Texas enters the Red River Rivalry coming off a bye and a rugged win at Tennessee, and the No. 1 Longhorns now walk into the Cotton Bowl facing an Oklahoma team that badly needs a response.
The matchup has a lopsided edge on paper. Texas is 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the SEC, while Oklahoma sits at 2-2 and 0-1.
The Sooners have dropped three of the past four meetings with Texas, and in those three losses they did not score a touchdown. This time, Oklahoma’s offense has a tough assignment: it ranks last in the SEC at 321.3 yards per game, and it has to deal with a Texas defense allowing a league-low 13.3 points per game.
Saturday’s game is the 122nd meeting between the programs.
For Oklahoma, the injury picture is not clean. Left tackle Michael Fasusi was listed as out on the final injury report, but he was warming up before the game. The Sooners’ Saturday report also listed seven players as out: Johnson, Fasusi, linebacker Taylor Heim, running back Xavier Robinson, tight end Trynae Washington, wide receiver Trell Harris and offensive lineman Fred Hinton.
Kickoff is set for 2:45 p.m. Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The game will air on ABC, with radio coverage on 1300, 98.1 and 105.3 in Spanish.
Texas is a 7½-point favorite, listed at -330 on the moneyline. Oklahoma is +260. The over/under is 39½.
Weather should not be much of a factor. The forecast calls for sunny skies and nearly ideal conditions, though temperatures could climb into the high 80s. A breeze is expected to keep it from getting too muggy.
Texas arrives at this point with a schedule that has already included wins over Texas State, Ohio State, UTSA and Tennessee. After Oklahoma, the Longhorns’ run continues with Florida on Oct.
17, Ole Miss on Oct. 24, Mississippi State on Oct. 31, trips to Missouri on Nov. 7 and LSU on Nov. 14, a home game against Arkansas on Nov. 21 and a road trip to Texas A&M on Nov.
In Other News...
Texas Just Learned How Costly That Red River Loss Really Was
The Red River loss to Oklahoma did more than just knock Texas out of the win column. A 47-yard kick by Tate Sandell sealed the 27-24 defeat and ended the Longhorns four-week run at No. 1 in the AP Poll, a stretch that had given the program some early-season breathing room at the top.
The fallout was just as jarring as the finish. Texas dropped to No. 7 in the AP Poll and No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, and with several other top-25 teams also stumbling over the week, the rankings shuffled around the Longhorns in a way that makes the defeat look even costlier in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Suddenly Has A Coaching Question Fans Cant Ignore
Texas left the Red River Rivalry with more than a frustrating 27-24 loss to unranked Oklahoma. The Longhorns were undone by a messy special teams performance, highlighted by a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown and a missed late field goal, while the offense also had trouble sustaining drives and converting on third down.
Steve Sarkisian was asked afterward whether the special teams operation needs to be re-evaluated, a question that can linger when a game turns on hidden-yardage mistakes. For a Texas team with bigger goals, the concern now is not just the loss itself, but whether one phase of the game has become too costly to keep overlooking. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Is Now At Center Of Texas' Biggest Debate
Texas left the Red River Rivalry with the kind of loss that lingers, a late field goal handing Oklahoma the win and putting Arch Manning right in the middle of the conversation. Manning was sharp enough in the first half and showed comfort on throws inside the numbers, but the finish turned on a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions that helped swing the game and reopened questions about how the Longhorns are putting him in position to succeed.
For Texas, the larger issue is no longer just one bad stretch in one rivalry game. Mannings decision-making is under the microscope, but so is the play-calling around him, with the debate centering on whether the offense is asking too much at the wrong moments or not enough to keep him on the right track. As the Longhorns try to move past a painful loss, those questions are only going to get louder. [Read more 🡒]