The 2022 Red River Showdown was a surreal experience. Sometimes it’s hard to believe it actually happened.
It was a performance [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag], the Oklahoma Sooners, and their fan base are eager to forget. Texas fans try their darndest to remind their Red River Rivals to the north of the historically bad loss for the Sooners at every turn.
This year’s edition of the greatest college football rivalry game will be even more highly anticipated. But this year’s game should go much differently.
Brent Venables and his staff want to show that what happened in the Cotton Bowl last season was nothing more than an aberration. The Sooners will have a better defense and a much better offensive plan than what they rolled into Dallas with last October.
Every year, the game is must-see television, but because of what happened last year, it’s going to carry more weight. Taking a look at each week of the college football season, Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire chose one game from each week that is “must-see” television. For Week 6, he chose Oklahoma-Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
The Sooners have had to deal with the sour taste of that loss for a year, and by the time the game kicks off they will be champing at the bit to return the favor. Last year [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] was sidelined after a vicious hit by Jamoi Hodge of TCU the week prior. The offense gets a boost with Austin Stogner returning after one year at South Carolina.
The Texas offense will be absolutely loaded this season despite losing Bijan Robinson to the NFL draft. Quinn Ewers will have Xavier Worthy and Jordan Whittington catching passes, along with a pair of newcomers. Isaiah Neyor who missed last season with a torn ACL returns and the team added former UGA WR A.D. Mitchell. Ja’Tavion Sanders might be the biggest weapon from the tight end position. – Conn, College Sports Wire
Texas is still an incredibly talented team and will go into the game as the favorites. However, the Sooners are a much-improved team. They have an improved quarterback situation with the signing of [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] and the development of [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag]. The Sooners will not look anything like the team that walked out of the Cotton Bowl a year ago.
As it does every year, this game will be a big key to Oklahoma’s season. The two teams could very well be undefeated heading into the matchup, putting even more importance on the second Saturday in October.
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