Texas head coach Tom Herman provides injury update on Joshua Moore, Roschon Johnson

Running back Roschon Johnson and wide receiver Joshua Moore highlighted Texas’ injury report following a devastating loss to TCU.

We’re now less than a week away from the Red River Rivalry. Continue reading “Texas head coach Tom Herman provides injury update on Joshua Moore, Roschon Johnson”

Texas-OU listed as the fourth-best rivalry game in college football this season

Bleacher Report recently ranked their top 10 rivalry games scheduled to take place in college football this season.

Rivalry games, in any sport, are the most entertaining parts of a season. Continue reading “Texas-OU listed as the fourth-best rivalry game in college football this season”

It’s official: Sam Ehlinger vs Spencer Rattler in the Red River Rivalry

The Oklahoma Sooners made it official that Spencer Rattler will be the starter. This sets up a matchup with senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

In the most obvious breaking news of the day, the Oklahoma Sooners announced that Spencer Rattler would be the starting quarterback. Rattler had been in a “quarterback competition” with Tanner Mordecai. However, the news that Rattler will be the starter sets up the Red River Rivalry showdown.

The young inexperience redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler against the savvy veteran senior Sam Ehlinger. This year will mark the fourth rivalry matchup for Ehlinger, who debuted in the 2017 matchup. After being down 20-0 with 4:32 left in the first half, he would lead the Longhorns back to take the lead with 8:01 left in the game. Ultimately falling 29-24 to the Sooners.

Ehlinger is 1-2 in his career against the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry. After their loss in the Big 12 Championship, Sam is 1-3. Ehlinger could even the series with victories on Oct. 10 and in the Big 12 Championship game. In his lone win, he bested a quarterback debuting in the rivalry. Kyler Murray made one start in the series, losing 48-45 to the Longhorns on a last second kick by Cameron Dicker.

For Rattler, a quarterback debuting in his first taste of the rivalry haven’t faired well as of late. In fact, three of the last five quarterbacks to debut in this game have lost. Blake Bell, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray all fell in their first matchups against Texas as the starter.

While you can argue that Spencer Rattler is more talented than the other three from a recruiting standpoint, he will have his work cut out for him. No Kennedy Brooks and no CeeDee Lamb this year. Lincoln Riley knows how to put his guys into a position to win. In the biggest game of the year for the Big 12 Conference, this will be a battle worth every penny.

Report: One Sooners position group wiped out by COVID test

According to report from the Athletic’s Jason Kersey, one position group has been wiped out due to one COVID-19 test.

The college football season is fast approaching and the Red River Rivalry on October 10th will be here before you know it. One of the big factors of the upcoming season is going to be how do they handle positive tests? Recently in his media session head coach Tom Herman stated they had zero positive COVID-19 tests. However, the Oklahoma Sooners haven’t been so lucky.

Following a return to campus, reports surfaced and later confirmed by head coach Lincoln Riley that they had nine cases. A report from Jason Kersey of the Athletic, that one position group was all but wiped out by one COVID-19 test. While he didn’t reveal which group, that is a big deal while the Big 12 Conference is attempting to play football this season.

The Big 12 and Oklahoma are set to kick off the season on Sept. 12th. That is just over two weeks away. The Longhorns players such as Sam Ehlinger have raved about how the school has gone about business in terms of keeping student-athletes safe during camp.

The situation will be monitored as more details are provided.

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CFB Analyst Joel Klatt: Texas has a ‘great chance’ to knock off Oklahoma

Joel Klatt is confident that the stars are aligning for Texas to finally knock off Oklahoma as the Big 12 Champions.

The hype surrounding Texas football this season is real. Continue reading “CFB Analyst Joel Klatt: Texas has a ‘great chance’ to knock off Oklahoma”

Locked on Longhorns Podcast: ‘Quinn Ewers commitment and impact’

The Locked on Longhorns kicks off your week discussing the commitment of Quinn Ewers to Texas. How does that impact the team moving forward.

