Red River Recap
Texas cruised to its second blowout win over OU in 3 years, as Sark improved to 2-2 in Red River. Photo: Burnt Orange Nation
Game Recap: Oklahoma
The Golden Hat is back where it belongs!
Halfway through the 2024 season, the Texas Longhorns are showing no signs of slowing down. Cruising to another blowout win over the Sooners 34-3 on Saturday, the game outcome was never really in doubt for the burnt orange faithful. Sure, Texas trailed for the first time all season, going down a whopping 3-0 after one quarter of play. With the way the Oklahoma offense was looking, however, there was little doubt the Horns would get things going on offense and put this game away relatively early. And that they did, with a flurry at the end of the first half leading to a 21-3 lead for Texas. The game truly felt over from where I was sitting probably at about 14-3, just because there was simply no threat from the Sooners’ offense - and that’s a testament to Texas’ defense as well.
Offensively, it was a bit of a rough start, as Quinn Ewers threw an interception on his first drive back from injury sustained in the UTSA game. He wasn’t quite throwing with decisiveness and confidence, and the Longhorn offense failed to even get a first down for the majority of the first quarter. The play that got everything going was a rollout to Ewers’ right where he hit Deandre Moore down the sideline for a big gain, with Moore just doing enough of a toe tap to beat the video review. TE Gunnar Helm capped off this drive with a couple of big plays, including another hurdle job and then a 7-yard TD to put Texas ahead for good, 7-3 (lol). This was part of a standout game for the senior from Englewood, CO with a team-leading 5 catches for 91 yards and the touchdown.
What ensued at the end of the first half was nothing short of a Longhorn avalanche. After continuing to shut down OU true freshman QB Michael Hawkins, Jr., the Horns drove down with a couple of huge plays in succession. Ryan Wingo caught a slant and ran for a 44 yard gain sparking the drive. This man averages so many yards per catch/run!! This was followed by the game’s wackiest play and greatest hustle play so far of the season, as Tre Wisner broke out for a 36 yard run, only to fumble the ball in the end zone and have it recovered by a racing Silas Bolden for a Texas touchdown, 14-3. Whoosh!! From there, Texas forced fumbles on consecutive plays on defense, sandwiched by a one play touchdown run by Wisner for 43 yards, this time holding on to the ball all the way in for the score. I’ve been trying to tell people, Quintrevion Wisner should be the starting running back for Texas in 2024, and we’re starting to see why. Anyway, the Longhorns actually squandered the final possession of the half with a holding penalty and then a missed field goal from Bert Auburn, thus 21-3 at half. You can see where this thing really could have been about 45 or 50 to 3.
The second half wasn’t super eventful from a competitive standpoint - the Texas defense continued to absolutely dominate a putrid Sooners attack, led by Anthony Hill and Colin Simmons. It got to the point where we saw Sark break out the WR pass from Matthew Golden - twice!! He actually had a wide open man on the first one and severly underthrew him, and threw into double coverage the second time where Helm went up and Moss’d some people to come down with the ball. This led to the final Texas points of the day as Ewers pulled the ball for a 1 yard rushing score.
The Longhorns come away from this game boasting the #1 overall defense in the nation in both points allowed per game and total yards allowed per game. That is no fluke, even if we have yet to see a great offense. They’re playing the teams in front of them and absolutely manhandling them, as you’re supposed to with an elite defense. Now, it’s true the biggest tests are yet to come, but so far we can say we haven’t seen a Texas team this deep and well-rounded on all sides of the ball in a long, long time.
This was a LOT of fun.
Game Awards: Oklahoma
Offensive Player of the Game: Quintrevion Wisner, RB (So.)
The sophomore from Glenn Heights, TX gets my OPOTG for a couple of big runs at the end of the first half that blew this game open for the Longhorns. He also registered his first 100 yard rushing game with Texas, going for 118 on just 13 carries and the one score. Wisner has shown the kind of vision, power, speed, and consistency that the Longhorns need right now in a thin running back room.
Defensive Player of the Game: Anthony Hill, Jr., LB (So.)
Another sophomore, this time from Denton, as Hill had a monster game registering 11 total tackles including 7 solo with 2 sacks on 3.5 tackles for loss. Hill has become a mainstay in opposing backfields and is one of the leaders of this team now.
Hustle Play of the Game: Silas Bolden, WR (Sr.)
This play was so good it deserves a second shout out. Bolden followed the play and ran about 55 yard down the field, eventually finding himself in the perfect position to go after and recover Wisner’s fumble in the corner of the end zone. This was one of those wild Red River plays that seem to have gone against Texas in many of the recent iterations of this game. Not this time. Thank you, Silas Bolden!
Final score: Texas 34, Oklahoma 3
Hook ‘em
