Texas-Oklahoma: Game Preview

No. 21 Texas will face the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners in the yearly “Red River Rivalry Game” in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. 

The Longhorns are coming off of a disappointing 34-12 loss to UCLA at home while the Sooners barely beat the Cincinnati Bearcats 31-29.  

Many people felt that Texas was the team to beat this year in the Big 12. But after their loss to the Bruins, it would appear, at least for now, as if Texas might be out of the race for the Big 12 title. They are most certainly out of contention for the national title now.  But don’t count the Longhorns out of of the Big 12 race just yet.

The Sooners remain undefeated, but they haven’t been playing their best football yet and have some room to improve. So who will win the Red River Rivalry this weekend?  Let’s find out.

When Texas has the Ball

The Longhorns weren’t able to generate too much offense in their game against the Bruins last Saturday. After some serious work this week, Texas feels that they have taken care of at least some of the problems that plagued them against the Bruins, but not quite all of them.

The thing that Texas has going for them going into this game is an opponent that gives up a lot of yards and that should work to their advantage. The Sooners opponents have been averaging around 421.3 yards per game. The question is, can the Longhorns take advantage of this?

Quarterback Garrett Gilbert has thrown 139 passes, completing 87 for a total of 885 yards with four interceptions. 

Those are not great numbers for a Texas quarterback four games into the season, but hopefully he will be able to take advantage of a Sooner defense that is allowing around 243 yards per game through the air. They need to get the ball to their playmakers and let them do something with it.

Texas has a total of 542 yards on the ground this season so far, with running back Fozzy Whitaker leading the way with 182 yards rushing on 38 attempts and two scores. 

The Longhorns have a bevy of running backs capable of carrying the ball (including Tre’ Newton and Cody Johnson among others). With the Sooners allowing an average of 177 yards on the ground, the Longhorns should be able to put something together on offense.

Hopefully they will be able to control the ball and the clock in this game and not allow the Sooners to put up a lot of points. Keeping the game close is the only way that the Longhorns are going to win this game.

At wide receiver, the Longhorns have catches leader Mike Davis with 16 catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Getting the ball to Davis and James Kirkendoll would be a great idea for the Longhorns in this game.

When the Sooners Have the Ball

On the other side of the ball, the Sooners have quarterback Landry Jones, who is actually one of the better quarterbacks in the country. Jones has attempted 169 passes, completing 109 of them for 1221 yards and nine touchdowns. 

He’s been throwing his passes to receiver Ryan Broyles for the most part, who has 41 catches for 482 yards and four touchdowns. There is a lot of talent in that wide receiving corps and the Longhorns will have their hands full.

Texas’ defense is allowing an average of 221 yards per game through the air, which isn’t bad for this team. They use a mix of good pressure up front (so far they have a total of 14 sacks) and solid play from their secondary (so far they have at total of three interceptions) to help keep opposing passing games in check.

Texas has also been doing pretty well against the run, but did have that breakdown in the UCLA game last week.  Overall, the Longhorns have been allowing a total of 99 yards per game on the ground, which is great for any defense. Can they stop the Sooners rushing attack?

Oklahoma has been averaging 120 yards per game on the ground. Their leading rusher so far this season is DeMarco Murray, who has rushed 105 times for a total of 453 yards and a stout seven touchdowns. Granted he doesn’t have a ton of yards, but he’s effective scoring points, so the Longhorns will have to keep an eye out for him.

Prediction

The Longhorns are hurting after their loss to the Bruins and will be fired up and angry for this game. 

They realize that one more loss will take them out of contention for the Big 12 title and could signal the end of their several year dominance of the conference. 

The Sooners are playing well, but not great, and they could be ripe for an upset.  

Look for the Longhorns to be able to mount a good ball control offense on the Sooner defense and keep the game close. As long as Gilbert doesn’t make any mistakes and can rally the team if they get behind, the Longhorns should win this game.

Texas 28, Oklahoma 21