A week out from the Red River Rivalry, Texas enters the Cotton Bowl looking like the team with far more answers than questions. The Longhorns are 4-0 and sitting at No. 1 in the country.
Oklahoma, meanwhile, is 2-2 and has already slipped out of the top 25. That gap matters, but it only matters if Texas turns it into a game plan.
The Sooners have shown three clear vulnerabilities through their first four games, and each one gives Texas a path to control the afternoon.
The biggest issue starts with Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer. The preseason buzz about him adding muscle has not translated into clean production.
He has already thrown four interceptions and lost two fumbles, and Oklahoma’s offense has piled up 10 turnovers while managing just nine touchdown-scoring drives. Mateer does have 76 rushing yards, second-most on the roster, but eight sacks have blunted any real threat he brings as a runner.
That leaves Texas with a chance to attack him relentlessly in the backfield with Rasheem Biles, Lance Jackson, and Colin Simmons.
The ground game is the next obvious opening. Oklahoma has only 396 rushing yards all season and is averaging under 100 per game.
A huge chunk of that came in Week 1, when the Sooners put up 170 rushing yards against UTEP. Since then, they’ve managed just 226 rushing yards over three games, which works out to a little more than 75 per game.
If Texas’ defensive front shows up the way it did against Tennessee, when it held the Volunteers to 70 rushing yards, Oklahoma could spend the day searching for any kind of rhythm.
And then there’s the quarterback keep. Oklahoma has 13 sacks on the season, which is solid on paper, but Texas has 15, so even that edge isn’t much of one.
More important is what has happened when the Sooners have had to deal with quarterbacks who can run. In the loss to Michigan, Bryce Underwood ran for 87 yards.
Even in Oklahoma’s 51-0 win over UTEP, EJ Colson Jr. and Raymond Moore III combined for 74 rushing yards. That makes Arch Manning’s legs a real factor for Texas, even if Steve Sarkisian doesn’t love leaning on them too heavily.
Pairing Manning’s mobility with Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown gives the Longhorns another way to stress Oklahoma.
Manning hasn’t been perfect, but he has been far better than Mateer, and that difference has shown up all season. If Texas can exploit those three soft spots, the Longhorns should be in position to keep the Sooners from making this rivalry game messy.
In Other News...
Hero Kanu Sends Clear Message On Colin Simmons Controversy
The postgame conversation around Colin Simmons did not linger long inside the Texas locker room, at least not if Hero Kanu had anything to say about it. The Longhorns defensive lineman stepped up to defend his teammate after a controversial celebration against Tennessee, framing it as a split-second mistake in the heat of competition rather than anything deeper about who Simmons is away from the field.
Kanus response fit with the broader tone from the program, where Steve Sarkisian has made it clear he would rather see celebrations shared by the whole team than spotlighting one player. For Texas, it is a small but telling reminder of how quickly a moment can become a talking point, and how important it is for teammates to close ranks when the noise starts building around one of their own. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Bye Week Has To Fix One Growing Offensive Concern
Texas heads into the bye week undefeated and sitting at No. 1, but the narrow escape at Tennessee also left a clear reminder that the offense still has room to grow. The Longhorns have won enough to keep climbing, yet they have not consistently stretched defenses the way Steve Sarkisians best attacks usually do, with explosive plays showing up too rarely and big completions or runs hard to find.
Sarkisian now gets a break in the schedule to clean up that side of the ball, and the focus is on execution rather than trimming the playbook to compensate. For a team with championship expectations, the challenge in the next stretch is obvious: keep the wins coming while making the offense more dangerous when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Must Solve A New Backcourt Problem As Camp Opens
Texas opened camp with an immediate hit to its backcourt depth after guard Mikey Lewis went down in practice and the Longhorns had to start adjusting on the fly. Lewis had already undergone surgery, and while the staff still has time to sort out roles before the season settles in, his absence changes the early rhythm for a team trying to establish itself in the guard rotation.
The good news for Texas is that teammates Joe Sterling and Bo Ogden are stepping forward with the right kind of response, offering support while also signaling they are ready to absorb the minutes Lewis leaves behind. For a team that needs its perimeter pieces to settle quickly, the next few practices will matter a lot as Texas figures out how to keep the backcourt organized without one of its key options. [Read more 🡒]