OU's Brent Venables, Arizona's Jedd Fisch react to Alamo Bowl matchup

After an eventful weekend, Oklahoma now knows its postseason destination.

The No. 12-ranked Sooners (10-2) accepted an invite to the Alamo Bowl, where they will matchup with No. 14-ranked Arizona. It marks the Sooners' return to the Alamo Bowl for the second time in three seasons, defeating Oregon 47-32 in 2021. The Sooners narrowly missed out on a New Year's Six Bowl bid, finishing just outside the top 11.

Arizona (9-3) enters the Alamo Bowl on a six-game winning streak, marking their first bowl appearance since 2017. The Wildcats won just one game two seasons ago.

The Alamo Bowl is set for Dec 28 at 8:15 p.m. CT.

Shortly after Sunday's announcement, the Alamo Bowl committee held a press conference that included comments from OU coach Brent Venables and Arizona coach Jedd Fisch. Here's a look at what the two coaches said as they previewed the game later this month:

(Editor's Note: The questions have been edited for length and clarity)

Opening statement: "On behalf of our program, our players, our coaches, Sooner nation, couldn’t be more thrilled to have an opportunity to come back to the Valero Alamo Bowl. Y’all do everything first class. It’s a great venue. Gonna be an awesome night on the 28th. The college football world is going to be in for a treat. Two really, really good football teams (that) are playing their best football as the season is winding down. I’d just like to congratulate Coach Fisch and his staff, his football team for what an amazing turnaround. Just two short years ago they won just one game. And the turnaround has been quite remarkable. Doing it the right way. They’ve recruited very well and they’ve developed incredibly well."

Led by again, as coach said, they had a quarterback change in redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifita and the rest of their skill players, offense is going to get a lot of the headlines but I agree with Coach Fisch, how well they’re playing on defense. Just as a football team winning their last six games and just a fantastic job building a program the right way. Thrilled for our fans, for our players for the opportunity to be able to compete in the Valero Alamo Bowl.

"It’s going to be a great opportunity for our fans, our players’ families to be able to get there. Very convenient for them. And you know, for me this is two short years ago is where I got a chance to watch our players as I became the head coach, watch Coach Stoops go out one last time against the University of Oregon. And so it’ll be a treat for me as well to be able to go back to San Antonio again.

"And I’d also just like to say thank you to the committee for again creating such a highly thought of matchup. Again, it’s two top 15 teams going at it. As you said, other than the playoff matchups this will be the most highest ranked matchup of the bowl season. And we couldn’t again be more thrilled and proud of our players and all of their work."

Can you talk about the transformation of the program after finishing 6-7 last season?: "Since we played Florida State in our bowl game last year, we lost 42 scholarship players. We have 63 new players this year — both freshmen and 17 transfers. It’s been a lot of fun building it, watching this team come together. The chemistry, the cohesion, the work, the leadership, the maturation of the team, it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of. Our coaches and players have worked tirelessly to give ourselves a chance.

"We lost two games where we came up short by eight points and bounced back. Seeing our team be in some valleys along the way, really love how we responded every step of the way. And building the foundation as we transform and move into the SEC, being our last year in the Big 12. Again, couldn’t have been more proud of the growth and again the maturation that has taken place this year by a bunch of guys that have been highly invested in this program. Several seniors including Dillon Gabriel, Drake Stoops, Jalil Farooq on the offensive side and then Danny Stutsman, Isaiah Coe, Jordan Kelley, Woodi Washington, Billy Bowman amongst others on our defense."

How big have Dillon Gabriel and Drake Stoops been this season?: "“Drake led the Big 12 in receptions. I think he had almost 40 catches here in the last few games of the season. They’re both playing their best football right now. Dillon has broken several college football records this season. I think he’s fourth all-time in total yards and touchdowns. Those two, their chemistry, the respect, work that they have for one another. And how they’ve led our team. They’re great leaders. They bring out the best in everybody and they can reproduce who they are. And they’ve done exactly that and helped transform our locker room.”

