Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. (9) throws the ball as Auburn Tigers tackle Oklahoma Sooners at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. The annual showdown between Oklahoma and Texas does not want a lot in the best way of additional juice.
“I feel it is simply within the filth,” Oklahoma linebacker Kobie McKinzie mentioned of why level spreads do not matter within the Pink River Rivalry. “No matter occurred there over these a whole lot of years is simply there. Like, you simply hit the sector, it feels prefer it’s onerous to breathe. There’s nowhere to go.”
There shall be loads on the road Saturday when the top-ranked Longhorns tackle the No. 18 Sooners in Dallas in one of the crucial distinctive rivalry video games within the sport.
The sport is performed in the course of the State Honest of Texas with the gang cut up 50-50 down the 50-yard line.
It hasn’t fairly been performed for “a whole lot” of years, like McKinzie mentioned, but it surely has been held for practically a century at its present dwelling.
The Longhorns (5-0, 1-0 Southeastern Convention) come into the sport as heavy favorites, although even large level spreads have not stored the competition from being aggressive.
Prior to now 10 regular-season conferences, just one — Texas’ 49-0 win in 2022 — was determined by greater than eight factors.
“It is a rivalry sport,” Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian mentioned. “We’re favored or we’re not, it does not matter. Data and issues do not matter in video games like this.”
The Longhorns anticipate to have beginning quarterback Quinn Ewers again for the primary time since he sustained an stomach damage in opposition to UTSA on Sept. 14.
Arch Manning began the previous two video games for Texas.
“We will monitor (Ewers) every day simply to type of see how he continues to progress, however I be ok with how he was (Monday),” Sarkisian mentioned. “I be ok with him going into Saturday, however that is still to be seen.”
Ewers is 1-1 in opposition to the Sooners, throwing for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns with one interception within the Longhorns’ 2022 rout, after which passing for 346 yards and a landing with two interceptions in Oklahoma’s 34-30 win final season.
The Sooners (4-1, 1-1) come into the sport as one of many prime groups within the nation in forcing turnovers with 13 — eight fumble recoveries and 5 interceptions. Texas turned the ball over seven instances (three misplaced fumbles, 4 interceptions).
Whereas the Longhorns wish to get their quarterback again in opposition to the Sooners, Oklahoma is hoping their freshman starter can get extra settled in after taking on within the SEC opener for a struggling Jackson Arnold.
Michael Hawkins Jr. is in line to turn into the primary true freshman quarterback to start out for the Sooners in opposition to the Longhorns.
Hawkins was 10 of 15 for 161 yards and no interceptions and he rushed for 69 yards and a rating in his first profession begin, Sept. 28 at Auburn in Oklahoma’s 27-21 win.
McKinzie was impressed with how Hawkins has dealt with the problem, including that the quarterback’s demeanor figures to serve him nicely within the showdown with Texas.
“In the event you see every other quarterback on Sundays and Saturdays, in the event that they make a mistake, it actually seems like their world simply ended,” McKinzie mentioned. “And like, he simply, ‘OK, subsequent play. OK, I tousled, subsequent play.’ That is critical. He actually seems the identical each collection.”
–Subject Degree Media