By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer
AUSTIN, Texas — It’s a given that, regardless of the records, the Texas-Oklahoma game is one that always is circled on the college football calendar. So when the two square off Saturday in the AT&T Red River Showdown at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas with the Longhorns ranked 11th and the Sooners sixth in the Associated Press poll, the stakes are even higher than usual.
With so much on the line and the 115-year history of the Red River Showdown, it’s a challenge for the coaches from both teams to keep their teams on even keels.
Texas coach Tom Herman, who preaches the “1-0” mantra for every drill in every practice and for every snap of every game, understands[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] the importance of this game, but also put it into context after his team finished it final, 90-minute practice for the Sooners on Thursday.
“I’ve told them to, you know … they don’t give you one-and-a-half wins for beating Oklahoma. They don’t give you extra points or anything like that,” Herman said. “But we know the significance of this game and we embrace it.
“We’ve been very focused, with a lot of attention to detail. I’m happy with the way we ended the week in terms of our physical preparation today.”
This will be the third time the two teams have played in the past year, with Texas winning at the Cotton Bowl last October and Oklahoma coming out on top in the Big 12 Championship game in December.
For some reason, things seem a little more intense this time around. It feels like there’s something in the air — everyone is expecting a knock-down, drag-out heavyweight fight.
“(In) any battle we’ve ever had with these guys, there’s been a ton of momentum shifts back and forth,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said about the matchup with Texas. “There’s been a lot of great plays with both sides and games that have normally come down [to the wire].
“Just staying level-headed, even-keeled throughout this entire thing is important. It’s going to be intense and heated, but I think you’ve got to stay focused.”
Herman confirmed Thursday that the Longhorns will be without safety Caden Sterns, nickel back Josh Thompson, cornerback Jalen Green and running back Jordan Whittington because of injury.
Wide receiver Collin Johnson has been cleared to play after missing the past three games with a hamstring injury, and we will be a welcome addition.
“Some teams have decided to play Collin with man-to-man coverage, and I’m sure we’ll see some of that this week,” Herman said. “We’ve got to take advantage of that when they do because we feel it’s a pretty good matchup in favor of Texas.”
Riley said Monday that Sooners’ left tackle Erik Swenson and right tackle Adrian Ealy are both “highly questionable” for this game. Oklahoma has had to cobble together five different offensive line combinations in its first five games.
“It’s not ideal, but we’ve been able to survive a little bit early with all those different lineups,” he said, “and what it’s given us is more guys can play different positions.”
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