No. 1 Texas is headed for a major fall in the AP Top 25 after Oklahoma handed the Longhorns a 27-24 loss Saturday at the Cotton Bowl, a result that likely ends Steve Sarkisian’s four-week stay atop college football.
The Red River Rivalry turned on Oklahoma’s defense and special teams early, then on one last kick at the end. Tate Sandell capped the comeback with a 47-yard field goal as time expired, finishing off a rally from a 17-7 halftime deficit. Texas quarterback Arch Manning was intercepted twice in the fourth quarter, and one of those mistakes became a 42-yard pick-six for safety Peyton Bowen.
Texas piled up more yardage, 382-238, and Manning finished with 260 passing yards and three touchdowns. His first-half scoring throws went 41 yards to Cam Coleman and 34 yards to Ryan Wingo. But the Longhorns were undone by a 2-0 turnover deficit in the 122nd edition of the rivalry.
Oklahoma had barely moved the ball in the first quarter, managing just 15 yards against defensive coordinator Will Muschamp’s Texas defense. The Sooners got their first points the hard way: Danny Okoye blocked a punt, and Dakoda Fields fell on it in the end zone for a special teams touchdown.
From there, Oklahoma kept chipping away. Lloyd Avant tied the game at 17-17 with a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter, giving the Sooners their first offensive touchdown against Texas since 2023. Then Bowen jumped Manning for the pick-six that put Oklahoma in front 24-17 with 10:07 left.
Texas answered. Manning hit Jermaine Bishop Jr. on a 15-yard touchdown pass - the first career score for Bishop - to tie it 24-24 with 6:32 remaining.
But the Longhorns left points on the field when Gianni Spetic missed a 53-yard field goal with 1:54 to go. Oklahoma then seized the final opening, with Courtland Guillory intercepting Manning inside the last 30 seconds before John Mateer connected with Isaiah Sategna III for gains of 13 and 20 yards to set up Sandell’s winner.
The loss comes after Texas opened Week 6 with 61 first-place votes, even with narrow escapes against Ohio State, 24-23, and at Tennessee, 20-17. Sarkisian said Monday the team had not talked about the ranking in two weeks because if the Longhorns didn’t handle their business that week, “we won’t be No. 1 next week.”
Where Texas lands is the big question now. Every team from No. 2 through No. 8 entered the weekend unbeaten except No.
5 Ohio State, and the Longhorns could slide anywhere from No. 6 to No. 9.
Their head-to-head win over the Buckeyes could help keep them from falling behind Ohio State.
Texas has taken a harder drop before. Last October, the preseason No.
1 Longhorns fell out of the AP Top 25 after losing at Florida, then bounced back a week later with a 23-6 win over No. 6 Oklahoma.
The top of the poll could also get reshuffled after Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. No.
2 Georgia, which had six first-place votes last week, visits No. 6 Alabama at 7:30 p.m.
ET. The winner is the most likely candidate to take over at No.
- SEC Network host Paul Finebaum picked Alabama, and college football analyst Josh Pate said this week the Crimson Tide may be the sport’s best team.
If the loser in that game drops far enough, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Miami are next in line.
For Oklahoma, the win was a breakthrough. The Sooners had fallen out of the AP Top 25 after a close Week 3 win over New Mexico and then lost 41-13 at Georgia in Week 4. Saturday changed the mood in a hurry, delivering the program’s first victory over a top-ranked team since 2007.
Oklahoma improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in SEC play, with seven conference games still ahead.
In Other News...
Texas Opens Red River With Early Drama Beyond The Score
The Red River Rivalry opened with the kind of first-quarter buzz that always seems to follow Texas into the Cotton Bowl. Arch Manning found Cam Coleman for a touchdown to get the Longhorns on the board early, and the game immediately settled into the familiar mix of emotion, urgency and big-game tension that defines this matchup. Even before the score line had much time to breathe, the opening stretch had already delivered the sort of energy Texas fans expect when Oklahoma is on the other sideline.
Beyond the touchdown, the early going carried plenty of its own storylines, from pregame warmups to the injury notes and key plays that shaped the first quarter. Those details mattered in a game like this because every snap can shift the tone, and Texas had to navigate all of it while trying to keep control of the moment. The scoreboard gave the Longhorns an early edge, but the first quarter made clear this one was going to be about much more than one drive. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Looked Vulnerable In Dallas For One Frustrating Reason
Texas left Dallas with a bitter 27-24 loss to Oklahoma, and the frustration had less to do with one isolated mistake than with how the game unraveled after halftime. The Longhorns offense stalled repeatedly in the second half, stringing together multiple three-and-outs before Arch Manning was picked off late, while special teams problems kept adding pressure to a team trying to stay afloat in a tight rivalry game.
The blocked punt and missed field goals only deepened the sense that Texas kept finding new ways to make the path harder on itself. In a game where every possession mattered, the Longhorns never quite settled into rhythm, and the combination of offensive inconsistency, coaching choices, and special teams breakdowns left them vulnerable in a way that should linger well beyond one afternoon in Dallas. [Read more 🡒]
Steve Sarkisians Career Turnaround Adds New Emotion To Oklahoma Week
Oklahoma week always carries its own edge in Austin, but this one comes with a little more personal history for Steve Sarkisian. The Texas coach has been open about how Nick Saban played a major role in helping steady his career after a difficult stretch, bringing him to Alabama as an offensive analyst in 2016 after Sarkisian was fired by USC. It is the kind of reminder that gives a rivalry week already loaded with meaning a more human layer.
Sarkisian and his wife, Loreal, have both expressed gratitude for Sabans support, and Saban in turn has credited Sarkisian for doing the work needed to rebuild his career and add value to the program. For Sarkisian, that connection is part of the path that brought him back to this stage, where the Longhorns are trying to manage the usual Oklahoma Week intensity while their coach carries a little extra emotion into it. [Read more 🡒]