The Longhorns have margin against the Sooners, but can’t relax against their bigget rival.
After an extended break that saw numerous top teams lose to outmatched opponents, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns head to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas to take on the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners in the annual Red River Rivalry on Saturday.
The Longhorns are considered heavy favorites in the matchup, with most models giving the Longhorns a two-score cushion in the contest. But if there’s one rivalry game in which none of that matters, it’s the annual scrap at the State Fair of Texas. Of the last 10 iterations of the rivalry, excluding the bonus matchup in the conference title game, just one game has boasted a margin larger than two scores — the Texas blowout in 2022 when Oklahoma couldn’t field a healthy, competent quarterback.
Usually, the team that wins this game is the one that focuses on the fundamentals and plays a clean game. That formula will be on full display as the Longhorns regain the services of quarterback Quinn Ewers and the Sooners will continue to be limited at wide receiver with five already ruled out.
Here are three keys to the game for Texas.
Limit turnovers
Ewers is effectively a month out from the oblique injury that sidelined him in the win over UTSA in Week Three. In a trend that is as encouraging as it is frustrating, Ewers has been electric when returning from injury in the previous two seasons after being knocked out against Alabama and Houston in the previous two years. In return games, Ewers is completing 67 percent of his passes for an average of 303 yards and 2.5 touchdowns. hHowever, he has turned the ball over once in both of those contests.
Oklahoma has feasted on turnovers this year, sitting No. 5 in the country with 13 overall, averaging one interception per game through five games. Perhaps the most pivotal forced turnover came against the Auburn Tigers, a game in which they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The Tigers out-gained the Sooners by 191 total yards (177 passing) but a Payton Thorne pick six gave the Oklahoma a fourth-quarter lead and ultimately the game.
In the Red River game a year ago, Ewers threw interceptions on the game’s opening two drives and lost a fumble in the third quarter, handicapping the Longhorns’ offensive efforts and contributing significantly to the team’s only regular-season loss.
Keep Quinn Ewers clean
The matchup between the Texas offensive line and the Oklahoma defensive line is likely the biggest one of the afternoon, with both units leading the charge for their team’s strongest unit. Texas ranks No. 16 nationally in sacks allowed this year with just five, two of which were Mississippi State taking down Arch Manning in the SEC opener. On the other side of the ball, Oklahoma is No. 9 in the country with 18 sacks this season, averaging nearly four a game through the first five weeks of the season.
OU also ranks No. 4 in the country in sack rate, led by R. Mason Thomas, who has an SEC-leading 5.5 through the first five games of the year, a full 30 percent of the Sooners’ sacks on the year. Conversely, Texas quarterbacks are sacked on slightly more than three percent of pressures this year, which should be helpful as Ewers returns from injury. In a week where they were named a Joe Moore Honor Roll recipient, the offensive line will have its biggest test of the year and needs to come up with a passing score.
Keep the foot on the gas
The Longhorns, partially by virtue of playing in three games with significant garbage time, see their scoring taper off late in games. Through five games, Texas is averaging 9.8 points in the fourth quarter this year, an average that is dragged down by a goose egg in Week Two against the Michigan Wolverines. The Sooners, for their part, have done a great job keeping opponents out of the end zone in the final quarter, giving up an average of 3.2 points in the final frame this year.
Oklahoma also ramps up the scoring in the final frame, trying to pull off another magical comeback, averaging 11 points in the fourth quarter this year. That average includes a 17-point fourth quarter against Auburn to narrowly avoid a 0-2 start in SEC play. For Texas, keeping the pace high and the scoring flowing is paramount to avoiding a Red River upset in its first year in the SEC.