When the season began, this was going to be a heavyweight title bout between two mammoth sluggers with knockout punches, but Saturday’s Red River Shootout between OU and Texas has lost a lot of it’s luster.
First, Sam Bradford was knocked out of the lineup and the Sooners lost two heartbreaking one point affairs on the road. Then the Longhorns have played the first five games of the season seemingly sleepwalking at times on their way to a 5-0 mark and this weeke dropped a notch in the polls thanks to their poor play against Colorado.
But Bradford is back and Colt McCoy will be on the other side and it should be the shootout everyone expected in Dallas.
Texas can’t seem to run the football at the moment, which is putting more pressure on McCoy. Can the Sooners shut down the Longhorns running game and pressure the mobile Texas QB? That will go a long way in determining OU’s chances at victory.
Bradford looked good last week in his return against Baylor, but the Bears are the Longhorns, who’ll bring pressure and have much better speed in the secondary. Receiver Ryan Broyles was back in practice this week and may return from a broken shoulder blade. Bradford will need him and need protection from his offensive line in order to beat Texas through the air.
With the focus on the quarterbacks, it really does come down to who does a better job defensively and makes the QB’s get out of their comfort zone. Texas has to win and win impressively if they are to have a chance to move back up in the polls in the weeks to come. Oklahoma would be staring at a three loss season six games in if they fall to the Horns.
Texas has won three of the last four meetings between these two teams, but I’m picking the team that’s backed in the corner to come out the winner. OU 31-24 over the Longhorns.
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