We’re still nine days out from the Red River Showdown, and the buzz is already beginning to grow between the two fanbases from the storied rivalry.
Each team has a bye week to prepare for the showdown in the Cotton Bowl. OU-Texas will kick off the second half of the season, a final two months that should be full of all the drama and excitement that college football has to offer.
Nobody on either side is going to look past OU-Texas. But huge games loom on the other side, with the Sooners hosting a better-than-perceived South Carolina team, and the Longhorns will host the Georgia Bulldogs. As much as we’ve talked about Oklahoma’s challenging schedule, the SEC schedule makers did Texas no favors by giving them the Bulldogs right after the Red River Showdown.
In a story predicting when each undefeated team will take their first loss, USA TODAY Sports Paul Myerburg believes it will be the Bulldogs, not the Sooners, that hand the Longhorns their first loss of the season.
Look for the Longhorns to sail past No. 17 Oklahoma on Oct. 12 given the Sooners’ offense state of affairs. Getting Georgia at home definitely helps, but the Bulldogs are heading into October deeply motivated to move past last Saturday’s setback at Alabama and end the regular season with just one loss. – Myerburg, USA TODAY Sports
It’s no surprise that many of the national analysts will be riding with the Longhorns when they make their predictions next week for the Red River Rivalry. The Longhorns are No. 1 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and the No. 2 team in the AP Top 25. Texas was considered the better team coming into the season and there hasn’t been much reason to divert from that opinion.
The Horns have a big win on the road over Michigan and have taken care of business despite the absence of Quinn Ewers the last two weeks.
On paper, the Longhorns will be viewed as the more talented team. But that’s why we play the games. The Oklahoma Sooners defense and an improving offense will give the Sooners a chance to pull off an upset for the second season in a row.
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