We are just a week away from the annual Red River Rivalry game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners.
So far this season, the two heated rivals truly couldn't have had more different starts to their year, and while the Horns are the No. 1 team in the country with a perfect 4-0 record, the Sooners have gone 2-2 and quickly disappeared from the top 25.
While a rivalry game is usually anyone's game to win (or lose, depending on how you look at it), this Sooners' squad looked far from flawless through their first four games of the year.
As Texas and OU take the field at the Cotton Bowl, these are three of the Sooners' biggest weaknesses that the Longhorns have to find a way to exploit to secure the victory:
3. Stopping the quarterback keep
While the Sooners may have 13 sacks on the season (impressive until you look at Texas's 15 sacks), Oklahoma has been inconsistent at taking down the quarterback.
When OU lost to the Wolverines, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood was able to earn 87 yards on the ground. Even in their one truly good showing, a 51-0 win over the UTEP Miners in Week 1, UTEP quarterbacks EJ Colson Jr. and Raymond Moore III were able to combine for 74 rushing yards.
While Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian doesn't love it when quarterback Arch Manning uses his legs too much, it is absolutely a weapon that the Longhorns should lean into for this game, especially combining his talents with running backs Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown.
2. Running the ball
So far this season, the Sooners have only earned 396 total rushing yards, averaging less than 100 yards per game on the ground, and 170 of those yards came against UTEP in Week 1.
Since then, Oklahoma has only earned 226 rushing yards, averaging just over 75 yards per game over the last three games.
Texas has an opportunity to make sure that average drops even further with the Horns' incredible defensive line dominating at the line of scrimmage.
Through Texas's first four games, the Horns gave up just 397 rushing yards (sound familiar?), and if the defense can show up like it did against Tennessee, holding the Volunteers to just 70 yards in their ground game, then Oklahoma is going to have an extremely hard time finding its footing.
1. John Mateer
Ahhh, the preseason hype around Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer packing on muscle has amounted to... nothing!
Between four interceptions and two lost fumbles, Mateer is seemingly doing everything he can to make sure his team can't succeed. In fact, through the first four games, the Sooners have had 10 turnovers and only nine touchdown-scoring drives on the offensive side of the ball.
Sure, he has 76 rushing yards so far this season, the second-most on the roster, but eight sacks to go along with those pretty much negate any ground-game threat he presents.
Defensive stars like Rasheem Biles, Lance Jackson, and Colin Simmons have an opportunity to absolutely abuse Mateer in the backfield (respectfully), and it could (nay, should) lead to yet another abysmal day for Oklahoma's offense.
While Manning hasn't been perfect for Texas, he has been light-years better than Mateer, and the Horns have clearly been on a different level than the Sooners.
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