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Collecting all the post-game analysis articles, including those behind paywalls, regarding the blOU game here: 

(Gerald Goodridge) Texas 23, No. 6 Oklahoma 6: Three things we learned

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A week ago, the Texas Longhorns were seemingly in freefall. With three minutes left in the game against the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners, the crimson started to leave the Cotton Bowl, and the Longhorns hoisted the Golden Hat for the second-straight year. Texas still has a lot of work to do and has zero margin for error heading into its final six regular-season games, but moving to 4-2 with a blowout win over your rival can put a lot of wind in your sails.

Arch Manning can make big-time throws

It wasn’t the flashiest day at the office for Arch Manning, but when Texas needed him the most, he was dialed in. That was perhaps most on display in the fourth quarter — when Texas needed to extend drives to drain the clock and put Oklahoma on the ropes, Manning made huge plays to keep things moving in the right direction. Manning converted down the sideline for 21 yards to Parker Livingstone, converted to Tre Wisner for 19 on 3rd and 7, and gained 14 yards on 3rd and 19 to get Texas back into field-goal position.

Perhaps the biggest positive for Arch in the game was that he didn’t throw any losing balls in a game where a former Heisman frontrunner threw multiple interceptions and should have thrown a few more. He was still a bit too selective in some of his passes, but he layered the ball well in spots and took advantage of short passes when they were there.

The defense can get after the quarterback

When the Oklahoma offense started to move the ball in the fourth quarter, the defense dialed in and put them behind the chains, stalling the momentum and slamming the door shut on the comeback. Michael Taaffe brought down Mateer on 2nd and 10 with a well-timed blitz, then Colin Simmons beat Michael Fasusi one-on-one to bring him down to set up 4th and 22. On the ensuing play, Mateer was forced to abandon the pocket and throw on the run, a play that went over the head of Jaren Kanak and gave Texas the ball back.

The drive before was no different, with Texas harassing Mateer and the receivers, forcing negative plays and a three-and-out. That three-and-out ended with Ryan Niblett going 75 yards to the house on a punt return, extending the lead to two touchdowns and seemingly putting the game out of reach. Texas finished the game with six sacks and four hurries in the game, their best of the year.

Texas can get it done on third downs if it avoids negative plays

Texas put itself in solid situations throughout the game, finishing with just six third-down attempts longer than nine yards, a stark difference from a week ago. They converted on 56.3 percent of their attempts, gaining an average of 10 yards per try. Manning was perhaps most effective on the money down, going 11-of-12 passing for 117 yards, with seven of Texas’ third-down conversions coming from his right arm.

Texas converted on seven consecutive third downs in the third quarter, the first four coming on the opening drive in the half that ended with a touchdown and started the massive second half for the Longhorns.

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(Sam Khan Jr.) Texas-Oklahoma takeaways: Longhorns topple No. 6 Sooners to reignite College Football Playoff hopes

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Arch Manning and Texas finally figured some things out on Saturday afternoon and picked up their first Power 4 win of the season in a 23-6 victory against No. 6 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. With the win, the Longhorns, who already have losses to Ohio State and Florida, were able to quiet the chorus of skepticism around them — at least for another week — and perhaps most importantly, get the win they needed to stay in the College Football Playoff hunt.

“I think what we saw today was Texas fight,” coach Steve Sarkisian said postgame on ESPN. “It was a gut-check coming out of last week’s game.” The Longhorns trailed 6-3 at halftime after a frustrating first half, featuring penalties at crucial times, a missed 55-yard field goal and an inability to get out of their own way. On their first three third downs of the game, Texas faced third-and-23, third-and-12 and third-and-30 as the Longhorns’ vulnerable offensive line again struggled.

But Manning and Co., who got the ball to open the second half, methodically strung together a 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped by a 12-yard touchdown throw from Manning to DeAndre Moore Jr. to take a 10-6 lead. The offensive line was able to settle in, the run game popped for the first time all afternoon and Manning went a perfect 6-for-6 passing as he looked more the part of the behemoth preseason expectations thrust upon him.

The Longhorns put the exclamation point on the afternoon with a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown from sophomore receiver Ryan Niblett in the fourth quarter with about 10 minutes to play. Manning finished 21-of-27 passing for 166 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions, in addition to using his legs at critical times to pick up 34 yards on four carries.

Defensively, the Longhorns made things tough on Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, who was playing just 17 days removed from surgery on his throwing hand. Texas finished with five sacks, and Oklahoma had 258 yards of total offense to the Longhorns’ 302. The victory is Texas’ first in the SEC this season and could give the Longhorns the momentum boost they need.

Manning outplays Mateer

Well, that wasn’t on my Bingo card, but it just goes to show what happens in rivalries. Coming off his brief layoff because of a hand injury, Mateer struggled with his ball placement all afternoon — and at least some of that has to be pinned on his health. However, he has had issues with processing all year long, and he did again Saturday against a very athletic and motivated Texas defense. Mateer can be guilty of throwing into a crowd without really reading the field, as his aggressiveness has bordered on recklessness all season.