In a wild weekend, the Texas Longhorns secured their second perfect-rating recruit. The No. 1 player of the 2022 class, Quinn Ewers, committed to play for his childhood team. Ewers is a program-changing player, so what kind of impact does this make on the recruiting front? Seems as though top players from across the country are lining up to have the opportunity to play with him.

The quarterback room is suddenly loaded with Hudson Card, Ja’Quinden Jackson, Casey Thompson, Jalen Milroe (2021) and Ewers (2022). In the post-Ehlinger era, how does it all play out? Will someone change positions? Will someone eventually leave?

In the funny story of the weekend, current Texas A&M tight end Blake Smith tweeted he would sign up to play with Ewers. Was he telling others to come to Texas? Or was it a brief brain lapse that caused him to tweet that and immediately remove it?

The wide receiver group was dealt a blow with the injury to freshman Troy Omeire. Over the weekend, we were told by head coach Tom Herman that he “tweaked” his knee, but it was later confirmed he tore his ACL. With him out for the season, how does that impact the group?

Athletic director Chris Del Conte confirmed in an email there will be fans in the stands. A total of 25 percent which equates to 25,000. It was later reported by Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman that Texas is planning zero allotments to opposing fans for home games. The annual Texas-OU Red River Rivalry will be split with each school getting 12.5 percent of tickets.

Plus Oklahoma’s top running back Kennedy Brooks has opted out of the 2020 season. What impact will that have on an already young team that lost its starting quarterback and top wide receiver to the NFL draft this past year.

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Oklahoma’s top running back Kennedy Brooks opts out

Oklahoma’s star running back Kennedy Brooks has informed head coach Lincoln Riley that he will opt out of the 2020 college football season.

On Sunday afternoon the Oklahoma Sooners team was dealt a serious blow to the upcoming season. It was announced by Jason Kersey of the Athletic that two-time 1,000-yard rusher Kennedy Brooks would opt out of the upcoming season. This coming off the heels of the Sooners announcing that nine players had tested positive for COVID-19.

Kennedy Brooks was poised for yet another big season and likely to help out redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler. The other top running back on the roster Trey Sermon transferred to Ohio State prior to the upcoming season as a graduate. The tough question begins for Lincoln Riley, what now?

According to many in the NFL Draft community, Brooks was viewed as one of the best draft eligible running backs for the 2021 class. He could in theory declare and spend the year prepping for his next move. The Sooners backup Rhamondre Stevenson is under suspension for the first few games. The next man up for Oklahoma would be T.J. Pledger.

Against the Longhorns in 2018, Brooks carried the ball 13 times for 62 yards in both games. This past year he accounted for 105 yards. Pledger will take up the mantle for now. He has 40 career carriers for 244 yards and one touchdown.

Likely Stevenson will take back over once he is re-instated from suspension. In his first season in Norman, he carried the ball 64 times for 515 yards and six touchdowns. It will be interesting to watch how Riley adapts his team after losing one of its top weapons before the season even started.

Texas Football: Announces capacity limits, Red River Rivalry update

Texas Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte announced via email to ticket holders there would be a 25 percent capacity limit.

As the Texas Longhorns prepare for the upcoming season, many have wondered about how many fans would be in attendance. Well if any at all? The discussions surrounding attendance in 2020 all involved going with 25 percent capacity. Some felt like it would best to go with none at all but Texas put into motion the idea of having fans in the stands.

In an email to season ticket holders, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said they are “ready to rock n’roll.” The Longhorns will move forward with a plan for 25 percent capacity at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Essentially only 25,000 of the 100,119 seats will have fans sitting in them. While it won’t be as loud as it could have been, at least it won’t be quiet during the game.

Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman not only announced that there would be 25,000 screaming fans but they would only be Longhorns faithful. Opposing teams are not expected to receive any allotment of tickets for the upcoming game.

