Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns: Sooners Wire staff predictions
The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns meet in Dallas for the 118th meeting in the Red River Showdown.
Both teams are 3-2, but they’ve gotten to this point with very different seasons.
Oklahoma started strong with three 30-point wins to start the season, including a 45-point win over Nebraska in Lincoln. Since then, the Sooners’ defense has looked like a totally different unit and the offensive inconsistency led to back-to-back Big 12 losses to Kansas State and TCU.
Texas on the other hand has lost their games by a combined four points to Alabama at home and Texas Tech on the road in overtime. The Longhorns look like a better team than they were a year ago and the return of Quinn Ewers gives Texas a lift offensively.
Oklahoma’s quarterback situation is far less settled with Dillon Gabriel in concussion protocol. The Sooners don’t have a quarterback on the roster who has started an FBS game. Davis Beville has played some this year and previously at Pitt. General Booty was highly productive at the junior college level.
Everything seems to be going wrong for Oklahoma. This is the time for the Sooners to rally together. This is when we found out about this coaching staff. When the deck appears stacked together, this is when you find out about the mental makeup of your football program.
What’s it going to take for the Oklahoma Sooners to come out on top? In a game where anything can happen, the Oklahoma Sooners have to play sound defensively and hope for some Sooner Magic.
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For the first time in years, I don’t know what to expect. I’ll be at the game, bright eyed and excited for the atmosphere but I will be there with zero understanding of what Oklahoma team I’m going to get. There’s a lot of uncertainty.
We don’t know who will play quarterback for Oklahoma, which skill players are healthy enough to play, but one thing is always certain, both teams are going to come out fired up.
I’ll lean to the side with more stability at the moment and take Texas to win a close one.
Texas 31, Oklahoma 25
Contact/Follow Bryant Crews
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A lot needs to go right for the Sooners to come out of the Cotton Bowl with a win. The defense will need to do things that they haven’t done in the last two weeks. Namely, tackle the ballcarrier. They need to catch Bijan Robinson at or behind the line of scrimmage.
The pass rush has been a non-factor in OU’s last two game. Be it Hudson Card or Quinn Ewers, they need to make one of their lives difficult. Ewers and Card can and will pick apart the secondary if they’re given time.
Whoever lines up under center for the Sooners needs be able to control the clock. We still don’t have a concrete answer on Gabriel’s status, so Davis Beville could be making his first career start. Whoever it is, kill the clock and keep the Longhorns’ offense off the field.
Expect a high scoring game.
It may look bleak, but I will be darned if I ever pick against the Sooners in Red River.
Oklahoma 42, Texas 40
Contact/Follow Ben Dackiw
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As the week has gone on, the idea of Dillon Gabriel being available for this game grows dimmer. If that becomes the case, Davis Beville or General Booty would likely get the start.
At that point, there’s no telling what we’ll get out of the Sooners’ offense.
The bigger story though, is how the defense responds to back-to-back subpar performances. If the defense doesn’t play more like the unit we saw against Nebraska, it won’t matter who plays quarterback for the Sooners, because the offense will have trouble keeping up.
Brent Venables has been adamant that the effort and the preps have been good. The performance has to match this week as the Sooners head into the Cotton Bowl as the underdog.
This one has the feel of a game Oklahoma keeps close through the first half, but Texas pulls away at halftime.
Texas 34, Oklahoma 24
Contact/Follow John Williams
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