He’s still an interesting NFL Draft prospect, especially from a physical standpoint — his arm talent and rush ability are impossible to ignore. But I question how ready Mateer is for an NFL offense because of his sloppy processing.

Poor processing has also been the main issue for Manning this season. He certainly had his share of rough moments in the first half Saturday, too, but the second half featured some of his best football to date. Manning was hardly scintillating, but he took care of the ball, kept Texas out of problematic situations and was great on third down. As we noted last week, Manning is probably better viewed as a 2027 NFL Draft prospect at this point. Ultimately, we might say the same about Mateer.  analyst

Mateer plays through injury

Mateer played the game with a brace on that right wrist and thumb. The injured hand was further damaged in the game when he got cut by a helmet on a hit in the first half. Blood was seen on his pants, and he cleaned it up with a towel but didn’t miss a play.

It’s hard to know how much the surgically-repaired thumb played into Mateer’s performance, though the surgery was less than three weeks ago, but his mistakes were costly for the Sooners. His first two interceptions were forced throws and poor decisions. The second one, late in the first half, came after poor clock management from the coaches and may have cost the Sooners much-needed points. The third turnover in the second half was simply a bad throw that was behind his receiver on a third down (a down that was replayed after a hold wiped out a big Mateer run).

Mateer has been known to make bad turnovers by trying to force things in. He had two more near-interceptions in the first half and close calls in the second. It marked the fourth time in five games this year he’s thrown an interception. A backward swing pass throw in the fourth quarter that became a fumble sent an Oklahoma drive way back, and the ensuing punt was returned for a Texas score, all but closing the door. In a battle of two much-hyped quarterbacks for different reasons, Oklahoma didn’t have the better one.

Manning shows poise …

Manning played a good, clean game after last week’s loss at Florida. His numbers weren’t eye-popping, but he played smart football and didn’t put the ball in harm’s way, committing no turnovers and taking only one sack. The game could have gone awry quickly because the offensive line struggled heavily in the first quarter and Oklahoma’s defense suffocated Texas with its speed by flying to the ball. Manning had to settle for short passes and punts on Texas’ first two possessions.

But Texas did not punt on its final eight drives. Six of those possessions ended in scoring opportunities, the other two in kneeldowns to end each half. Manning was accurate with the ball and used his legs effectively when needed. It’s not the explosive offense that we might have expected to start the season, but Manning and the Longhorns grew up and showed some progress on Saturday. — Sam Khan, college football writer

… and the Longhorns offense follows

The Texas offense matured on Saturday. After an awful start, filled with penalties and three third-and-long situations, Manning and the Longhorns picked themselves up and methodically began moving the ball. Texas RB Quintrevion Wisner was elusive, finding his way through the Sooners’ defense and breaking some tackles along the way to give Texas the consistent ground presence it desperately needed to keep OU’s defensive line keying on Manning.

After going 0-for-3 on those first three third downs, Texas converted nine of its next 12, including six in a row to start the second half. After a first half that resulted in just three points, Texas didn’t panic. The Longhorns stayed patient, took what Oklahoma gave them, didn’t put the ball in harm’s way and played winning football.

The offensive line played much better in the second half than it did in the first, giving Wisner running lanes and Manning the time he needed to find open receivers or scramble. Manning didn’t force much but created plays outside the pocket when needed and even ran for a pair of first downs on the ground.

The Longhorns aren’t going to wow anyone with their skill talent this year. This is not quite the Texas offense we saw when Bijan Robinson, Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell or Matthew Golden were suiting up for the burnt orange and white. But if the defense continues to play the way it has shown it’s capable of, the offense can do enough to win games. — Khan

Longhorns defense applies the pressure they needed

Texas’ defense showed up in a big way on Saturday. After getting pushed around a week ago by Florida, the Longhorns bounced back by pressuring Mateer early and often. Those pressures contributed to some of Mateer’s interceptions by speeding the quarterback up, which resulted in errant throws. But the Longhorns also did a superb job of corralling Mateer in the run game and not letting him create explosive plays with his legs, which he can do. The one big play Mateer generated on the ground — a 33-yard run — was negated by a holding call.

Texas sophomore edge rusher Colin Simmons had his second consecutive big game after breaking out last week against the Gators. On the back end of the defense, Manny Muhammad (two interceptions), Michael Taaffe, Jelani McDonald and Graceson Littleton (one interception) played disciplined and got to the football consistently. It’s the third time in four years of the Brent Venables era that Pete Kwiatkowski’s Longhorns defense has held Oklahoma without a touchdown. — Khan

Texas’ playcalling topples Oklahoma

Oklahoma’s defense came into the game leading or in the top five in the country in almost every major stat, but after the first quarter and especially in the second half, Texas’ offense was better. Both head coaches call the plays in this part of the game, and Sark was simply on top of Venables.

