Texas left the Red River Rivalry with a 27-24 loss, and Colin Simmons wasn’t interested in handing Oklahoma much credit for it.
The Longhorns edge rusher said the defeat came down to Texas’ own mistakes, not anything the Sooners did to force the issue. “We definitely beat ourselves. Only Texas can beat Texas,” Simmons told reporters after the game, according to On Texas Football's CJ Vogel.
Oklahoma sealed it when Tate Sandell knocked through a 47-yard field goal as time expired. The Sooners were in position for that final drive after Arch Manning threw an interception with fewer than 20 seconds remaining at Oklahoma’s 49-yard line.
That was Manning’s second interception of the afternoon. His first one was even more costly: Oklahoma took it back 42 yards for a third-quarter touchdown and grabbed a 24-17 lead. The Sooners also found points after blocking a punt early in the second quarter, though they managed just one offensive touchdown in the game.
Manning finished 19 of 31 for 260 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Even with Texas sitting at 4-1, his 2026 season has opened poorly by the numbers, as he ranks 69th in EPA/dropback among 136 qualified FBS quarterbacks, according to TruMedia.
“We gotta do a better job, especially me, not being loose with the ball ... I think we beat ourselves a lot tonight,” Manning said after the game, according to .
Texas’ issues on offense didn’t convince Steve Sarkisian to change course. Despite the Longhorns leading the SEC in three-and-out percentage this season, the head coach said he will keep calling plays.
In Other News...
Red River History Shows How Rarely This Rivalry Gets Out Of Hand
The Red River Rivalry has a way of making even the most confident predictions feel shaky, and the history backs that up. Over 121 years, Oklahoma and Texas have produced far more tense, back-and-forth afternoons than runaway results, with blowouts of 30 points or more happening only 16 times. Most of the series has lived in the margins, which is part of why this annual meeting still feels like one of college footballs purest pressure games.
Even in a rivalry that usually stays tight, the extremes have surfaced often enough in recent years to remind everyone how quickly things can unravel. Since 2000, there have been six blowouts of that size, including Texas 49-0 win over Oklahoma in 2022, the largest margin in series history. Oklahoma has accounted for nine of the 16 lopsided wins, Texas for seven, but the broader story remains the same: this matchup is far more often decided by a handful of plays than by a runaway. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Let Red River Slip Away In The Worst Possible Moment
In a rivalry game that already had its own pulse, Oklahoma found the break it needed late and turned it into the kind of finish that lingers. The Sooners toppled No. 1 Texas in the Red River Rivalry on Tate Sandells last-second 47-yard field goal, a kick that capped a wild sequence built on defense, special teams and the sort of pressure that can unravel even the best-laid plans.
Texas had been dragged into a tense fourth-quarter fight long before the final drive, and the Longhorns never quite recovered from the momentum swings that defined the afternoon. Oklahoma had already changed the game with a punt-return touchdown and a pick-6 off Arch Manning, then got one more chance when its defense forced the decisive interception in the closing seconds, setting up a finish that left the Sooners celebrating and Texas staring at how quickly the game slipped away. [Read more 🡒]
Sooners Defense Has Oklahoma Fans Believing In Red River Upset Chance
With the Red River Rivalry looming, the conversation around Oklahoma has started to shift away from the offense and toward a defense that has given Sooners fans a reason to believe. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit pointed to Texas as the favorite, but he also singled out Oklahomas ability to get off the field, noting the Sooners top-ranked third-down defense as one of the clearest reasons this matchup could stay tight.
Herbstreit also framed the game through the lens of both quarterbacks, saying Arch Manning has not been especially sharp on the Texas side while Oklahoma has had its own offensive issues. Even with that in mind, he still leaned toward the Longhorns to pull it out, which only adds to the intrigue for Oklahoma heading into a rivalry game that could hinge on whether that defense can keep the Sooners in striking distance long enough for the rest of the offense to matter. [Read more 🡒]