Vitals: Oklahoma vs. Texas

Everything you need to know about the annual Red River Rivalry in Dallas.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:58 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Sep 30, 2010 3:38 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 21 Texas Longhorns
Oct. 2, 2:30 p.m. CST
Cotton Bowl; Dallas, Texas

Statistical leaders:

	Oklahoma	Texas
Passing	Landry Jones 109/169, 1,221 yards, 9 TDs, 3 INTs	Garrett Gilbert 87/139, 885 yards, 4 TDs, 4 INTs
Rushing	DeMarco Murray 105 carries, 436 yards, 7 TDs	Fozzy Whitaker 38 carries, 182 yards, 2 TDs
Receiving	Ryan Broyles 41 receptions, 482 yards, 4 TDs	James Kirkendoll 15 receptions, 201 yards, 1 TD

Injury Report:

Texas: RB Tre’ Newton (hip, questionable); RB Cody Johnson (ankle, questionable); WR Gregory Timmons (neck, out indefinitely); TE Blaine Irby (neck, out indefinitely); TE Trey Graham (knee, out for season); RB Vondrell McGee (suspension, out for season)

Oklahoma: CB Jamell Fleming (ankle, probable); RB Roy Finch (ankle, questionable); RB Brennan Clay (concussion, questionable); OL Tavaris Jeffries (suspension, out indefinitely); LB Austin Box (back, out)

Where to find it?

On TV: ABC

On Radio: Sooners Sports Network

What you need to know?

It’s the Red River Rivalry, the game both OU and Texas circle on their calendars every year. The context of this year’s matchup changed significantly after last week, when the Sooners struggled to their third close win of the season and the Longhorns suffered a 22-point loss to unranked UCLA.

Because Texas’ loss dropped it 14 spots to No. 21 in the nation, this game now becomes a must-win if the Sooners want to keep their national championship hopes alive. A loss to a team outside the top 20 would drop OU too low for it to recover, particularly without any more marquee matchups for the rest of the season.

Who to watch?

In their loss to UCLA last week, the Longhorns’ run defense was exposed, particularly against counter plays. The Bruins finished with 264 rushing yards, and two different running backs had more than 95 yards and 5.9 yards per carry. UCLA does not have athletes of the caliber of DeMarco Murray, so if Texas does not fix that problem Murray could have a huge day.

True freshman Kenny Stills has also made significant strides over the last few weeks and seems to have locked up the No. 2 wide receiver position behind Ryan Broyles. Cameron Kenney seemed to be entrenched at the other outside position, but the Sooners benched him after he dropped a wide-open touchdown pass against Cincinnati. Dejuan Miller and Trey Franks ended saw an increase in action, which could carry over to Saturday.

The OU secondary has struggled at times this season, but so has the Texas passing game. First-year starting quarterback Garrett Gilbert has thrown the same number of interceptions as touchdowns, and the Longhorns’ leading receiver has only 15 catches all year. It will be a rare case of weakness vs. weakness, and whichever team's unit wins that matchup could decide the game’s outcome.