The head Longhorn played it safe with Manning early with short and outside passes, but that opened up the middle of the field more. Texas runs that went for nothing in the first half began to consistently pick up three, four, five yards in the second, creating manageable third downs. Texas punted on the first two drives of the game and then didn’t punt again. The next six drives ended in scores or field goal attempts. — Vanini

What’s next for Texas?

The Longhorns (4-2) will hit the road for two more weeks, going to Kentucky and Mississippi State before returning home Nov. 1 to host Vanderbilt. After the Longhorns saved their season, there’s a chance for them to build some momentum in the coming weeks if they can continue to grow. If they’re able to win the next two, the Longhorns can keep themselves in the College Football Playoff conversation heading into November. — Khan

What’s next for Oklahoma?

After a 5-0 start, the gauntlet has begun for the Sooners. They travel to South Carolina next week, then play five consecutive teams that were ranked in the top 15 entering Saturday: Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and LSU. A path to the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff is still there, but the margin for error has shrunken dramatically at the midway point of the season. — Vanini

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Texas bullies Oklahoma

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Steve Sarkisian had a vision for this game. It wasn’t a vision many of us shared or would have believed could find success, but boy did it ever manifest on the field. It was as obvious to Sark and the Longhorn staff as it was to everyone else that the key mismatch in this game which could single-handedly cripple the Texas effort was the offensive line in pass protection against the Oklahoma defensive line.

So Sark went back to the outside zone play, to multiple tight end sets, to everything that looked so grim in the non-conference schedule and finally found purchase when it mattered most. The Longhorns controlled the ball and ultimately dominated the game. Oklahoma only got 10 possessions and Texas just nine, one of which was spent kneeling the ball. However the Longhorns made the most of those possessions, slowly and methodically taking Oklahoma apart over the course of the second half before closing them out 23-6.

Quick thought no. 1: Texas withstood the first punch…

…and I think John Mateer re-injured his thumb landing that punch. Perhaps not literally, but he was in bad shape by the end of this game. Overall Texas actually matched OU’s energy early. There was a pre-game scuffle going into the tunnel and the Longhorns clearly came out ready to fight. After a few jitters and false start penalties on early drives nearly had Game Thread Man curled up in the fetal position, the Longhorns settled in and moved the football time and time again.

The last real punch Oklahoma had to throw was on the drive just before the half. A few more quick slants moved the chains on third downs, a few runs slipped a tackle and broke free for yardage, and suddenly it looked like the Sooners would go up 9-3 before the half.

Under the pressure of that moment, the Sooners first let precious seconds drip off the clock before finally calling timeout with only 10 seconds remaining to preserve the chance to take a shot at the red zone. Then Oklahoma came out in 12 personnel and tried to fire off an obvious deep shot before settling for the field goal, which resulted in the second Mateer interception to Manny Muhammad.

OU didn’t really have any punches left to throw after missing on that opportunity. The rest of the game was Sark working em over with body shots before delivering the knockout blow on Ryan Niblett’s punt return.

Quick thought no. 2: Texas dominated the lines of scrimmage

Dominated. The Longhorns out-rushed the Sooners 136 to 48. Oklahoma’s dreaded D-line managed just one sack although they did get 12 tackles for loss, many of those sniffing out early Texas screens. Texas had five sacks and seven tackles for loss. Early on the Sooners were having a solid day on third downs, but after half time Texas started squeezing the middle of the field and dropping backers into the slants and spots Mateer was counting on.

Oklahoma was 5-10 on third down in the first half and sustained a few solid drives for field goals but went 1-7 on third down in the second half and the offensive well went totally dry. Texas got a ton of hits on Mateer over the course of the game and his play deteriorated with each fresh bruise and cut.

As I anticipated back when Mateer signed with Oklahoma, there were going to be obvious issues for them against teams that dropped back into coverage and spied him, or played a base Dime package. Texas didn’t opt for the latter, curiously enough, but Pete Kwiatkowski still punished Oklahoma’s total inability to run the football without involving their beat-up quarterback. Colin Simmons had a terrific day as a traditional pass-rusher and as a spy, finishing with 2.5 sacks.

Oklahoma’s running backs got 15 carries in this game and produced 42 yards, good for 2.8 ypc. No rushing touchdowns, obviously. The Longhorn D-line actually had the greater impact on this game than the vaunted Sooner D-line.

Quick thought no. 3: Sark’s master stroke

The Brent Venables gameplan for this contest was pretty obvious. The Sooners had a massive advantage up front, a questionable secondary in terms of coverage, and a strong overall defense. Texas’ best bet to score was likely to come on Arch Manning making something happen throwing deep early and often or scrambling for his life from spread sets.

