<\/p>\n
Texas Longhorns linebacker Brad Spence (14) celebrates a sack during the Red River Rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday Oct. 11, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Though one team is ranked No. 1 and the other isn’t ranked at all Texas football<\/a> vs. Oklahoma on Saturday is sure to being some intrigue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Will the top-ranked Longhorns earn a rare third blowout in a row against the Sooners? Will we see any “inappropriate” celebrations<\/a> after a big play? Should Oklahoma <\/a>consider benching quarterback John Mateer if things start poorly?<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) is pressured by Texas Longhorns linebacker Colin Simmons (1) during the Red River Rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday Oct. 11, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Texas Longhorns linebacker Colin Simmons (1) sacks Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) during the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday Oct. 11, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) celebrates Texas\u2019 Red River Rivalry win with the Golden Hat after the Longhorns beat the Oklahoma Sooners 23-6 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Oct. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) celebrate after winning the Red River Rivalry against the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday Oct. 11, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Texas Longhorns players take the field for the Red River Rivalry against the Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday Oct. 11, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Texas Longhorns defensive back Graceson Littleton (29) celebrates after making an interception for Texas in the fourth quarter of the Red River Rivalry, as the Sooners play the Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Oct. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman Oklahoma Sooners tight end Jaren Kanak (12) is tackled during the Red River Rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday Oct. 11, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman In this Oct. 10, 2020, file photo, The Red River Showdown logo is displayed on the field of the Cotton Bowl, prior to an NCAA college football game between the University of Texas and Oklahoma, in Dallas. Texas and Oklahoma made a request Tuesday, July 27, 2021, to join the Southeastern Conference \u2014 in 2025 \u2014- with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey saying the league would consider it in the \u201cnear future.\u201d (AP Photo\/Michael Ainsworth, File)<\/p>\n Michael Ainsworth\/Associated Press Head coach Brent\u00a0Venables of the Oklahoma Sooners waits to sprint onto the field prior to the college football game against the Georgia Bulldogs on Sept. 26, 2026, at Sanford Stadium in Athens.<\/p>\n Icon Sportswire\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n Texas is 4-0, including wins over then-No. 1 Ohio State and a ranked Tennessee team. After starting the year ranked, Oklahoma is 2-2 with losses to both of the power conference teams (Michigan and Georgia) it’s played.\u00a0<\/p>\n GOLDEN:\u00a0Six decades after Duke Carlisle paved the way, Texas’ Arch Manning set for Dallas\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n MORE HORNS: UT has a new DC after the last one dominated OU. Will that matter Saturday?<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Columnists from three of the biggest outlets in Texas tackle five important questions about the 2026 matchup. Here’s what the Austin American-Statesman’s Cedric Golden<\/a>, the Houston Chronicle’s Kirk Bohls <\/a>and the Dallas Morning News’ Kevin Sherrington <\/a>are thinking ahead of the Week 6 matchup.\u00a0<\/p>\n Will Texas continue its (very) recent trend of Red River Rivalry\u00a0blowouts?<\/p>\n BOHLS: I\u2019m expecting a much closer game because these are two of the best defenses in all of college football. I see a few big offensive plays with a turnover or two turning the tide and Texas prevailing 20-6.<\/p>\n GOLDEN: The Longhorns haven\u2019t won three in a row in the since Mack Brown\u2019s crew owned the \u00a0last three matchups of the 1990s. It\u2019s a rivalry game but nothing suggests this woebegone OU offense will do enough to beat an opponent that\u2019s simply more talented on both sides of the ball. Texas will win by double digits.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n SHERRINGTON: Depends on what you mean by a blowout. Does 12 points qualify? I don’t see them scoring 35 or more against the Sooners unless they suddenly develop a running game.<\/p>\n Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) talks to his team after a timeout in the fourth quarter of the Red River Rivalry, as the Sooners play the Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Oct. