Texas Football: 10 reasons to be excited for the Big 12 Championship Game

3. Two different, but effective ground games

We’ve touched on the ground games for the Sooners and Texas football a bit. Oklahoma has the upper hand over the Horns in terms of depth at running back and the per game averages this year. Even without the services of one of the best running backs in the nation, Rodney Anderson, for most of the season the Sooners are still running the ball at a high level.

The season-ending knee injury to Anderson seemed to be more detrimental at the time than it was in reality. Oklahoma showed off its deep stable of running backs this fall since Anderson went down with injury, led by Trey Sermon and freshman Kennedy Brooks. Both Sermon and Brooks came on strong of late, with more than 800 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns each way.

In reference to the numbers only, the Texas running back duo of freshman Keaontay Ingram and senior Tre Watson doesn’t matchup to the likes of Sermon and Brooks. Watson had less than 20 rushing yards in his first outing against Oklahoma this year. Ingram was more effective against Oklahoma, with more than 80 rushing yards and more than 6.5 yards per carry.

However, Ingram and Watson give the Horns enough to be able to control the clock and keep the Oklahoma offense off the field for long periods of time. The Oklahoma defense also doesn’t possess the front seven to consistently hold the Texas ground game back. The rushing threat that Ehlinger presents adds another dynamic for Texas too.