Oklahoma’s gameplan reflected that understanding. The Sooners did not blitz much, often trapping Texas with tackles for loss when Sark tried to catch Oklahoma blitzing only to find Venables maintaining gameplan discipline and keeping his defenders back in coverage. The Sooners played a 4-down Flyover as expected, kept the Longhorns in front of them, and trusted the D-line to make Sark’s normal shot-taking a bad bet. That might have worked, on the single deep, play-action bomb Sark dialed up, Oklahoma did get a sack.

But that wasn’t Sark’s gameplan. Knowing Oklahoma would flood the deep field with defensive backs and dare Texas to win with sustained drives running and throwing underneath, Sark devised a gameplan to do exactly that.

Tre Wisner ended up being huge in this effort, his patient running on outside zone creased the Sooners early and often while he caught a number of checkdowns that were instrumental in staying ahead of the chains. He finished with 22 carries for 94 yards at 4.3 ypc with another five catches on five targets for 34 yards. That’s two years in a row in which Wisner has absolutely taken it to the Sooners, which he can feast on for the rest of his life.

Manning had an outstanding game. Blessed with the opportunity to work underneath and often on schedule, Arch was 21-27 for a modest 166 passing yards at 6.1 ypa with one touchdown and zero picks. He added another four carries for 34 yards on the ground, much of that on a 29-yarder to convert a third down which he ended by waving goodbye to departing Sooner fans.

Quick thought no. 4: 1,000 days…

This marked the second consecutive year, and the third year in four, that Oklahoma has failed to score a touchdown against the Longhorn defense in the Red River Shootout. Regardless of what happens next year, it’ll be at least 1,000 days in between Oklahoma touchdowns in the Cotton Bowl. 1,000 days. That can’t be going down too well in Norman.

Mateer was tough as nails to play in this game after weeks of hype and speculation about his attempt. The Sooners didn’t go easy on him either, since there is no Oklahoma run game to speak of, Mateer had to play hero-ball once more. He went 20-38 for 202 yards at 5.3 ypa while throwing zero touchdowns and three interceptions and eating five sacks and countless hits. He added another 14 carries on the ground (including the sacks) for just five yards at 0.4 ypc.

Once Texas knew the Sooners didn’t have any deep shot dimension to their game either, the Longhorns started sitting on underneath routes and forcing Mateer to hold the ball against pressure, which went very poorly for Oklahoma.

Two of the interceptions came on the same sort of blitz, a type that Pat Narduzzi popularized back at Michigan State in the 2010s that is a very aggressive pressure. The idea is to send six pass-rushers and then play a zone behind it with the cornerbacks bailing to deep 1/3s, a safety playing the deep middle, and then two other defenders on either hash reading the quarterback’s eyes so they can jump any hot routes.

The idea is the ball will necessarily be out fast and the hot defenders will be there when it does with the three-deep defenders in position to prevent any disasters. It’s hard to imagine how they could have generated a better return for the Texas defense.

PK’s normal bend don’t break approach paired very well with these aggressive shots. Another very Todd Orlando-ish blitz brought Michael Taaffe from Denton and the Longhorn safety was able to trip up Mateer as he tried to escape, killing one of a very few remotely promising second half drives for the Sooners. Texas needed a dominant performance from the defense and got one. Now Oklahoma will have to live with yet another beatdown at their hands.

Quick thought no. 5: What’s next?

For Texas things are tough but straightforward. This stretch of games away from Austin continues with trips to Kentucky and Mississippi before hosting Vanderbilt back in Texas. Then a bye week before a stretch of rivalry games against Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas A&M. It’s going to be very difficult to win out and finish 10-2, but it’s still possible, and whatever else happens the Longhorns got a win in the biggest game of the season. These next few will be tough but if the Longhorns can avoid taking a loss before the bye week, maybe a playoff run is possible.

Texas will look to build off the success of the offensive line today with new freshman starter Nick Brooks, who probably silenced at least a few doubts with a very solid performance overall. The run game and multiple-tight end sets get another week of work and fine-tuning with the chance of Texas bringing back the deep shots against opponents that aren’t flush with pass-rushers across the D-line. Running back depth will be a big point of emphasis after Wisner gave up his body to turn in this performance.

For Oklahoma, it’s a dreary path from here. The Sooners have now been exposed as having no run game outside of running the quarterback, who is beat to hell right now and nursing a broken thumb. They also clearly have an iffy secondary and a D-line that can be pushed around.

This path will take Oklahoma to South Carolina next week, back home to host Ole Miss, then back on the road to face both Tennessee and Alabama, before concluding with a two-game home stand against Missouri and LSU. Right now Oklahoma is 5-1, but it may be a while before the Sooners can secure bowl eligibility now. Meanwhile, the golden hat stays in Austin.

 

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