ORLANDO, Fla. – Everybody wanted an Oklahoma win. Moral victories are so hard to accept, and something OU fans never ever want to embrace.

But heading into the Cheez-It Bowl vs. No. 13 Florida State, you could almost see it coming. It was hard to envision the Sooners pulling off the upset vs. the Seminoles, so find all the bright spots you could.

OU almost did, falling 35-32 on a field goal in the final minute. As for those bright spots? There are a number of places you could go, but it starts with the running game.

With Eric Gray bypassing the bowl game to get ready for the Senior Bowl and the NFL Draft, it became a freshmen show with Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk.

They delivered time and time again.

“I'm so proud of them,” tight end Brayden Willis said. “That's a big deal to step up in a bowl game and compete and run the way they did and ran hard. Made great plays. I'm so proud of the, but obviously you can see a great future with both of them and I've said from the jump that they're both going to be heck of players. I'm super proud of them and I know they're going to do great things.”

Barnes rushed for 108 yards on 27 attempts with a touchdown. Sawchuk, in his first meaningful appearance of the season, went off for 100 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown and a lost fumble.

A little bit of a vindication feeling for Barnes, who said last week everybody was going to find out what he and Sawchuk could do together.

“All around, I did a great job. Me and Gavin both. We both went out and showed what we had. I’m proud of Gavin because this whole season he hasn’t really had a chance to shine. He exactly did that. I’m so proud of him for the way he did.

“It’s a great feeling. He came in and worked his butt off. I always knew we were going to be a great one-two punch. We showed a little preview. I can’t wait ‘til next year.”

Barnes had shown flashes before, so a lot of fans were fired up for him to become the starter. But if there’s a breakout player from Camping World Stadium, it’s the freshman back from Colorado.

“Gavin has a tremendous future,” Venables said. “He is made of all the right stuff. Tremendous character. Great work ethic. Incredibly humble, intelligent, tough.

“It would been easy for a guy like him to kind of check it in and not get better, but he showed up every day and got better all season long, and these guys will attest to that. He has been a great teammate, and he is ready for his opportunity when it presented itself.”

Gabriel’s guts, leadership on display

He kept getting hit, and quarterback Dillon Gabriel kept getting up. And he never lost an edge about him the entire game.

Returning to Orlando where he began his college career, Gabriel did a lot of good things despite OU coming up just a bit short.

“My competitive nature. I want to do whatever it takes for this team to win,” Gabriel said. “Obviously, it is a little frustrating when it doesn't happen. Personally, I think the O-line played their butt off in the sense of their effort. They are guys who care, and they are competing for their opportunity at hand. I can respect that.”

Gabriel completed 14 of 24 passes for 243 yards with one touchdown. He also rushed for another score and was sacked six times.

A makeshift offensive line, a young and inexperienced running back group, but Gabriel kept it all together.

“I thought there was a situation today where he did an unbelievable job of keeping those guys together on the sideline when things weren't good,” offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said. “He continued to try to play the next play, fight to play the next play, take care of the football and give us a chance to win the game. We weren't able to make the plays to go win it, and that's the thing that's hard.”

Offensive line grows up

No Anton Harrison or Wanya Morris. An injured Andrew Raym. And then freshman offensive tackle Jacob Sexton was hurt on the third play from scrimmage.

The excuses were there for the offensive line to be dominated by FSU all evening, but that wasn’t the story written by Bill Bedenbaugh and his guys.

“Man, I mean, I'm so proud of this group,” center Robert Congel said. “Those young guys I mean they played their butts off. Savion and Aaryn Parks, all those guys. They were tired, they were incredible. So I'm really proud of this group and the future's bright for that o-line.”

Oh, and add the fact that offensive guard Chris Murray became a late scratch. That meant it was Savion Byrd’s time, and he rose to the occasion.

“Savion, he was incredible. He really -- playing with that nasty streak,” Congel said. “There would be times I would see a guy 10 yards down the field and he's flopping on top of him. The way he prepared these past couple of weeks and the way he played, I'm so proud of him. I'm telling you all these guys man, they've got bright futures.”

OU had 496 yards of total offense (253 rushing, 243 passing).

Defense with no late answers

There were some really good moments for OU’s defense against the Seminoles. But eventually, FSU quarterback Jordan Travis and his receivers just made too many big plays.

Billy Bowman had an interception. And OU stopped FSU on all three of its fourth down conversion attempts.

But there’s a reason Travis is so, so good. He just is.

He threw for 418 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Johnny Wilson had eight catches for 202 yards, and FSU amassed 587 yards of total offense.

After OU led 17-11 at halftime, Travis and the FSU offense went to work, and OU’s defense just didn’t have the answers.