by The Red River Showdown is here and I can’t wait. Not only is it annually a Top-5 rivalry in college football, but this year’s matchup will be an early deciding factor on who may have an inside track towards a potential championship run.
Texas is lurking on the doorstep of becoming a national title favorite, while OU is aiming to avenge its embarrassing 49-0 loss to the Horns last October.
Offensively, Oklahoma has looked very dynamic through the first five weeks with a healthy Dillon Gabriel playing at a high level as well as a solid receiving corps that has a ton of depth. No disrespect to Alabama, but this will be the best passing offense Texas sees during the regular season.
The Sooners have shown flashes of defensive improvement, ranking inside the Top 30 in turnover margin and total defense, to balance out their explosive aerial attack on offense.
But they haven’t played anyone yet. Texas has.
The deciding factor in Saturday’s matchup will be Texas having a big advantage at the line of scrimmage. The Longhorns are elite in the trenches on both sides of the ball. And what’s Oklahoma’s biggest weakness? Its rushing offense (just 157.6 YPG) and its defensive line getting after the quarterback (ranked 93rd in the country in sacks per game).
Although I think this year’s game will be much closer than last (which isn’t saying much), OU is too one-dimensional on offense and will need to be able to run the ball to hang around for four quarters and keep that Texas offense on the sideline. Similarly, the Sooner defensive front has struggled with getting after the quarterback and is facing the best offensive line they will see all season. Quinn Ewers will have a field day in the pocket if OU can’t get him flustered.
Texas will exploit these issues and that’s why the Golden Hat will return to Austin come Saturday afternoon.
The Longhorns win convincingly and cement themselves as the national championship front runner. Hammer the -6.5.