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Brent Venables revealed that he considered benching John Mateer at halftime against Georgia, but has confirmed he will be his starter for the Red River Rivalry. Should that be the case?<\/p>\n GOLDEN: Who else can he play there? Mateer is making big bucks to lead this offense and it\u2019s up to the coaching staff to figure out what works best for his skill set. We may see Whitt Newbauer but \u00a0Mateer will be given every chance to make some plays.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n BOHLS: That\u2019s unimaginable in this game. But if OU implodes, you could make the argument that the Sooners should tinker with the idea of looking to the future even though 6-6 junior Whitt Newbauer from Mercer or 6-1 true freshman Bowe Bentley have combined to throw just two passes this season.<\/p>\n SHERRINGTON: There is a history for first-time starting quarterbacks at the State Fair, but I’m not sure this is the time to do it. Mateer isn’t who the Sooners thought he was going to be, but I don’t like the idea of starting a backup against the No. 1 team unless I’m pretty sure he’s better.<\/p>\n What matchup or matchups will ultimately determine this Red River Rivalry?<\/p>\n GOLDEN: The battle in the trenches is one to watch. Texas center Connor Robertson and guards Dylan\u00a0Sikorski and Brandon Baker must take some heat off this struggling run game by winning against Oklahoma defensive tackles Jayden Jackson and David Stone. The Sooners are allowing only 3.25 yards per carry and the Horns averaged only 1.7 yards on 36 attempts at Tennessee.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n BOHLS: \u00a0I think Texas has to blanket OU\u2019s top receiver Isaiah Sategna III with double coverage because he leads all Sooner targets with 20 catches this season and is by far OU\u2019s most dangerous threat. I believe the offensive line must keep Arch Manning clean with no more than two sacks at most to give him time to attack the OU secondary and beef up Texas\u2019 lagging passing game.<\/p>\n SHERRINGTON: Colin Simmons against the Sooners’ offensive tackles, and Arch Manning against the OU secondary.<\/p>\n Each of you gentleman has covered your share of\u00a0RRRs. What is your favorite aspect of the tradition?<\/p>\n \u00a0GOLDEN: The State Fair provides such a cool dynamic as the backdrop of the sanctioned violence going on in football stadium. The cool part is a person from Mars could land on the concourse after the game and know from the body language of the fans who won the game.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n BOLHS: \u00a0Without question, it\u2019s the split stadium halved down the middle, which allows for a raucous ambiance no matter what. The passion of this game rivals any other historic annual reunion. But my post-game meal of a corny dog also ranks very high.\u00a0<\/p>\n SHERRINGTON: What makes Texas-OU great isn’t so much the game itself but, rather, the venue of an iconic stadium; the setting at the State Fair; and a house divided, crimson on one end and burnt orange on the other. I’ve written many times, including this week, that it is the greatest annual sporting event in Texas. No one has ever argued the point.<\/p>\n Texas Longhorns punter Jack Bouwmeester (19) celebrates winning the Red River Rivalry with the Golden Hat after Texas beat Oklahoma 23-6 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Oct. 11, 2025.<\/p>\n Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Should the RRR be a neutral-field game? Or should rotate home-away?<\/p>\n GOLDEN: They should never leave this location. It\u2019s one of the coolest setups in the sport and no other gameday atmosphere can rival it in uniqueness. It provides something neither Norman, Austin nor Jerry World can match, let alone, top.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n BOHLS: No freakin\u2019 way it should move away from the Cotton Bowl. Not now. Not next year. Not ever. The beauty of this arrangement is the kaleidoscope of colors and sounds that top all over rivalry games. I would say move it to home and home over my dead body, but I\u2019m afraid some fans might take me up on that offer.<\/p>\n SHERRINGTON: Don’t be ridiculous. It’s the most unique set-up in all of football. Make it home-and-home, and it’s just another football game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas Longhorns linebacker Brad Spence (14) celebrates a sack during the Red River Rivalry between the Texas Longhorns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3230,78210,8052,772,3233,27,29,537,536,28],"class_list":["post-460057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-arch-manning","tag-brent-venables","tag-cotton-bowl","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-red-river-rivalry","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-football","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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