Texas Football: 3 major concerns for UT vs. OK State in Big 12 title game

Oklahoma State could hang around in this game if Texas’s redzone issues persist

What Texas must avoid in the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma State is beating themselves, especially on offense. Texas’ talent and athleticism advantage at almost every position group in this matchup against Oklahoma State means that the paths to victory for the Longhorns are much more diverse than the Pokes’.

If Texas sets the tone in this game by getting the ground game going behind true freshman running back CJ Baxter Jr. and redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers gets off to a strong start, Oklahoma State will be in danger of falling behind by double digits early.

Oklahoma State doesn’t have an offense that is fully capable of putting up big numbers while playing from behind. The Pokes have found so much success this season while feeding the ball to Gordon, which allows them to control the clock and open up the passing game with quarterback Alan Bowman and Presley at receiver.

This is why Ewers and the Longhorns must keep their foot on the gas if they can jump out to an early lead against Oklahoma State. What the Pokes want is to hang around in a close one late in the second half to keep the offensive playbook fully open and have a shot at pulling the upset late.

Oklahoma State has thrived in close games this season, going 4-1 in one-score contests.

The path for Oklahoma State to keep this one close would be for Texas’s offense to have costly turnovers and fail to convert their red zone opportunities. Ewers has had a handful of seemingly avoidable turnovers in the passing game in the last few weeks since he returned from the shoulder injury.

Last week, in the win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Ewers had a bad pick where he underthrew his target in the end zone. Ewers sidearmed the throw and missed his target by a few yards, resulting in a pick by a smaller 5-foot-9 defensive back.

The red zone issues are well-documented for Texas this season. Texas ranks 11th in Big 12 play in red zone conversion percentage (73.7) and 13th in red zone touchdown percentage (42.1), per Big 12 stats.

Oklahoma State’s defense will become more difficult to move the ball against once the field condenses, and Texas’s speed isn’t as much of an advantage.

Both Oklahoma State and Texas have top-half red zone defenses in Big 12 play. Texas leads the conference in red zone scoring percentage allowed (67.9 percent). Oklahoma State isn’t as good as Texas, allowing opponents to score in the red zone at a clip of 81.8 percent.

But Texas has struggled to convert in the red zone against much worse red zone defenses than Oklahoma State’s.