Charlie Strong notches biggest win as Texas head coach.
The week before the annual Texas vs. Oklahoma game things couldn’t get much worse for the Longhorns. They held a 1-4 record, locker room strife reared its ugly head and Charlie Strong was forced to listen to idle chatter about his future in Austin.
It wasn’t an ideal situation by any stretch of the imagination.
When the Longhorns and Sooners took the field for the 110th time on Saturday, the expectation was for Texas to take another one on the chin. Anyone that tells you different is probably not being very honest.
Charlie Strong has consistently maintained that this team is better than they have played in recent weeks. On Saturday they proved it by upsetting their arch rival, the Oklahoma Sooners 24-17.
The Texas offense rode the legs of quarterback Jerrod Heard and tailback D’Onta Foreman to deliver a punishing ground-game that amassed 313 yards over four quarters in Dallas. Foreman’s 117 yard performance marked his second straight game of eclipsing the century mark. Heard finished with 115 yards on 21 carries.
And the maligned Texas rushing defense, which ranked 108th out of 127 FBS teams, held the Sooners to just 67 yards on 37 carries. The same unit that ranked 113th in scoring defense, allowing 38.2 yards/game, held Oklahoma to 17 points and 278 total yards. Sooner quarterback baker Mayfield was on his toes most of the day, trying to avoid incessant pressure from an improved Texas defense. Mayfield finished with 211 yards passing and one touchdown.
The Longhorns struck first on Jerrod Heard’s pitch to Texas wide receiver Marcus Johnson on a sweep. Johnson dodged Sooner defenders, carrying 24 yards along the left sideline into the end zone giving Texas a 7-0 lead. The Sooners fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Longhorns would start their drive in Oklahoma territory. Texas would add to their lead several minutes later on the “Swoopesdozer†package, which they run on 3rd and short and goal line packages. Backup quarterback Tyrone Swoopes barreled into the end zone, fumbling before his knee was down. Lorenzo Joe recovered the ball and was credited with the touchdown. .
After one quarter the Longhorns held a 14-0 lead over Oklahoma.
The Sooners scored the only points in the second quarter via Austin Seibert’s 21 yard field goal. Texas struggled offensively in the second quarter, waiting until the 1:45 mark before registering a first down in the quarter.
At the half it was Texas 14, Oklahoma 3.
Nick Rose would pad the Texas lead to 17-3 at the 8:18 mark in the 3rd quarter with a 27 yard field goal that tucked itself in just before the left pole. Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield would answer on the next drive, finding Sterling Shepard for a 50 yard gain setting the Sooners up inside the Texas 10 yard line. Mayfield kept the next snap, rushing to the Texas 2 yard line. On second down Mayfield hit Dmitri Flowers from 2 yards out for a touchdown trimming the Texas lead to 14-10.
Texas didn’t waste much time before striking in the fourth quarter. Running back D’Onta Foreman got things going by ripping off an 81 yard romp to the Oklahoma ten yard line. Two plays later Jerrod Heard would move the Longhorns to the Sooner 2 yard line on a quarterback draw. On the next play Tyrone Swoopes faked the keep, instead finding a wide open Caleb Bluiett in the end zone.
With 13:52 left in the game Texas held a 24-10 lead.
Baker Mayfield scrambled for a first down on 4th and 8 at the Texas 37 yard line to keep Oklahoma’s chances alive. Mayfield’s conversion was enough for Oklahoma to eventually score on Semaje Perine’s rush from 2 yards out, cutting the Texas lead to 24-17 with 8:25 left in the game.
The Sooners forced Texas to three-and-out on the next possession, culminating in a 53 yard Michael Dickson punt which was returned to the Oklahoma 20 yard line. The Sooners would register one first down before being forced to punt after Mayfield lost 17 yards on a sack by Pona Ford and Naashon Hughes.
Texas would move the chains and maintain possession for the remaining 3:33 of the game, propelling the Longhorns a 24-17 victory.
With the win Texas increases its all-time win record over Oklahoma to 61-44-5.
The Longhorns will enjoy a bye-week next weekend before playing Kansas State on October 24th at home.
