Who will win the rushing battle?Over the past seven matchups in Dallas, the team that rushes the ball better wins the game. Both teams are not superb at running the football, but you typically never go against history, especially in the Cotton Bowl.
Oklahoma football will take on No. 1 Texas in the 122nd Red River Rivalry game Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ABC. The Sooners and the Longhorns have a long list of historically-great running attacks in this matchup, however both are entering with a less-than-ideal rushing attack. However, history says the better-rushing team typically wins this game.
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Texas has two high-performing running backs in former OU RB Hollywood Smothers and former OU RB commit Raleek Brown, however Texas is the 81st-best rushing team.
Though, the Longhorns have a leg-up on the Sooners as OU has the eighth-worst rushing attack in the country.
Both defenses are in the top 50 in limiting opposing rushing attacks, which either spells trouble for whoever loses the rushing attack or the streak itself. This will be a defensive game, but whoever can figure out how to run the ball might crack the code to winning this game.
Texas’ pass rush vs. OU’s struggling O-line
Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons is a monster and the Oklahoma offensive line has struggled mightily protecting quarterback John Mateer. Again, spelling trouble for the Sooners.
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Simmons has 7.5 sacks this season, including five sacks last week in a road win at No. 14 Tennessee. He’s likely the top defensive prospect in the NFL Draft. He’s also likely rushing OU left tackle Ryan Fodje, unless star left tackle Michael Fasusi returns from injury.
While Simmons will likely terrorize the left side of the offensive line, the Sooners have a bigger problem on the other side as right tackle E’Marion Harris is the worst SEC tackle in pass protection situations through four games, according to PFF.
There’s no Simmons on the other side, but Harris has struggled in all four games for the Sooners this season.
OU’s pass protection has held up fine this year, even though the Sooners have given up eight sacks this season. It will be hard for the Sooners to plan for the disruption that the Longhorns will likely bring, especially with Simmons off the edge, but this could force OU quarterback John Mateer into quicker reads and decisions, giving the Longhorns more of an advantage.
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Can OU’s defense score?
It’s no secret the Oklahoma defense has carried this team for the past few seasons. However, the only way the Sooners have been able to pull off upsets in big spots has been because of the defense’s ability to score, instead of OU’s struggling offense.
For OU to pull off another upset, the Sooners need their defense to make a play and possibly score.
In last season’s road wins at Tennessee and at Alabama, the Sooners were able to force plenty of turnovers and score a defensive touchdown in each of those games, proving to be the difference in a win and a loss for OU.
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OU has had struggles getting turnovers on defense, and that can partially be attributed to the Sooners’ ability to minimize plays from opposing offenses and force more run plays than pass plays. It’s an odd dynamic, but if OU can get a defensive score this week, the Sooners could pull off a Red River upset.
