Saturday's annual October reunion between Oklahoma and Texas at the half burnt orange, half crimson-draped Cotton Bowl in Dallas wasn't supposed to go this way.
Everyone knew how loaded with offensive and defensive talent top-ranked Texas was this season, and with a couple of impressive wins over ranked teams to show for it, including a takedown of previously No. 1-ranked Ohio State in Week 2, the Longhorns came into Red River Rivalry week with a perfect 4-0 record.
Oklahoma, on the other hand, entered the 122nd meeting of these two iconic college football programs with a flawed 2-2 record as a team best billed this season as all defense and no offense. Not a particularly good formula for staying in the game with, let alone defeating, a group of Longhorns with a potential national championship season in their sights.
But then, this is the Red River Rivalry, one of college football's longest and grandest, in which current rankings and records tend to be of little value and one-score outcomes are much more frequent than lopsided counts. That proved to be true again on Saturday. Oklahoma, helped out by critical Texas turnovers, battled back from behind in the final quarter and knocked off its heavily favored archrival, 27-24, on a walk-off 47-yard field goal by Lou Groza Award-winning kicker Tate Sandell as time expired.
Brent Venables' track record against the Sooners' chief rival improved to 2-3 as OU avoided a third consecutive loss to Texas. The incredible, improbable victory over the hated Longhorns also marked Oklahoma's first over a No. 1-ranked Texas team. The Sooners were previously 0-4-1 against the Longhorns when they were the country's top-ranked team. OU had never beaten a No. 1-ranked team as an unranked team in program history.
The Red River Rivalry game with Texas ended a brutal five-game opening stretch in which the Sooners played at Michigan in Week 2, then faced No. 2 Georgia and No. 1 Texas in their last two games. Oklahoma is 3-2 coming out of that rugged gauntlet and has games still ahead with four teams that are ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25, beginning Saturday at home against No. 15 Kentucky.
The Good: An aggressive and opportunistic Sooner defense is the reason OU was able to put this game in the win column
An Oklahoma defense that already ranks as one of the best in the nation played its best game yet this season, forcing three critical turnovers that directly led to 17 of the Sooners' 27 points.
The Longhorns did manage to execute several explosive plays, but for the most part, Arch Manning and company were forced to earn every one of the 382 yards of offense they accumulated in the game. The OU defense held Texas to just 3-of-14 on third-down conversions and forced eight Texas punts. The Longhorns averaged just three punts a game in their first four games.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Danny Okoye blocked a Texas punt inside the Longhorn 10-yard line that was recovered by Dakoda Fields in the end zone for a touchdown.
At the 10:04 mark of the fourth quarter, safety Peyton Bowen picked off a pass by Manning and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 17-17. The final blow was Oklahoma's game-winning field goal, which was set up by a Courtland Guillory interception.
SOONER MAGIC pic.twitter.com/K1cEqn0kPI
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) October 10, 2026
OU wide receiver Isaiah Sategna also deserves mention in the "Good" category for his two sensational toe-tap sideline catches on the Sooners' winning scoring drive that stopped the clock and enabled the Oklahoma offense to advance the ball 31 yards in 16 seconds to move within field-goal range.
The Bad: OU offensive line was eaten alive in the first quarter and for a good part of the first half by the overpowering Texas defensive front
The offensive line continues to be the main contributor to Oklahoma's offensive struggles, and going up against one of college football's most dominant defensive fronts fully exposed the difficulties the Sooners are experiencing in running the football and in pass protection.
Quarterback John Mateer was under constant pressure, as has been the case in every game this season. The Texas defensive front recorded three sacks and nine tackles for loss against a non-resistant OU offensive line.
Oklahoma ran nine run plays in the opening quarter for a total of eight yards and completed just four passes for 24 yards. It didn't get appreciably better in the second quarter. By halftime, the Sooners had a grand total of 19 rushing yards and 68 through the air.
The O-line did perform better in the second half, the net result of switching the positions of a couple of the offensive starters. The offensive numbers were better in the second half vs. Texas and with a little more consistency, and that proved to be a prime factor in the game.
One hundred sixty-nine of Oklahoma's 238 yards of offense for the game came in the second half, largely the result of offensive line adjustments during halftime and better all-around offensive execution.
The Ugly: OU offense didn't record a 1st down until 5 minutes into 2nd quarter
Oklahoma didn't register a first down the entire first quarter, going three-and-out on five consecutive possessions. To be fair, however, the Oklahoma defense was having the same effect on the Texas offense in the early going, shutting down the Longhorn offense on just three plays on three of their first four possessions and a total of seven times for the game.
After the Sooners' five straight three-and-outs to open the game, however, it happened just two other times in the final three quarters.
Also noteworthy
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables constantly preaches about the importance of all three phases of the game coming together to win games, especially when playing against the best teams in college football. In the Sooners' huge win over Texas on Saturday, all three phases contributed a touchdown. It was the first time since 2016 that Oklahoma has produced a defensive and special teams touchdown in the same game.
The Sooners had 83 rushing yards for the game. Eighty yards of that total came in the third quarter, including 68 yards on seven carries by Lloyd Avant, an average of nearly 10 yards per attempt.
Former Texas Longhorn wide receiver Parker Livingstone, who played for the Longhorns in this game last year and caught two passes for 29 yards, started his first game as an Oklahoma Sooner. Not one ball was thrown his way.
Add us as a preferred source on Google