DALLAS — Three takeaways from Texas’s 23–6 win over Oklahoma from the Cotton Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
1. John Mateer was fine, but not great, after his hand surgery
All week in the lead-up to the Red River Rivalry, the storyline was simple: Would Sooners quarterback John Mateer trot out onto the field and actually play a game just 17 days after having hand surgery? The answer, as was made clear by his increasing progression through the SEC injury reports from questionable to probable to fully off of them, was yes.
And guess what, he was fine. Not out-of-this-world good, not awful, but just fine in doing what he could against a defense that was fifth in the country in points given up and allowing just 4.32 yards per play.
Mateer’s final numbers (202 passing yards, zero scores) were modest and the three interceptions he threw were a combination of two lackadaisical throws that he lofted into the hands of awaiting Texas defensive backs and a tipped pass right off his receiver’s hands.
It didn’t help matters that the signal-caller was, essentially, the entire offensive game plan for his team. Mateer was forced into both designed runs and scrambles out of the pocket. Freshman running back Tory Blaylock could muster only 26 yards on the ground and several receivers either couldn’t break free for big plays or straight up dropped the ball. That Mateer carried the entire load after also re-injuring his hand on a run five minutes into the second quarter that forced his repaired right thumb to gush with blood also underscored a fairly impressive effort given the circumstances.
He may not win the Heisman this season, but you could argue nobody means more to their team than Mateer given how much he carries the Sooners on his back each game and at least kept them in the picture for all four quarters on Saturday.
2. Texas offensive line stepped up in the second half
The Longhorns took control of the game on Saturday not with big plays or by letting Arch Manning turn into Superman, but by letting their suspect offensive line take over just when they needed them the most. In the third quarter, the Horns ran 26 plays (Oklahoma ran four) on two long, six-plus minute drives and they paved the way for Tre Wisner to rush for 94 yards to keep the chains moving.
They also protected Manning far better than last week in the loss to Florida. The quarterback had plenty of time to go through his progressions and got the ball out quickly on his way to 166 yards, a touchdown and a 77.8% completion percentage.
It’s still not quite the high-powered offensive unit some expected in the days of the preseason but it was a step in the right direction for Steve Sarkisian after taking plenty of slings and arrows from outside the 40 Acres after not having a Power 4 win until the middle of October.
3. Texas and Oklahoma are still alive for the CFP, but the gauntlet only gets harder from here
There will be cause for some to immediately rip the Sooners out of the CFP picture following their first loss but that isn’t the case considering that big win over Michigan is still firmly on their résumé and they have plenty of opportunities to add some more marquee wins in the coming weeks. That’s somewhat of a double-edged sword of course, given that Oklahoma now doesn’t have much room for error and still has a tricky game at South Carolina next week before facing five consecutive ranked teams to end the season.
That’s life in the SEC, where a difficult schedule can either be a platform for a playoff run with enough wins or a spiral where one loss can turn into several.
The same is true for the Longhorns. They will no doubt celebrate with some corny dogs in the hours after their win in Dallas but also get the benefit of being right back into the CFP race after notching a Top 10 win. They should be comfortable favorites over Kentucky and Mississippi State the next two weeks and then there are three big opportunities to secure Top 25 wins against Vanderbilt, Georgia and Texas A&M. If the Horns are 10–2 and close the year strong, that should be enough to make the CFP bracket—just not via the path that anybody could have expected coming into the year.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Red River Rivalry Takeaways: Texas and Oklahoma’s Chances for CFP Berth.
