No. 1 Texas vs. No. 18 Oklahoma live updates: Horns blow out Sooners in 34-3 thumping

Steve Sarkisian evens his record at the Cotton Bowl with a decisive performance.

Dallas — Recent history suggests that a win on Saturday by the No. 1 Texas Longhorns over the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas will be a narrow victory that goes against recent trends — the Sooners have won five of the last six games against the Longhorns, 11 of the last 15, and 17 of the last 25.

Many of those losses for Texas have been narrow with nine of the last 10 games in the series decided by one score or less. A ranked Longhorns team beating a ranked Sooners team has been particularly difficult for the burnt orange and white with OU winning the last four when both teams are in the AP Top 25 poll.

Add in the widening spread due to numerous injuries for Oklahoma at wide receiver and the struggles of Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line, putting extra pressure on Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian to even his record in the Red River Rivalry and deliver the type of dominant performance now expected of the Longhorns.

That almost certainly means a clean performance on multiple levels — avoiding the type of self-inflicted wounds that limited the final margin as Texas made its SEC debut against Mississippi State, including false starts, holding calls, and turnovers. But the Horns are capable of that and need to trend farther in that direction with a home game against the No. 5 Bulldogs looming in Austin next week before embarking on the remainder of the conference schedule.

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Injury report

The final injury report for the Longhorns released 90 minutes before kickoff did not feature the four players listed as probable on Friday, including freshman punter Michael Kern and sophomore safety Derek Williams. Despite the seemingly positive news on Kern, backup punter Ian Ratliff was listed as the starter on the Cotton Bowl video board.

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First quarter

After winning the coin toss and electing to receive, Texas started the game on offense in its road whites at its own 25-yard line after a touchback. Longhorns starting quarterback Quinn Ewers looked a little rusty on the first snap, running into pressure while trying to vacate the pocket and then taking a sack. A short run by junior running back Jaydon Blue put Texas in third and long. Ewers had a chance to move the chains when junior wide receiver Matthew Golden came open over the middle, but Ewers sailed the throw and it was intercepted by Oklahoma safety Billy Bowman.

Working the play-action passing game, Oklahoma completed a short pass to former Texas wide receiver Brenen Thompson for a 12-yard gain before Sooners quarterback Michael Hawkins broke several tackles on a designed quarterback run that went for no gain. Trying to hit a play over the top, Hawkins threw incomplete against good coverage by Texas cornerback Manny Muhammad, setting up 3rd and 10 after an OU timeout to keep the play clock from expiring. Another designed quarterback run put the Sooners on the edge of four-down territory, but head coach Brent Venables opted to attempt a 44-yard field goal that missed.

The second drive for Texas featured Ewers missing another open receiver, this time junior Isaiah Bond, with Ewers impacted by a collapsing pocket that limited his ability to step into the throw. Ratliff handled the first punt for the Longhorns, a mediocre 37-yard effort that further flipped the field position battle when Texas sophomore safety Jelani McDonald was called for a face-mask penalty on the tackle of Oklahoma punt returner Peyton Bowen.

The Sooners quickly picked up a first down on two running plays, but OU made the mistake of letting Hawkins throw on two consecutive plays, an incompletion and a sack on a well-called blitz by Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski sending redshirt junior safety Michael Taaffe off the edge.

By the time the Sooners punted following two false-start penalties, they were facing 4th and 28. A 51-yard punt regained some of the lost yardage as Texas return man Silas Bolden was unable to field it inside his own 20-yard line.

Handing the ball off to Blue on jet motion outside zone, the Sooners put the Longhorns behind the chains again when star linebacker Danny Stutsman sliced through for the tackle, causing a three-yard loss. A check down to Blue couldn’t escape third and long, on which Ewers scrambled for a short gain. Ratliff’s second punt was better — a 47-yard effort.

Texas tackled Hawkins for a loss on first down, but Oklahoma changed his launch point on second down, a 15-yard gain. Back to Hawkins on a sweep, the Horns were able to stuff the opposing quarterback, but a read option found some space inside for the running back and the Sooners converted the ensuing third and short with a run up the middle. Unable to take the top off the Texas defense, Hawkins checked down for eight yards and then avoided junior edge Trey Moore on a speed option to move the chains again. With the clock ticking down on the first quarter, the Sooners faced 3rd and 6, a straight drop back for Hawkins that resulted in a throwaway that surprisingly did not draw a flag for grounding. Oklahoma’s second field-goal attempt, this time from 42 yards, gave the Sooners a 3-0 lead, the first deficit for the Longhorns this season.

A screen pass to Bond ended the quarter with a five-yard gain, a rare positive play for the Horns during a quarter in which they finished with 13 total yards.

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Second quarter

Facing 3rd and 5 after Oklahoma blew up a screen pass intended for senior tight end Juan Davis, Ewers had to leave the pocket to find sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., who got open down the sideline for a 26-yard gain with the play standing on review.

