Five Questions – Oklahoma 2016

 

By Steve Habel, Senior Editor

DALLAS – If you look at the AT&T Red River Showdown as a heavyweight fight, Texas — no matter how bad it looks coming into its annual rivalry game with Oklahoma — always has a puncher’s chance.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

That notion was illustrated this past Saturday inside the Cotton Bowl when a capacity-plus crowd of 92,100 fans watched as No. 20 Oklahoma traded haymakers with the Longhorns on its way to a 45-40 victory. This game, however, was more about who would be the last man standing rather than one squad actually being better than the other.

The loss marked the third straight for the reeling Longhorns, who were once ranked as high as 11th in the country. Texas — save for a glorious six-day period in September when it beat Notre Dame and Texas-El Paso — has disappointed and continues on a mind-numbing, downward path.

Oklahoma had its own difficulties coming into the 111th edition of its series with Texas, losing two games (albeit to top-10 teams) in the season’s first five weeks and suffering a truckload of injuries in the process.

The Sooners also had a burr under their collective saddle after the Longhorns handed them their only loss of the 2015 regular season. As a result, they had to watch Texas head coach Charlie Strong don the famous Golden Hat trophy and smile like the Cheshire Cat.

Record performances from prior weeks can all but be tossed out when Texas and Oklahoma square off. The heightened intensity of the game, the hoopla of its surroundings and the expectations of the two teams’ rabid fan base mean anything can happen at the Red River Showdown.

And such was the case on Saturday.

When Oklahoma needed to control the clock with the game in the balance in the fourth quarter, the Sooners opted for a recipe of three-yard runs and short passes rather than flashy, deep throws. The decision resulted in indefensible jabs that stung and kept the game going rather than wild swings that could leave them open for a return punch.

The focus of that late-game strategy was workhorse Samaje Perine, who ran for 214 yards on 35 carries, nine of which came on the decisive drive.

For good measure, the Sooners’ Baker Mayfield passed for 390 yards and three touchdowns. Dede Westbrook hauled in 10 passes for a 232 yards — the highest number of yards ever recorded by an Oklahoma player and the most receptions ever for a Sooners player in the history of the series. Mayfield’s 390 yards on 22-of-31 passing was also the most by a Sooners quarterback in the series.

With Texas trailing by just eight points with 10:34 to play, Oklahoma (3-2, 2-0 Big 12) chewed up 7:58 of the clock on a 15-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 39-yard field goal by Austin Seibert.

The Longhorns scored quickly, taking just 51 seconds to move to D’Onta Foreman’s 22-yard touchdown run that cut the lead to 45-40. A two-point conversion attempt failed, and Oklahoma corralled the ensuing on-side kick.

“We were able to control the ball when we had to,” Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said. “We fought all the way to the end. We had guys down at the start of the game and even more as the game went on. We’re still searching for consistency, but we made the plays we had to at the end of the game.”

The Texas defense and some shoddy clock management by Oklahoma gave the Longhorns one more chance but it needed to move 90 yards in 17 seconds with no time outs. Unfortunately, the Longhorns couldn’t produce a miracle.

“It’s not a desperate situation, but when you’ve lost three games in a row you need to win,” Strong said. “Defensively, we have to get better. We have to make teams drive on us. The big plays really hurt us today.”

Shane Buechele was 19-of-39 for 245 yards and three touchdowns for the Longhorns while Foreman racked up 159 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries for Texas.

Texas (2-3, 0-2 in Big 12 play) entered the game having forced just one turnover in its first four games, but safety Dylan Haines grabbed two interceptions in the first seven minutes of the first quarter.

Haines returned the second interception to the Oklahoma 13-yard line, and after three plays and a penalty pushed Texas back to the 16, Trent Domingue booted through a 33-yard field goal to give Texas a 3-0 lead with 5:21 to play in the first quarter.

A fumble by Foreman at the Texas 16-yard line later in the quarter garnered a short-field situation for Oklahoma and the Sooners made the best of the opportunity, needing just three plays to move to a 2-yard touchdown run by Perine.

A pair of 15-yard penalties by Oklahoma on the same play accounted for nearly half of Texas’ 69-yard scoring march on its ensuing possession, as Foreman powered over from the 1-yard line for a 10-7 Longhorns’ lead 39 seconds into the second quarter.

Mayfield hit Westbrook on a 71-yard bomb for a touchdown to return the Sooners to the lead, at 14-10, with 4:02 to play in the second quarter. It was the longest scoring pass play by the Sooners in the history of the rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas.

Domingue cut that lead to 14-13 on the final play of the half and the end of Texas’ most sustained drive of the first two quarters.

Texas reassumed its lead on its first possession of the third quarter as Buechele hit Devin Duvernay on a 63-yard touchdown pass. Duvernay, the track star who originally signed with Baylor before being released from his commitment in the wake of the scandal in Waco, was wide open behind the Sooners’ defense.

It took Oklahoma just 58 seconds to answer, driving 79 yards in three plays to a 42-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Westbrook that gave the Sooners a 21-20 advantage.

Buechele went right back to the deep ball on the Longhorns’ next possession, finding Dorian Leonard on another touchdown bomb, this one from 45 yards away as Oklahoma defender Justin Thomas lost the ball in the sun.

Mayfield scampered for a 4-yard touchdown run at the end of an eight-play, 75-yard march that put the Sooners back in front at 28-27 seven minutes into the third quarter. The big play on the drive was a 51-yard catch-and-run from Mayfield to Dahu Green after Texas cornerback Kris Boyd stopped covering Green long enough to create some space for the play to take place.

