College Football Game of the Week: No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 21 Texas
This week brings about one of the oldest rivalries in college football, which is usually one of the season's biggest contents, and this year is no different. The No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners will face off against the No. 21 Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in a potential Big 12 Championship Game preview.
The Sooners survived Kansas State, 37-31, in Week 5 to stay undefeated as Spencer Rattler went through one of his shakier games of the year.
The redshirt sophomore quarterback threw for 243 yards, two touchdowns and an interception and leaned heavily on running back Kennedy Brooks, who nearly broke the century mark and found the endzone once.
The Longhorns fended off TCU in their Week 5 matchup up, 32-27.
Texas quarterback Casey Thompson has struggled quite a bit this season, so the main focal point of the offense is running back Bijan Robinson, who amassed 216 yards on 35 carries while hitting paydirt twice.
At the beginning of the year, these teams wanted to leave the Big 12, head for greener pastures and join the SEC, the undisputed epitome of college football.
The Longhorns and Sooners got their wish and will join the Southeastern Conference prior to the 2025 football season, but until then, the two will be the faces of the Big 12.
This conference is known for having high-scoring games with subpar defenses, and this is shaping to be a classic Big 12 game.
The faces of each team, Rattler for Oklahoma and Robinson for Texas, play on the offensive side of the ball, and whoever blinks first is going to find themselves on the losing end.
In his first season as head coach of the Longhorns, Steve Sarkisian has performed adequately thus far.
This season he's dealt with quarterback controversy and still finds his team in the thick of things with a 4-1 record and still a shot at a conference title.
On the other side, Lincoln Riley, currently in his fifth season as head coach of the Sooners, has led his team to a 50-8 record over his tenure.
Oklahoma has been in the College Football Playoff three of the last four seasons, and a win here against a ranked Texas team could once again help send the Sooners on their way toward another national title run.
Despite usual poor defenses from this conference, this game will come down to who can get a stop.
As electric Rattler and Robinson are, at some point these offenses will be trading touchdown drives, but the team that can get off the field on third down will emerge victorious at the end of the day.
Oklahoma has been an offensive juggernaut for over a decade, as it’s had several outstanding quarterbacks in a row, with the previous three being Heisman contenders.
However, this year's team has the best defense in Lincoln Riley's head coaching career.
The bottom line is that with two explosive offenses, the defense will be the difference whether they make one big play or 20.
Oklahoma will win this game and boost its playoff stock as the season heads into an exciting part of the year where wins and losses have more postseason implications.
Prediction: Oklahoma: 35 Texas: 28
JC Colavita is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jrc6383@psu.edu.
