Texas, OU in desperate need of win
When: noon, Saturday Where: Cotton Bowl, Dallas TV: Fox
Run the football: Quarterback Sam Ehlinger is the team’s best player, but he doesn’t need to win it by himself. The offensive game plan against TCU lacked conviction to run the football against a Horned Frogs team that struggled to stop the run against Iowa State. Roschon Johnson gained 63 yards, but he was only given five carries. That’s criminal. The winner of the Red River Rivalry runs the football with more success. Texas has the advantage at running back. Use it.
Tackle: Neither defense in this game is good. The team that wins will run the football and tackle. It’s that simple for two teams with a combined 1-3 record in the Big 12 entering the contest. The Longhorns tackled better in the loss to TCU than it did in the win over Texas Tech. The Longhorns defense needs to play fundamental football in order to put pressure on Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler to work the ball down the field without making a mistake.
Keys for Oklahoma
Limit the mistakes: Rattler has thrown four interceptions in his two starts against Big 12 competition, including three in the loss two weeks ago against Kansas State. Rattler threw an interception late in the loss to Iowa State. Rattler is clearly talented. He must avoid inexperienced mistakes in the biggest game of his career because a senior quarterback is on the other side of the football.
Find big plays: The Oklahoma offense under Lincoln Riley is known for making big plays. The Sooners are struggling to score from distance in 2020. Some of that is youth and inexperience at quarterback. Some of it is that the Sooners have yet to find a true No. 1 receiver following the NFL departure of CeeDee Lamb. Oklahoma’s wide receiver unit is talented and deep, but a big play threat needs to emerge for Oklahoma to threaten the Texas defense deep and open room for the young running backs.