Texas and Oklahoma bring one of college football’s biggest and best rivalries to Fair Park and the Cotton Bowl for Saturday morning’s 11 a.m. kickoff for the 119th edition of the Red River Rivalry.
The State Fair of Texas is again the backdrop for a series with great accolades through the years.
The early line has Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns a 5-point pick, but the College Football Power Index, a computer predictive tool, is giving Oklahoma a slight edge. Both are 5-0. Texas is No. 3 in this week’s Associated Press poll, while OU is 12th .
“ESPN’s College GameDay” crew will be on hand to welcome those arriving early for the game and the State Fair.
Texas leads this all-time rivalry, although Oklahoma had won the four previous to last year’s game, and is 15-8 since 2000.
The 49-0 trouncing of the Sooners left a black eye on the coaching tenure of Brent Venables at OU. That’s something that no doubt sticks in his and their fans’ craw. Through five wins, albeit against Arkansas State, SMU, Tulsa, Cincinnati and Iowa State, this year’s Sooners are much improved with a good offense and a better defense. A bonus is quarterback Dillon Gabriel is well and playing well.
The Central Florida transfer, who didn’t play a year ago, moves the needle for the Sooners offense, ranking in the top five passing. The Texas secondary will be the best he’s faced, but in the same respect, he’s likely the best quarterback Texas has faced. Also, keep in mind, OU plays with pace, errrrr fast, quick and faster is better. That’s something, Longhorn fans hope Pete Kwiatkowski, the Texas defensive coordinator, surely has game-planned for, knowing the Sooners are averaging 47.4 points per game.
Oklahoma is ninth in the Big 12 in rushing and that’s a tell they don’t have a Demarco Murray, Billy Sims or Joe Washington. Their receiving corps is capable, but there’s no CeeDee Lamb, either.
With an early season win over Alabama, Texas is coming off a 661-yard performance against an also unbeaten Kansas team in which the Longhorns dominated time of possession, 40:26 to 19:34.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers completed seven of his first eight passes a week ago, and Jonathon Brooks enjoyed a career day, rushing for 218 yards. Adonai Mitchell, the transfer from Georgia, continued to step up with 10 catches for 141 yards and is improving, a nice complimentary receiver to Xavier Worthy.
Though Brooks isn’t Bijan Robinson, he’s currently third in the country rushing with 597 yards and five touchdowns.
For perspective, Texas, this year’s home team, hasn’t won back- to-back against OU since 2008-’09 (45-35 and 16-13).
Saturday’s game marks the final time Oklahoma and Texas will play each other as members of the Big 12, moving to the Southeastern Conference beginning next season, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is expected to be in attendance.
In spite of all the stats and stories, this is Texas-Oklahoma, and anything can and probably will happen.
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