Those looking for the bright side of Texas' 34-30 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday can cling to the fact that despite so much going so wrong for the Longhorns — three turnovers, five sacks and a potential major injury on the offensive line — they still were literally seconds away from winning. Those looking for the dark side has those same turnovers, those same sacks and that same injury, to dwell upon, plus what will surely be a tumble in Sunday's AP poll.

This game had a lot of the same vibe and energy as the Texas-Alabama game, only today the Sooners made plays that the Crimson Tide didn't.

Our takeaways from Saturday's loss at the Cotton Bowl:

What does this loss mean?

The season isn't over, the sky's not falling and this loss doesn't mean Texas' hopes for a Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff appearance are over. Simply put, Texas needs to do to Oklahoma what the Sooners did to the Longhorns in 2018: bounce back from the Red River Rivalry loss in October by beating OU in the Big 12 championship game, thus probably securing a CFP bid just like the Sooners avenged their 2018 loss to Texas and made it to the CFP.

The rest of the schedule looks awfully winnable: at Houston, then back-to-back home games against BYU and Kansas State, then back-to-back road trips to TCU and Iowa State and then at home the day after Thanksgiving against Texas Tech. The Longhorns will be favored in each one.

Dillon Gabriel came up huge

After playing a string of backup quarterbacks, Texas’ defense got exposed by veteran quarterback Dillon Gabriel and the Oklahoma offense. Gabriel threw for 285 yards and ran for another 115 as OU accumulated 486 total yards, easily the most by any Texas opponent so far. The Longhorns had issues pressuring Gabriel from the edge and didn’t force a turnover for the first time this season.

A tough day for Quinn Ewers

By the numbers, Quinn Ewers had another efficient game at quarterback with 31-of-37 passing and 346 yards for an impressive QB rating of 160.4. However, three costly turnovers from Ewers negated that performance. Ewers had committed only one turnover through the first five games but threw two early first-half interceptions and later lost a fumble on a second-half scramble.

Gunnar Helm steps up

With tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders limited by an ankle injury suffered in last week’s win over Kansas, Gunnar Helm stepped into a starring role. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound junior hauled in all four of his targets for 67 yards, including a 25-yarder from Ewers for his first-career touchdown catch. Sanders had just one catch for 13 yards while playing limited snaps.

Texcetera

Looking for key plays that led to this loss? Look to (1) the early loss of veteran center Jake Majors, as that was a major blow to the offensive line the rest of the day; (2) OU's fourth-down stop on that goal-line stand in the fourth quarter, stopping Xavier Worthy literally inches from the end zone; (3) and take your pick between Terrance Brooks' pass interference penalty in the final minute or the breakdown in the secondary on OU's winning touchdown pass. ... Jonathon Brooks had his fourth-straight 100-yard game, finishing with 129 yards and a touchdown. ... Bert Auburn was 3-for-3 on field goals, converting from 25, 45 and 47 yards.

Next up for Texas: an off week

And it probably comes at a good time for the Longhorns, who can use the week to put this loss behind them and refocus for the final six games. The next game is Oct. 21 at Houston. No kickoff time or TV information has been announced.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Longhorns football loses to Oklahoma 34-30: our takeaways