Two carries for sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner finally picked up some rhythm in the running game, nearly breaking a big play on second down, but settling for a first down. Senior tight end Gunnar Helm followed with a chunk gain on second down, taking a short throw from Ewers, making the first defender miss, and then hurdling an Oklahoma player to end the 21-yard reception. A misdirection swing pass to Blue gained four yards before a crucial throwback screen to Helm produced the game’s first touchdown and a 7-3 lead for the Longhorns.

Texas initially appeared to force a three and out, but was called for roughing the passer and defensive holding to extend the drive. At midfield, the Sooners needed to convert another third down, but the Longhorns were able to generate pressure with rush-lane integrity, leading to a sack by senior Jack end Barryn Sorrell.

The run game with Blue and the extension of it in the screen game couldn’t keep Texas out of third and long, a down that led to another sailed pass by Ewers rolling to his left. Bond also hobbled off the field following the play, a concerning development for the Longhorns.

A tackle for loss by Texas sophomore linebacker Liona Lefau put Oklahoma behind the chains after picking up a first down, enough to force a punt by the Sooners when Venables decided not to go for 4th and 3 near midfield.

Gaining five yards on a run by Wisner was a rare positive play for Texas on first down, but Oklahoma was able to bring down Moore for no gain on a second-down check down. Longhorns freshman wide receiver Ryan Wingo made his first appearance in the Red River Rivalry, taking a short reception for a 44-yard gain. Showing some patience behind the left side of the Texas line, Wisner found a seam down near the goal line before the Oklahoma pursuit caught him and forced a fumble recovered by Bolden in the end zone in a massive momentum swing in favor of the Longhorns, up 14-3 with 2:21 remaining before halftime.

With Oklahoma looking to cut into the Texas lead before halftime, Longhorns sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. tracked down Hawkins from behind on a scramble, ripping the ball out for a fumble recovered by redshirt senior defensive tackle Vernon Broughton.

Wisner bounced back from his own fumble on the next play, delivering a major blow to the Sooners with a 43-yard touchdown run to take a 21-3 lead.

Oklahoma settled for a running play instead of trying to get back in the game through the air, but it resulted in another fumble, this time forced by Williams putting his shoulder on the ball carrier and recovering the fumble.

The Longhorns tried to score on a trick play following the second fumble, a throwback pass to Golden, whose attempt to hit Wingo near the end zone fell woefully short. Blue flashed for the first time in the first half with two carries for 19 yards before Texas called a timeout facing a 4th and 1 from the Oklahoma 16-yard line with 25 seconds remaining in the first half. Blue gained the necessary yardage on a toss play, but Helm was flagged for holding and place kicker Bert Auburn pulled his 44-yard attempt wide left even after he received a second opportunity after missing his initial attempt when the Sooners called timeout before the play.

Texas settled for a 21-3 lead at halftime, scoring 14 points in 33 seconds of game time before nearly stretching the margin with the second forced fumble.

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Third quarter

After Williams was dinged on the kickoff to open the second half, Oklahoma ran the ball three straight times to set up 3rd and 4, a play on which Hawkins was stopped at the line of scrimmage by Lefau and Broughton.

Helm made another big play in the passing game with a 26-yard reception before the game started getting chippy following a first-down scramble by Ewers that resulted in unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on both teams. Wingo continued to show up when given opportunities, taking an end around for 25 yards into the Oklahoma red zone. Texas stalled on a 3rd and 2 run-pass option that featured Ewers misfiring on his off-platform throw and doing so again on fourth down when the timing was off and Ewers couldn’t connect with Wingo.

With the score making the Oklahoma offense more one-dimensional, Texas was able to sack Hawkins on first down and pressure him into a throwaway on third down to force another punt by Luke Elzinga, the only real threat to flip the field for the Sooners.

A steady drive by the Longhorns got behind the chains when junior right guard DJ Campbell was flagged for holding on a tough 10-yard run by Wisner that ultimately stalled the drive and forced Auburn to attempt a 41-yard field goal that the experienced Texas kicker knocked through for a 24-3 lead.

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Fourth quarter

After Texas super senior defensive tackle Alfred Collins put Oklahoma behind the chains by forcing a holding penalty, Hill showed off his natural pass-rushing ability off the edge with an inside move to sack Hawkins, then flashed his range to the sideline chasing Hawkins out of bounds for a two-yard loss.

The electric punt-return ability of Bolden showed up after Hill’s impressive individual plays, getting to the left sideline for a 55-yard return. Set up outside the red zone, the Horns couldn’t find the end zone, settling for a 29-field goal. After the defense forced a turnover on downs, a 30-yard completion to Helm put the Horns on the brink with Ewers picking up the final yard to extend the lead to 34-3 to make it 34 unanswered points for Texas.

Texas closed out the game without conceding a touchdown to the Sooners for the second time in three years.