Texas Football: Kickoff time set for Red River vs. OU

With kickoff time now announced for Texas football and the Oklahoma Sooners in the 117th edition of the Red River Rivalry game, it looks like new head coach Steve Sarkisian will get yet another 11 a.m. start time. Texas will get an 11 a.m. kickoff for at least three weeks in a row, with the Big 12 opener against the Texas Tech Red Raiders last weekend also coming at 11 a.m. CT.

The kickoff time between the Longhorns and Sooners was confirmed in an official release on texassports.com on Sep. 27. Texas and Oklahoma usually do face each other with morning or afternoon kickoffs in the Red River Rivalry game, so this isn’t all that surprising.

There’s a large frequency of 11 a.m. CT kickoffs to start the Big 12 slate, though. Texas got Texas Tech at 11 a.m. CT last weekend in the Big 12 opener at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. And, Sark and the Longhorns will get head coach Gary Patterson and the TCU Horned Frogs at 11 a.m. CT in Fort Worth, TX, on Oct. 2.

Texas football gets another 11 a.m. CT kickoff time vs. Oklahoma

This was the same trend that Texas had during the COVID-19 season last year. Texas faced TCU one week before the Red River Rivalry game with an 11 a.m. CT. And then, Red River was also an 11 a.m. kickoff time.

The last time that Texas and Oklahoma faced off in Red River during the regular season that wasn’t an 11 a.m. kickoff time was back in 2017. That was the first season for the Longhorns under former head coach Tom Herman. In 2017, Texas and Oklahoma kicked off at 2:30 p.m. CT.

Interestingly enough, Texas tends to do better against Oklahoma in Red River since 2006 when kickoff time is at 11 a.m. instead of 2:30 p.m. CT. That might be a statistical anomaly. But in the four meetings for Texas and Oklahoma since 2006 that kicked off in the afternoon, the Longhorns hold a record of 0-4. That leaves Texas with a record of 6-5 in 11 a.m. kickoff times against the Sooners in that same span of time.

Maybe that is just a coincidence, but if it means beating Oklahoma then so be it.

Texas will face Oklahoma in Red River this season on Oct. 9 at the Texas State Fairgrounds in Dallas, TX, at the Cotton Bowl. Last year, Oklahoma knocked off Texas in a wild four-overtime game that resulted in the Sooners getting the edge by the final score of 53-45.

Before Texas faces Oklahoma in Red River, Sark and his squad are set to take on TCU at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth on Oct. 2. Texas will carry a record of 3-1 (1-0 Big 12) into this road meeting with TCU following a dominant 70-35 win over Texas Tech last weekend.