They will still be split when it comes to the Cotton Bowl and the Red River Rivalry. It will definitely be a different environment when it comes to the annual Texas-Oklahoma matchup. Not only with the limited capacity but the fact that the Texas State Fair was cancelled.

None of the fried foods that we know and love. No funnel cakes or deep fried twinkies or well you get the idea. However, fans can take solace in knowing they will still be able to take in some Red River Rivalry. At least that is the plan for now.

Welcome to Texas-OU, Michigan-Ohio State: A rooting guide

With the Big Ten season postponed who should Michigan and Ohio State fans root for? Well they could find themselves rooting for Texas-OU.

Rivalries. In college football they mean almost as much as a National Championship. Maybe not to the team themselves but fans love to boast about how their team fared against their most hated rivals. When Oklahoma fails in the college football playoffs, Texas takes almost as much pride in trash talking as the team that actually won the game.

The same can be said for one of the biggest rivalries in all of college sports, Michigan-Ohio State. These two iconic programs absolutely can’t stand each other. Ohio State refers to Michigan to that team up north. They won’t even write the letter “m” when referring to them. They will put the letter “x” in place of the “m”.

With the Big Ten Conference punting on the season, fans of both schools left with no team to cheer for on Saturdays. So in a attempt to find some solace, Longhorns Wire has put together a rooting guide for both Michigan and Ohio State fans. Much like their own hatred, they can join in on the Texas-Oklahoma Red River Rivalry.

So why should Michigan fans align with Texas?

Sunday Big 12 morning rush: Headlines from around the conference

The latest stories from the Big 12 Conference in Saturday morning’s morning rush. Stories include Oklahoma moving their opener up.

Each morning, Longhorns Wire scours the web for the top Big 12 headlines happening around the conference. Today’s stories are courtesy of Sooners Wire.

Oklahoma’s season opener against Missouri State moved up to Aug. 29

Kegan Reneau of Sooners Wire announced the Sooners will move up their season opener to August 29th.

“If the season is indeed permitted to start as scheduled, the benefit of extra time between games will help our teams manage any variety of possible circumstances that may occur,” said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione in a press release. “Our original schedule had an open date between the second and third games, so now we will have a span of five weeks to play three games. It provides us a more gradual approach to safely manage the conditions of these unprecedented times. We’re thankful to Missouri State for their cooperation during this process and to the NCAA for allowing both teams to start the season a week earlier.”

OU-Texas to remain at Cotton Bowl for now, per Joe Castiglione

Sooners Wire also reported that the Texas-OU game will remain at the Cotton Bowl for the time being. Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman had reported the idea of a home and home series for the next two years.

During his appearance, he made a brief but key revelation for Sooner fans this season: OU-Texas has no plans to move away from the Cotton Bowl this season.

“We’re still playing in the Cotton Bowl,” he said. “We have a contract to play in the Cotton Bowl.”

Big 12 still holding out hope for 12-game fall schedule

Brandon Marcello of 247Sports detailed that the Big 12 is working with other Power Five conferences to keep the full 12-game schedule.

The conference is still working toward a full, 12-game schedule despite other smaller conferences like in the FCS canceling or shortening their seasons. Power 5 conferences like the Big Ten and Pac-12 have already decided to play conference-only schedules, which would shorten their seasons to at least 10 games.

But the Big 12 appears to be the lone holdout hoping for a full season during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby communicated with leadership, including athletic directors in the 10-team conference, the desire to move forward with a 12-game schedule during a teleconference earlier this week.

“Again, the last several days, we haven’t really received an update from the commissioner how those conversations are going,” said Shane Lyons, athletics director at West Virginia. “We’ll have a call early next week and continue to talking about our model. We were feeling comfortable that we wanted to keep the 12-game schedule and see what happens from there, but obviously you have to work together in order to keep that 12-game model because we have the cross-over games in the SEC and ACC right now as well on the schedule.”