Costly turnovers, penalties turn No. 1 Texas' loss to Oklahoma a case of Red River regret

Is the season over? Did Saturday’s Red River Rivalry become a Red River Regret for No. 1 Texas football, which won’t be able to call itself No. 1 come Sunday afternoon when the new rankings come out? Saturday’s 27-24 loss to archrival Oklahoma – on Tate Sandell’s 47-yard walk-off field goal surely will cost Texas its poll position, but not its SEC or College Football Playoff ambitions. 

As rivalry games go, this one was up there: a struggling OU team with an embattled coach and an embattled quarterback trailing 17-7 at halftime to the top-ranked team in the country. The Sooners rewrote Saturday’s script over the final two quarters. And the loss stings, even hurts, but it doesn’t mean Texas can’t end up in the SEC title game come December. The Longhorns’ margin of error has just been wiped out, that’s all.

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Where we thought an OU win would rank among the Red River Rivalry’s top upsets

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Arch Manning’s picks doom No. 1 Texas in walk-off loss to Sooners

We saw two big Arch Manning interceptions and some costly penalties. We saw Gianni Spetic’s first missed field goal as a Longhorn, Jermaine Bishop‘s first career touchdown catch and we saw Texas blow a 10-point halftime advantage by going punt, punt, punt, punt, interception to start the second half.

Here’s what else we saw during Saturday’s loss:

Fourth-quarter miscues will tarnish Arch Manning’s legacy

Manning had a chance to bolster his bona fides as a Longhorns legend, but his two fourth-quarter interceptions helped seal Oklahoma’s 27-24 upset win. The Texas quarterback had moments of brilliance; however, the mistakes in the cauldron of the Cotton Bowl won’t be forgotten by Texas fans, especially if the Longhorns fall short of the CFP.

For the day he was 19 of 31 for 260 yards, three touchdowns and two picks. His OU counterpart, John Mateer, was 18 of 26 for 155 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Texas’ defense remains elite, but needs some help

The Texas defense remains good enough to beat any team in the country, which is small solace for the Longhorns after their stunning loss to Oklahoma. It held OU to 238 yards of offense and gave Manning and the Texas attack chance after chance. But the Longhorns didn’t force any turnovers, and taking away the ball remains the most critical ability of any defense.

The Sooners connected on two big pass plays on their final drive to set up the win. For the game, the Longhorns outgained OU (382-238 total yards, outrushed the Sooners 122-83, threw for more yards (260-155), had more first downs, averaged 6.1 yards per play vs. OU’s 4.2 mark, had more sacks, more tackles for loss – and came up short.

Special teams woes keep plaguing Texas

In its last game, Texas gave up a punt return for a touchdown for the first time in 13 years and failed to cover an onside kick late against Tennessee that could have cost Texas the win. Against Oklahoma, the Longhorns allowed a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown for the first time since 2009. Combined with continued small mistakes like a 28-yard punt from Mac Chiumento and two timeouts wasted on lineup issues, special teams played a big role in one of the biggest Red River Rivalry upsets.

Up next for Texas: Florida

It’ll be an 11 a.m. kickoff next Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium on either ABC or ESPN. It’s a rematch, of course, of the Gators’ 29-21 win last year in Gainesville that ended up costing Texas a CFP berth.

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This article originally published at Costly turnovers, penalties turn No. 1 Texas’ loss to Oklahoma a case of Red River regret.