The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns are two of college football’s fiercest rivals. The iconic [autotag]Red River Rivalry[/autotag] will be renewed on Saturday for the 120th time. It’ll be the first time this contest has been played with both teams in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag], providing an added layer of intrigue to one of the greatest games in sports.
As both teams prepare and fans around the country size up these two blue bloods in 2024, 247Sports college football analyst Josh Pate offered up his expertise in previewing the game. On Wednesday’s edition of “Josh Pate’s College Football Show” Pate said one stat could play a pivotal role in how this game goes.
“Oklahoma thrives on stopping that run,” Pate said. ‘They’ve done it well all year. Texas can probably win this game running the ball three and a half yards per carry. They don’t need to own it on the ground. Now what it does is, if you can’t run the ball well and you are having to throw to win, yes there’s a lot more variability that is mixed into the equation, but that’s Texas’ game. It’s not like they’re uncomfortable playing that.”
OU’s strength on defense, and really as a team, has been stopping the run in 2024. A defensive line with some question marks coming into the year has played well above expectations through five games. A strong inside linebacker group behind them has led to the Sooners being pretty stout against the ground game.
Another thing Pate said the Longhorns will be on the lookout for will be some different looks from Oklahoma, most likely on the defensive side of the ball.
“Here’s the thing that (Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian) said the other day that I think is very key here,” Pate said “He said and I quote ‘We’ve got to be ready for things Oklahoma hasn’t put on film.’ That is part one of how they pull this off.”
[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and Zac Alley will certainly be looking for advantages that he can rely on against a potent Longhorn offense. He’s already employed plenty of different looks in OU’s last two games against Tennessee and Auburn. Mixing up the front and getting tricky in blitz and coverage schemes seemed to work well for the most part for Venables and [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag] against the Volunteers and Tigers.
Alley will have to call an excellent game, and Oklahoma’s defense will have to create chaos on Saturday. If they do, they might just be able to get Venables another statement victory in the Cotton Bowl.
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