Westbrook kept getting open and Mayfield kept finding him for touchdowns. They hooked up for the third time on a 47-yard scoring connection at the 5:39 mark of the third quarter.

Just when the Sooners looked like they were ready to take control of the game, Joe Mixon muffed a punt that was recovered by Texas’ Boyd at the Oklahoma 23-yard line. But then Oklahoma’s Will Sunderland intercepted Buechele at the 7-yard line to quell the Longhorns’ scoring chance.

Perine, who’s from the Austin suburb of Pflugerville but was never offered a scholarship by the Longhorns, added to the Oklahoma lead with a 3-yard touchdown run with 11:53 to play.

But the Longhorns refused to relent, driving 67 yards in six plays, the final one a 10-yard touchdown pass from Buechele to Armanti Foreman that cut the Oklahoma lead to 42-34 with 10:34 left in regulation.

 

Did Strong taking over as defensive play-caller help Texas against the Sooners?

A new defensive attitude isn’t created in a week and expecting the Longhorns to improve against an offense as powerful, talented and varied as Oklahoma’s is, at best, wishful thinking.

“We lost the game so there wasn’t any improvement at all — we gave up 45 points,” Strong said.

Oklahoma amassed 672 yards of total offense, the second most ever in this series, as well as the most against Texas this season and fifth of all-time.

“If you look at the first half, if they don’t get that score before half, they only have seven [points],” Strong added. “And then at the start of the third quarter, our guys were in position, but they needed to cover their guys. You have to make sure to lockdown and stay on top of your guy.”

The loss marked the first time in school history that Texas allowed 45 or more points in four of the first four games of a season. It was the third straight game that the Longhorns have allowed more than 500 yards of total offense. They’ve lost all three of those games.

 

What was the biggest statistic in this game?

The Longhorns had 425 yards of offense, forced four turnovers but converted those Sooners’ miscues into just three points.

“To start the second half, I said, ‘We need more turnovers,’ because I felt like our offense was coming [together] and they were clicking,” Strong explained. “The one that hurt was at the end when the quarterback fumbled the ball and we just couldn’t get that one.”

In the four possessions that immediately started after the turnovers, Texas went three-and-out and gained one yard; ran four plays that resulted in a loss of three yards (and ended with Domingue’s field goal); had a nine-play drive that netted 23 yards before a punt; and, picked up eight yards in three snaps before a Buechele interception.

Buechele said the team is trying to keep a good attitude.

“We have to go in this week and try to get better,” he said. “It starts tomorrow. It’s hard to lose and nobody likes losing, but you can’t quit. You have to go in every week and try to get better.”

Why couldn’t Texas cover Westbrook?

Westbrook was voted the Big 12 Conference Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2015 after hauling in 46 passes for 743 yards and four touchdowns despite playing second fiddle to Sooners star receiver Sterling Shepard.

Asking any cornerback to play on an island against a receiver with Westbrook’s speed is dangerous, but with Texas forced to keep an extra defender in the box in an effort to slow down Oklahoma’s powerful running game, the Longhorns were left with little choice.

And so Westbrook kept getting open and Mayfield kept finding him for key receptions — he caught all 10 passes that were thrown his way — and back-breaking touchdowns.

“We knew that stopping Westbrook was the key to stopping Oklahoma, but we had mental breakdowns in times we couldn’t afford them,” Haines said. “We were prepared to play well — at halftime there wasn’t a play or a formation we thought we hadn’t seen. We didn’t make the plays when we needed to.”

Mayfield credited his receivers with making the plays and finding the seams in the Texas defense.

“I threw the ball up there and my receivers went up and got it most of the time,” said Mayfield, who’s from the Austin suburb of Lake Travis. “I wanted to be a part of a team that beats Texas for a long time, so this means a lot to me.”

 

Who were Texas’ best players in this game?

There were two great performances, on either side of the ball.

Foreman’s 159 rushing yards were a new career-high and the effort was his fourth 100-yard game of the season, sixth straight and the eighth of his career. He also added two touchdowns, bringing his season total to seven and his career total to 12.

That was accomplished despite playing at less-than 100 percent after suffering an abdominal injury against Oklahoma State on Oct. 1.

“We had guys stand up in the locker room and voice their opinion about this team and how good we really are but we made too many mental mistakes,” Foreman said. “Just letting people beat us deep and me fumbling the ball — we’re not going to win like that. When we get those things cleaned up, then I feel like we’ll be a good football team.”

Linebacker Anthony Wheeler led the Texas defense with a team-high 13 tackles, six of them solo stops and one for a loss. Wheeler leads the Longhorns with 44 tackles and 24 solo stops in five games. He doesn’t get the press or notoriety that fellow sophomore linebacker Malik Jefferson receives, but he may be just as important to the Longhorns.

 

What’s next for the Longhorns?

Texas limps back to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday with Iowa State (1-5, 0-3 in Big 12 play), a team that’s likely better than its record indicates. It will be the Longhorns’ first home game since Sept. 10 and my, how things have changed since the Longhorns walked off the field with a 41-7 win over UTEP.

“You go out and want to win every game, and that’s the attitude I have,” Strong said. “Whether it’s OU, or whomever it is, my goal is to win every game. I told our players we have seven games left and we just have to continue to work, get better and go get ‘em. There’s no reason why we can’t. “[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [article-offer] [/s2If]