Texas will be looking to right the ship against OU in the Red River Rivalry game where a loss would seemingly eliminate them from both the college football playoff and a shot of playing in the SEC Championship game for a second straight season. Last week's loss to the Gators at the Swamp has everybody questioning this Longhorns team mainly with how poorly Arch Manning has transitioned into the starter this season. Of course, a win over the Sooners would quiet a lot of the doubters at least for a week.
It does appear that John Mateer will return to run the explosive Oklahoma offense again, and we will see how his thumb surgery will affect the way he plays on Saturday.
NEW: Oklahoma QB John Mateer is listed as probable on the latest SEC injury report.https://t.co/xU65YUKfAj https://t.co/RHeg3JhISR pic.twitter.com/7f4NZBaXmd
— On3 (@On3sports) October 10, 2025
It will be huge for this Longhorns defense to contain him and get off the field on third down. More importantly, this is another opportunity for Manning and this offense to fix what has been a disappointing start to the season. The offensive line play has been less than great, and we are all aware of how poorly Arch has played, considering the high expectations coming into the season. This Sooner's defense will be licking their chops to get after number 16 like they have Bryce Underwood and Jackson Arnold.
A win for Texas would also help Steve Sarkisian who is entering into James Franklin territory with how he has fared against top ten ranked teams in the country. As tough as it is to beat a highly ranked team Sark is paid handsomely to win these type of games. The best thing going for him is how unpredictable this Red River game has been. We have seen quite a few favorites stub their toe coming into this game, and the Longhorns will be looking to continue this story line with an upset win over a slightly favored Sooners team.