Never would the college football have ever expected something like this. The Texas Longhorns with playoff hopes on the line—after being defeated in heart-breaking fashion against Florida—reignited their potential upon beating one of their historic opponents, the Oklahoma Sooners, in the Red River Rivalry game, 23-6.

The defining factor of Texas’s resilient victory was their defense. Texas’s defensive front simply overwhelmed the Sooners’ offensive line, allowing only 33 yards rushing and 6/17 third-down conversions. The Longhorns pressured potential Heisman contender quarterback John Mateer all game long, sacking him a total of five times and intercepting the ball three times.

Mateer’s disappointing return and play could be due to his thumb injury on his throwing hand. However, after the game, he dismissed his poor performance and thought he should’ve played and prepared better. He missed last week’s game against Kent State while Michael Hawkins Jr. took the reins, leading the Sooners to a 44-0 win.

As for the Longhorns’ offense, Arch Manning wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but he managed his 11-man group in a way that, thankfully, didn’t result in turnovers. Manning had one of his most accurate games against a Top 25 opponent, going 21/27 for 166 yards and one touchdown to DeAndre Moore Jr. for 12 yards. Running back Quintrevion Wisner tore through the Sooners’ defense with 97 yards rushing through 23 attempts.

UT’s special teams dealt the finishing blow on the Sooners with Mason Shipley went 3/3 on field goals, and Ryan Niblett put the nail in the coffin with a 75 yard punt return touchdown.

With the Golden Hat on the Longhorns’ heads, they can rest easy after a dominant shutdown against one of their most hated rivals. Next week, they’ll face inferior competition as they travel to Lexington to face the Kentucky Wildcats (2-3) in an SEC divisional matchup.

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