Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian believes there’s more than meets the eye to Oklahoma’s disappointing 2-2 record before the rivals face off this weekend.
The Sooners and Longhorns will meet in the Red River Rivalry at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday inside the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Both teams are on opposite trajectories heading into Week 6, with Texas at 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country, but Sarkisian is looking at the context behind the Sooners’ poor start.
“They’ve played some tough games,” Sarkisian said during Monday’s press conference. “They’ve played at Michigan, which is not easy. They’ve played at Georgia, which we know is not easy.
“I’m sure Coach (Brent) Venables wishes he had the schedule of some other teams that had, and they could be 4-0 and so on and so forth. That’s the life we live in our conference.”
Sooners enter Red River Rivalry in same way Texas did last year
Sarkisian would actually understand the Sooners’ current position better than just about anybody else. This time last year, it was the Longhorns who were going into the Red River Rivalry unranked and already with two losses. OU at that point was 5-0 and ranked sixth in the country.
Texas had lost a tough season opener to then-No. 2 Ohio State on the road, 14-7, to fall from its preseason status as the top team in college football.
The Longhorns then rattled off three wins in a row over weak competition, then were upset by an unranked Florida team 29-21 in The Swamp. That loss erased the Longhorns from national rankings right before the Red River Rivalry.
The 2026 Sooners mirror that same path before the second Saturday of October. They, like Texas in 2025, lost to a blue blood from the Big Ten before eventually suffering a second early loss in their SEC opener, again on the road.
OU lost to Michigan 17-10 in Week 2, but it’s fair to point out this Wolverines squad doesn’t compare to last season’s Ohio State team. Michigan has dropped to 3-2, while the Buckeyes made the College Football Playoff last year.
Georgia, though, is destined for the CFP as the No. 2 team in the country. That road loss, no matter how ugly, still trumps losing to what was a bad Florida team last season, as Texas did.
However, box scores and rankings also don’t reveal the whole truth about OU’s record. Yes, it’s been one of the most challenging schedules in college football, but the Sooners’ offense is the biggest reason why nearly everyone has already counted them out.
OU has one of the worst offenses in the Power 4. Quarterback John Mateer turned the ball over in three straight possessions against Georgia, resulting in a 28-0 halftime deficit, so at times, it feels like the offense is so bad that the Sooners would be better off if it didn't do anything at all.
“I’d say this about Oklahoma; I don’t necessarily know that they haven’t played well,” Sarkisian said. “I think, first of all, defensively, they’ve played exceptional. These guys are a phenomenal defensive football team. I think, unfortunately, offensively, they’ve had some untimely turnovers that have just hurt them. But I do think there’s some things they’re doing offensively.”
No coach will downplay an opponent, especially a rival, before a game to ensure that the win or loss is respected more, but this doesn't just seem like Sarkisian is blowing smoke. He's speaking from experience, so he knows the Sooners are capable of accomplishing what his team did last year in the Red River Rivalry.
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