Live Notes from No. 1 Texas vs Oklahoma

Follow along as our Devon Messinger jots down notes from the press box during the 2026 Red River Rivalry between the top-ranked Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners

First Quarter

For Oklahoma’s first drive, the series ended with a Colin Simmons sack, followed by a punt. On the play, it looked like the Sooners relied on their running back to block Simmons in the pass rush – resulting in a forced fumble and sack. Simmons is frankly too good to not be blocked by an offensive lineman, as he is too skilled to be simply chip blocked.

Offensively for Texas, the first quarter struggles continue. Through Texas’ first two drives of the contest, the team has been unable to move the sticks. Thankfully for the Longhorns, Oklahoma has been too bad offensively to take advantage.

Finally, the Longhorns connect on a deep ball, this time on an Arch Manning 41-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman. Several weeks ago, Steve Sarkisian told the media that Manning has been relying on his legs too heavily. The Longhorns head coach stressed that this trait was keeping the young quarterback from seeing receivers down the field. Well, it looks like Manning has corrected this behavior as he had an opportunity to run for a first down but decided instead to air it deep to his receiver.

Second Quarter

When you fail to move the ball, bad things happen. After suffering two sacks in the shadow of their own end zone, the Longhorns allowed a blocked punt which was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. As a result, the game became tied at 7-7.

The Longhorns had a beautiful bounce-back drive offensively, capped off by a 34-yard touchdown pass from Arch Manning to Ryan Wingo. So far, Manning has had two major passes for touchdowns – one to each of his star receivers.

Overall, the Longhorns had a solid first two quarters against Oklahoma. Besides the blocked punt, the team has done a good job of not making a habit of not shooting themselves in the foot.

Offensively, there have been some ebbs and flows but Arch Manning has done a better job of finding open receivers. Meanwhile, on the offensive line, the team has struggled a tad in giving their quarterback enough time to make his reads.

Defensively, the Longhorns have only allowed 69 yards of total offense as John Mateer and the Sooners have struggled. In fact, Oklahoma’s rushing offense has been even worse, totaling only one yard through the first half.

Third Quarter

The third quarter was an ugly one for Texas as they were not able to put away the Sooners. Defensively, multiple drives were prolonged due to penalties which put the Sooners in scoring position. At the end of the quarter, Oklahoma found themselves on the doorsteps of the end zone, trailing just 17-10.

Fourth Quarter

To start off the fourth quarter, the Longhorns allowed the Sooners to find the end zone. Earlier in the drive, Texas linebacker Rasheem Biles was called for a roughing the passer penalty on an Oklahoma trick play that had gone for an interception. Consequently, the interception came off the board and allowed Oklahoma to march down the field.

The Longhorns have struggled offensively as Brent Venables has been able to create pressure by only sending four men. As a result, he has had the luxury of dropping back multiple defenders into coverage, limiting Texas’ passing opportunities.

On an inaccurate pass, Arch Manning had his pass intercepted by Oklahoma defensive back Peyton Bowen returned to the end zone for a pick-six. Bowen’s touchdown gave the Sooners a 24-17 fourth quarter lead over the Longhorns.

It finally happened but Texas has found the end zone. Arch Manning found freshman wide receiver Jermaine Bishop Jr on a 15-yard touchdown pass that tied things up at 24-24.

The Longhorns fall at the buzzer 27-24 as an Arch Manning interception gave the Sooners a chance to march down the field and kick a field goal. They survived against Tennessee under similar circumstances however, today, the team was not going to survive their self-inflicted wounds.