3 takeaways from OU's improbable Red River Rivalry win over the 'Horns

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns delivered another instant classic in the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday afternoon. Despite being unranked and heavy underdogs, OU won the day in Dallas, Texas, with a 27-24 walk-off victory over the favored and top-ranked ‘Horns.

Brent Venables’ Sooners are now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in SEC play, while Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns fall to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the SEC. Venables has improved to 2-3 against Texas, while Sarkisian is now 3-3 against Oklahoma.

A wild game in South Dallas ended up going OU’s way, with a number of huge plays and star performances worth writing home about. Oklahoma’s defense picked off Arch Manning twice, while John Mateer played a turnover-free game at the State Fair of Texas. This matchup has a way of seeing the wacky happen, and that was certainly the case for the 122nd edition of the game on Saturday.

While this game brings so many new and old storylines, let’s take a look at three things that can be taken away after an improbable thriller in Dallas.

This Oklahoma team is still flawed. Even with the upset win, the Sooners still have a lot to fix. The offense was largely ineffective for most of the game. The running game struggled in the first half. OU won the special teams battle but made some mistakes there as well. The defense gave up some things, but largely played a whale of a game against the No. 1 team in the nation.

Despite those flaws, the Sooners were good enough against a loaded Longhorns squad this week. Oklahoma hung tough, and it made the plays it had to have when they had to have them. While the offense wasn’t at the level it needs to be, it moved the ball better in the second quarter, and that carried over into the second half. The running game at least had a pulse, and Mateer looked a bit more settled. Notably, he also made two brilliant throws to get OU into field goal range for the game-winner. Special teams was a major factor, and the Sooners made huge plays to swing the tide in that department.

We don’t know what the future holds for this team. Oklahoma will face a brutal schedule, and they still have plenty of warts. However, this weekend was a step forward; give Venables, his staff, and the team their flowers for that.

The Sooners gave some things up on defense. Manning threw three touchdown passes, and all three were wide open. The Longhorns developed a rhythm running the ball before Oklahoma got back on top of it. If one or two things don’t go their way, the Sooners lose this game.

However, the defense played incredible football, considering the circumstances. An offense that didn’t give them much to work with meant the defense had to win the day, and they did. The two interceptions off of Manning were gigantic, and the defense just kept giving the Sooners chances, keeping them in the game all afternoon. Was it perfect? No. But with all the talent on the other sideline, and with the way the defense has to carry the program most of the time right now, I certainly won’t be critical of them. They were the catalyst, and they earned this win.

This win in a big spot for Venables and the Sooners. It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough. That goes for him, Mateer, Ben Arbuckle, and just about all of the other major names at OU Football. They’ve been heavily criticized for almost a month now, and this was a strong response.

Now, OU has to use this victory to fully turn the season around by improving week by week and building on this foundation. Twice in the last decade (2016 and 2020), the Sooners have had poor starts to the season that ended up with a very strong finish. In that same timeframe, OU has had two seasons (2022 and 2024) where the adversity got to them, and they wilted down the stretch. Venables and Oklahoma have to prove they’re the former. The Sooners cannot afford a hangover after a big win, as the one-loss Kentucky Wildcats are coming to town in a week.

A shocking win over Texas has brought the Sooners’ season back to life. How they build on this will determine where this season ultimately goes for Oklahoma.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: 3 takeaways from OU’s improbable Red River Rivalry win over the ‘Horns