Game To Watch: #21 Texas vs #6 Oklahoma: October 9, 2021

Texas and Oklahoma will meet in the Red River Shootout in Dallas on Saturday at 12:00 EST. The Longhorns have bounced back from their loss against Arkansas to win three in a row and are now 4 – 1. The Sooners are 5 – 0 after beating Kansas State last week, but have won four of their five games by a touchdown or less. The Red River Shootout is always important, but with both teams undefeated in the conference, a win will give one of the rivals a sizeable advantage over the other.

Recent History

Texas is 62 – 49 – 5 against Oklahoma all time, though the Sooners have put a significant dent in that record recently. Oklahoma has won 9 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams, including a 53 – 45 overtime win a year ago. Texas’ last win came in 2018 when they pulled out a 48 – 45 win, but Oklahoma won the re-match in the Big 12 Championship game that year 39 – 27.

Top 25 Players

What To Watch For…

Will Bijan Robinson Get Loose Against Oklahoma’s Front?

Bijan Robinson was expected to play a key role in the offense this season and he has delivered. Robinson has run for 100 yards in every game except the week two loss to Arkansas, building up to a 35 carry 216 yard and 2 touchdown performance a week ago against TCU. Robinson is an explosive runner and his versatility makes it difficult for defenses to keep him under wraps. Texas will be counting on Robinson to make his mark on the Red River Shootout this weekend, while Oklahoma will be counting on their dominant defensive front to contain him. The Sooners have not allowed over 100 yards rushing to any team this season. They have a disruptive defensive line that clogs up running lanes and gets penetration to force negative plays. They have made 40 tackles for loss through five games this year and will need to be disruptive to contain Robinson. Oklahoma will do everything they can to keep Robinson in check, but the Texas star is a handful to handle.

Can Spencer Rattler Get on Track?

Spencer Rattler has not been as good as he was expected to be this year. He has completed 76.3 percent of his passes but is only averaging 7.9 yards per attempt. Rattler has also thrown four interceptions in five games this year. He had his best game of the season against Kansas State last week, completing 82 percent of his passes and averaging 9.3 yards per attempt. Rattler will attempt to build on that performance this week and get to the level he was expected to be at this year. Last year he struggled early against Texas, but finished strong which carried over the rest of the season. Texas knows they need to contain the Oklahoma offense to win this game, that mission starts with keeping Rattler out of rhythm. The Longhorns have been in the bottom half of the Big 12 in yards per attempt against and are dead last in the conference in opponents completion percentage. They are averaging just two sacks a game and will have to create more pressure to keep Rattler from getting comfortable in the pocket and picking apart their secondary. Rattler has an opportunity to use this game as a springboard for the rest of the season, the Longhorns will need to stop that from happening if they are going to win on Saturday.

Casey Thompson’s Big Test

Casey Thompson didn’t win the starting job coming out of fall camp, but replaced Hudson Card after the loss to Arkansas. He has had success early on this season, completing 71 percent of his passes, averaging 9.3 yards per attempt and throwing 9 touchdowns against 3 interceptions. Most of that success came against Rice and Texas Tech, but Thompson struggled passing the ball against TCU. He only completed 55 percent of his passes last week and averaged just 6.5 yards per attempt. Oklahoma will focus on Bijan Robinson and force Casey Thompson to beat them through the air. The Sooners have the ability to get pressure on the quarterback, averaging three sacks per game (3rd in the Big 12). They hold opponents to 6.7 yards per pass attempt and will be difficult to consistently throw the ball downfield against. Thompson will have to prove he can beat a good defense through the air, otherwise Oklahoma will stack the box against Robinson and stuff Texas’ running attack.

Prediction

Oklahoma and Texas have played in close games for most of the past decade and another close one is likely on Saturday. The Sooners are going to make some big plays, but Texas will try to keep them from building momentum. Oklahoma is going to key in on Bijan Robinson, but the talented running back will still make a few big plays to keep his team close. The problem for Texas is that Thompson will not be able to make enough plays through the air to beat Oklahoma. Oklahoma 34 Texas 30.

Red River Rivalry.jpg image taken by Elaudermilk is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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