always going to be a tough situation for Arnold. The Sooners were without starting offensive linemen Andrew Raym and Tyler Guyton. Arizona finished the regular season ranked in the top 35 nationally in scoring defense and total defense, allowing more than 24 points just once in its final seven games. It was also the first game for Seth Littrell as the Sooners' offensive coordinator. Plus, despite the turnovers and the early deficit, the Sooners were up 11 late in the third with a chance to extend their lead.

For OU coach Brent Venables, the game was further proof of Arnold's resilience. Arnold threw the ball 45 times compared to 34 rushing attempts as a team, as the Sooners continued to turn to their freshman quarterback.

"When you're the quarterback at the University of Oklahoma, something you do sign up for, you're the face in many ways of the program," Venables said. "But I know we've got the right guy, and we've got the right group there. Broad shoulders, level headed, incredibly humble, tough on himself, demanding of himself. I don't ever worry about him having success and going to his head, and I certainly don't worry about if he's fragile or a head case."

Despite a topsy-turvy performance, Arnold still finished with 361 passing yards and two touchdowns. He showed his ability to escape the pocket and make plays with his legs, and he didn't show hesitance throwing downfield. The Sooners also out-gained Arizona 562-383 in total yards.

Now, it'll be about learning from the mistakes during the offseason.

"This is a strong dude that's very process driven," Venables said. "He's very committed. He's relentless with his work ethic, and he'll bring out the best in everybody. He's a great leader and incredibly skilled.

"We had a chance going into the last half of the fourth quarter, a chance to win the game. That's a lot of credit to all the great things that Jackson and the team did, as well."