Sooners hold on for 45-40 win over Texas

Both Bob Stoops and quarterback Baker Mayfield said earlier in the week that receiver Dede Westbrook was playing better as of late because he was finally 100 percent healthy after a minor pull, but not even they could’ve predicted a performance like Westbrook had on Saturday. OU’s Austin Seibert toed a 35-yard field goal with less than two minutes remaining, and the Sooners held on.

Here we have two Texas defenders colliding with Oklahoma’s Geno Lewis more than a second before the ball is even in the immediate vicinity.

Oklahoma isn’t having the greatest season either, but at least they’ve got winning momentum going in to their game against the Longhorns after an epic 52-46 battle over TCU. “We gave up 45 points and can’t give up those big plays on defense”.

After underthrowing former quarterback Jerrod Heard on a deep route to open the second half, freshman quarterback Shane Buechele hit a streaking Devin Duvernay up the sideline on a vertical switch route for a 63-yard touchdown, reminiscent of Marcus Johnson in the 2013 Red River Showdown.

Jordan Thomas made several NFL-caliber plays to deflect passes, but also let two long touchdowns get by him. “I’ve been waiting a long time to actually come away with a win against these guys”. The LSU transfer also has missed three of his last four field goal attempts.

Fortunately for the OU offense, a group responsible for three first-half turnovers, the Sooners were locked and loaded with a response. Obo Okoronkwo sacked Hill twice on TCU’s last possession.

Texas was unprepared and underperformed in its Week 4 matchup with Oklahoma State, falling 49-31 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Like the Sooners, Texas has allowed a lot of passing yards (275 average).

As for this game at hand, it’ll probably look like a Kliff Kingsbury special where the teams score 100 combined points and the last offense with the ball wins it. Football purists need not check in. Strong demoted former defensive coordinator Vance Bedford on Monday, the same day Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel reported Strong is close to losing his job at the end of the season.

Reserve quarterback Tyrone Swoopes is handling business for Texas in short yardage and red zone situations. OU didn’t seem to have an answer for Swoopes a year ago.

Here are twotruths: Oklahoma’s offense is nearly impossible to stop when it gets decent protection, and Oklahoma’s offense is just about worthless when it doesn’t get good blocking.

They rushed for 313 yards and never trailed. Oklahoma once again enters the game as a heavy favorite. Needless to say, both teams need this win on Saturday for a variety of reasons. Translation: there is no more room for error on Strong’s part with Houston hot commodity coach Tom Herman waiting in the wings. Sophomore running back Joe Mixon and junior running back Samaje Perine continue to be a dynamic 1-2 punch, combining for 587 yards and six touchdowns on the season.