Texas
No 6. Oklahoma vs. Texas: Sooners Wire Staff Predictions
The Red River Showdown takes college football’s center stage in just over 24 hours. The Sooners are 5-0 and 1-0 in the SEC. Texas comes into the game 3-2 and 0-1. The Longhorns are coming off a disappointing loss to the Florida Gators last Saturday. The Sooners weren’t thrilled with their performance in a 44-0 win over Kent State, but they’ve gained some momentum heading into the game after starting quarterback John Mateer was deemed probable to play on Thursday night’s availability report.
It’s a game where rationality and reason often are thrown out the window, and this figures to be a very tight football game featuring two very good defenses. Unlike last year, though, the Sooners come into this game with a much healthier offense, one playing good complementary football to support its defense.
If the Sooners have College Football Playoff aspirations, they need to come away with another win. Here’s how our staff at Sooners Wire thinks the game will go in this week’s game predictions.
Oklahoma’s Defense the Difference
A month ago, Oklahoma-Texas figured to have College Football Playoff implications. It still does, technically, considering the Longhorns are practically eliminated with a loss. Their offense simply hasn’t lived up to preseason predictions. Thing is, Oklahoma isn’t the team to go looking for a turnaround against. A low-scoring affair could be on the agenda, especially if the Sooners don’t have John Mateer in the fold. If they do, yikes. So, let’s split the difference, score-wise.
Oklahoma 24, Texas 14
Eric Bolin, Sooners Wire Contributor
Mateer not Back? Defensive Battle
This game is challenging to predict because there are so many important questions on both sides. If John Mateer starts and goes the distance for the Sooners, I feel good about Oklahoma’s chances to win (and put up more than 14 points). However, it feels like OU is trying to get Texas to believe that Mateer will play, and I can see them using that as a smokescreen, with Michael Hawkins Jr. filling in again. It feels a little soon for Mateer to be back. If it’s Hawkins under center, I feel much less confident about OU’s chances against a very good Longhorns defense. However, Oklahoma’s defense is also for real, and the ‘Horns are sputtering offensively. This one is setting up to be a low-scoring rock fight, so Oklahoma’s defense has to be on point all day. Without Mateer, it’ll probably be up to the defense to score at least once, but give me the Sooners in a close one. Arch Manning hasn’t shown much this year, but you’d hate for this to be his breakout game as a starter. I don’t think Brent Venables and the defense let that happen.
Oklahoma 14, Texas 10
Aaron Gelvin, Sooners Wire Contributor
Coming together for the Sooners
The Oklahoma Sooners defense will face its biggest test of the season against the Texas Longhorns and Arch Manning. One could make the argument that Auburn’s offensive line and wide receiver play is better than Texas but the quarterback play favors the Longhorns. The Sooners will have to prevent big plays down the field and not allow Arch to escape the pocket and make plays with his legs on a regular basis. If the Sooners contain the former five-star quarterback, they’ll be in great shape.
With John Mateer’s availability for Saturday moving to probable on Thursday night, the Sooners offense gets a boost with Mateer’s experience and playmaking ability. As long as his grip holds up under duress, he’ll be the difference maker we’ve seen all season.
Oklahoma’s special teams has been a weapon this season and will continue to be in this one.
Oklahoma 27, Texas 13
John Williams, Sooners Wire Lead Writer
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