Who: Texas Longhorns 2-2 (0-1) vs. Oklahoma Sooners 2-2 (1-0)
When: Saturday October 8th, 2016 at 11AM Central
Where: Cotton Bowl – Dallas, TX (FS1)
Odds: Oklahoma –10.5
The Good:
The Sooners endured a grueling early schedule and held off a tough TCU team last Saturday. While many were ready to bury Bob Stoops and his program, the Sooners showed resilience on the road. Baker Mayfield is back and is still producing at a high level. On the season he’s amassed over 1,000 yards passing and 9 touchdowns against just 2 interceptions on 68% completion. Dede Westbrook is the key big play receiver for Mayfield, but AD Miller is also providing some pop. The vaunted Sooner backfield of Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine are terrorizing defense when their number is called upon. Mixon is averaging 7.7 yards per carry, and he’s also proven to be a threat in the receiving game. Sooner tight end Mark Andrews is the class of the conference at his position, and he’s a dangerous mismatch for a struggling Texas defense. On the other side of the ball the Sooners have seen superb play from defensive back Steven Parker, while defensive end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo has notched 4 sacks so far. Linebacker Jordan Evans was seen as the standout player on this unit coming into the season, and he’s leading the team in tackles so far.
The Bad:
Oklahoma endured two early season losses to Houston and Ohio State. Offensive failure came at the hands of Offensive Coordinator Lincoln Riley abandoning his talented running game. This has been a black mark on Riley’s record throughout his tenure, and it cost them both times. Lost in all of the coverage of the Longhorns poor defense is the fact that the Sooner defense is experiencing a pretty poor year also. Houston was able to total over 400 yards of offense in their week 1 win, and they picked apart the Oklahoma defensive backs repeatedly in that game. Ohio State ran up nearly 450 yards, with 290 coming from the rushing attack. Even in a blowout win against Louisiana Monroe the Sooners surrendered 350 yards of offense including 272 through the air. The Horned Frogs tallied 514 yards last week burning the Sooner defensive backs for 449 passing yards.
The Uncertain:
The Sooners have been overwhelming favorites on paper the last three years in this matchup, and yet Texas outplayed them on all three occasions. Oklahoma was able to win the 2014 matchup, but they were dominated physically in 2013 and 2015. The Texas offense should be able to pose some problems for them, but it’s unclear what they will be able to do in the wake of Chris Warren’s injury. This is truly a game where you can throw the records out the window judging from the last few years.
What’s at stake:
To succeed as a coach at Texas, you have to beat Oklahoma. While Charlie Strong is 1-1 against the Sooners, it appears this is the most pivotal game of his tenure. The heat could intensify to scorching levels if Oklahoma blows Texas out on Saturday. The Sooners would love to prove that Strong doesn’t have their number as they look to improve to 2-0 in conference. While their playoff dreams might be down the drain, winning the conference is still attainable. Take all of those story lines out of the mix, and you simply have bragging rights for either school. Even when both programs are down, this is a premier game on the college schedule.
