In the past 24 hours, the official line for the Red River Rivalry game has not only moved in both directions, but it now has Oklahoma favored to win the game. The number shifted from Texas -1.5 to Oklahoma -1.5 since 8:30 pm last night.
That's an enormous swing for a single night, and one that hasn't happened like that in a while. Usually, if a team is favored by 1 full point or more, it'll shift down to a "pick" where both teams have equal odds to win the game. Very rarely does a team go from being favored by 1.5 points or more, to completely passing through 0 and favoring the opposite team overnight like it did.
One of the only explanations for something like this could be regarding the recent availability reports and rumors surrounding Sooner QB John Mateer. He's apparently "trending" towards playing on Saturday, and a rumor has been going around that be's been telling people that he's good to go for the Red River Rivalry. Though it could be possible, his broken throwing hand would have to be almost 100% healed, which would be pretty much miraculous at this point.
It really doesn't make that much sense for him to actually play this weekend if Brent Venables and Co. want him to be 100% healthy for the rest of the season. If he plays and something were to happen to his hand, he'd be done for a while. That would be devastating for the team as they're in a really, really good spot right now as a program and contender in 2025. The smart thing would be for Michael Hawkins Jr. to get the start, as it's pretty evident that the coaching staff is pretty comfortable with him as well.
The idea of Mateer playing in week 7 could be a smokescreen that Oklahoma as leaked in order to try and get in the heads of Texas' coaching staff. It would be harder for the Longhorns' defense to prepare for both quarterbacks heading into the matchup, so it could be something as simple as that.
Everyone knows that the Sooners need all the help that they can get heading into this one.