NO. 7 OU VS. NO. 19 TEXAS
Quarterbacking has been the difference for OU vs. Texas
• When: 11 a.m. Saturday
• Where: Cotton Bowl Stadium, Dallas
• TV: FOX (Cox 12)
• Radio: KRXO-FM 107.7
DALLAS — The OU wishbone teams of the 1970s didn’t beat Texas seven times in that decade, even though the Sooners lost only 13 games total those 10 seasons.
The Sooners of the 1980s didn’t beat Texas seven times in the decade. Neither did Bob Stoops’ teams of 2000-09.
But Saturday in the Cotton Bowl, OU can repeat its 1950s achievement by beating the Longhorns for the seventh time this decade.
The Sooners’ dominance over Texas stems from solid rock— better players. Starting with the 2010 season, OU has a 6-2 edge on Texas and 40 Sooners have been taken in the NFL Draft. Twenty-one Longhorns have been selected. And that talent
discrepancy is embodied mostly in the quarterbacking.
Landry Jones and Trevor Knight started a combined four OU-Texas games. They went 4-0. They are not all-time Sooner heroes.
Good quarterbacks, both. Jones set passing records that might stand forever. Knight not only beat the Longhorns, he beat Alabama. But at a school that in the last 18 years has produced Baker Mayfield, Sam Bradford, Jason White and Josh Heupel, Jones and Knight are considered just OK.
At Texas, the likes of Jones and Knight would be considered stars.
Another OU-Texas game arrives Saturday, and like every other State Fair fistfight this decade, the biggest difference between these teams is quarterback. The Longhorns’ Sam Ehlinger is a gutty sophomore who keeps getting better. The Sooners’ Kyler Murray is a phenom who seems to have invaded from a superior planet.
Which means the plot is the same. Texas must overcome a serious disadvantage at the game’s most important position.
Jones against Garrett Gilbert (2010) and David Ash (2011-12). Blake Bell against Case McCoy (2013). Knight against Tyrone Swoopes (2014). Baker Mayfield against Jerrod Heard (2015), Shane Buechele (2016) and Ehlinger (2017). Advantage Sooners in all cases.
McCoy and Heard actually quarterbacked the Longhorns to victory over OU, but mostly because the Texas defense rose to the occasion. McCoy by season’s end had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 24-20. Heard eventually moved to receiver.
That’s the Horns’ hurdle. They constantly are facing a better starting pitcher when they step onto the Cotton Bowl floor.
Texas puts up a fight. Last year, when the Sooners had the eventual Heisman Trophy winner in Mayfield and Texas countered with a true freshman with limited passing skills in Ehlinger, UT took OU to the wire before the Sooners prevailed 29-24. The year before, when Mayfield was a first-team all-American, the ‘Horns again countered with a true freshman, Buechele, and played OU within 45-40.
Makes you wonder if this series will turn when Texas gets its quarterbacking straightened out. The Longhorns had six straight years of phenomenal quarterbacking with Vince Young (2004-05) and Colt McCoy (200609). Texas won four of those six games from OU, ending the Stoops mastery of Mack Brown.
Since then, the ‘Horns have wallowed in mostly mediocre quarterbacking. Can Ehlinger change that?
He’s still more of a strong-as-an-ox runner than a classic thrower. But Ehlinger has raised his completion percentage to .647, with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. Not bad, unless compared to Murray’s ridiculous .706 completion percentage, with 17 touchdowns and two interceptions.
“I would say looks like he’s making the natural progression that you would expect a quarterback of his talents to make,” Lincoln Riley said of Ehlinger. “He’s played in a good amount of games now, had some different experiences. Looks like he’s more comfortable in the scheme.”
Texas likes its quarterback, for good reason. But OU loves its quarterback, for good reason, and the Sooners can make history Saturday.