Can you talk about the recent hires of Seth Littrell as offensive coordinator and Joe Jon Finley as co-offensive coordinator?: "Really cool for me. My filter for making that decision…it always goes back to…it’s pretty simple: what’s best for our players and then what’s best for our staff. And as I visited with several coaches across the country and looked at our team and what we’ve recruited, and again the staff that we have right now on offense prior to making that decision, everything continued to bring me back to Seth and Joe Jon as co-coordinators.

“So really thrilled being a part of Seth and Joe Jon — their collegiate careers here at the University of Oklahoma back in the late 90s and early part of the 2000s with both of them. Relationships that go back to when they’re 17, 18, 19 years old and recruiting them or being a part of their collegiate careers. Then seeing them now as husbands and fathers and tremendous leaders and excellent in what they do as football coaches. Some of the best in college football. So that’s really been cool for me to be a small part of watching that and putting that together. I could be more excited for the future holds and to continue the offensive success that we’ve had and continue to evolve and develop our offensive side of the ball into one of the most explosive units in all of college football.”

Opening statement: "We’re excited. We just got done with our end-of-the-season banquet and couldn’t have been happier to share with our team the opportunity to play in this game. We’ve had quite a season around here and the last six games have certainly been a highlight of what’s been a fantastic 12-game season. We couldn’t be more thrilled to take on Coach Venables’ team. We have all the respect in the world for Oklahoma and all the things that Oklahoma stands for and the national landscape to be able to play a top 12 … for our two teams to be No. 14 and 12 and be out there, what a special opportunity for us. We’re just thrilled to be there and we can’t wait to get out to San Antonio."

Can you talk about the growth of this time?: "We were playing with 13 starting sophomores out of our 22 players. Our recruiting class of 2022 really is the group that kind of spearheaded the change in our program. We brought in – not only through the high school recruiting, but the transfer portal – guys like Jayden de Laura, guys like Jacob Cowing, guys like Tanner McLachlan with all the high school recruits as well.We’ve had a quarterback change in the middle of the season due to injury and we were sitting at 3-1. And then Jayden sprained his ankle, so we wound up having a ton of growth there.

"We’ve been a good team the last couple of years defensively, we made an enormous jump. I’m super proud of the way our defense has played. The growth of our team – to go from 1-11 to 5-7 to 9-3 – really has to do with the way our defense has changed over these three years. I’m grateful for our defensive staff and our coaches to be able to put ourselves in position. Our three losses have been by a combined 16 points. We’ve been in position every week to win the game and I really think that’s because of our defense."

What are your early thoughts of OU?: "We play about 2 in the morning every week. So I’m able to watch a lot of college football. I was able to see Oklahoma throughout this season a lot at different times. Our quarterback is from Hawaii (Jayden De Laura), Dillon Gabriel is from Hawaii. We always talk about that group and keep an eye on that. Talk about the scoring that has been going on. The defensive prowess that Coach Venables has had everywhere he’s ever been. Very aware of how good of a defense they are and what they’re going to be and cause all sorts of trouble for us. We recognize it’s going to be quite a college football game. I’m excited about both teams with how they score and also how they defend. It’s going to be a great game, fun game. I hope all of San Antonio comes out to watch it."

How big is it for Arizona to be back in a bowl game?: "The last bowl game I was at was the Super Bowl. Before that, it was the Cactus Bowl when I was the interim head coach at UCLA and then Michigan, prior. But none of our players have played in a bowl game. We don’t have a player on our roster unless they have transferred in here that has bowl experience. The last bowl game that happened here was 2017 and we have no players from that roster here. Hopefully, come in on the 23rd make it one in which we understand the importance of winning but also the importance of the experience. I know, from what I’ve been told this, is the best bowl when it comes to the experience. To celebrate Christmas with you guys, our players are so excited about that. We’re so excited about that, as a staff."