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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Game Primer: At&T Red River Showdown
October 09, 2015 | Football
AT&T RED RIVER SHOWDOWN
10 Oklahoma
Texas
October 10 | 11 a.m. | Dallas (Cotton Bowl)
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TwitterOPENING KICK
• In a matchup of the two most successful programs of the Big 12 era, No. 10/9 Oklahoma plays Texas for the 110th time on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. The game, to be played in Dallas for the 87th straight year, will be televised by ABC with Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Todd McShay announcing. OU has claimed eight of 19 Big 12 championships, while UT ranks second with three.
• Including this year, Oklahoma has been ranked in the AP Top 25 when playing Texas in 15 of head coach Bob Stoops' 17 seasons (was not ranked for 1999 or 2005 meetings). This marks just the third time during that span that Texas enters its game against the Sooners unranked by the AP (each the last three seasons).
In a matchup of the two most successful programs of the Big 12 era, No. 10/9 Oklahoma plays Texas for the 110th time on Saturday.
• The Sooners are coming off a 44-24 home win over then-No. 23/21 West Virginia on Saturday. OU ran 28 fewer plays but outgained the Mountaineers 427 yards to 369 (7.4 yards per play to 4.3). Junior quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns against a WVU defense that entered the game surrendering a Big 12-low 154.0 passing yards per game and that had allowed just two passing touchdowns in its first three games. OU forced five turnovers and logged seven sacks, both program highs since the 2014 Sugar Bowl.
• Texas, which went 6-7 last season and lost to Arkansas (31-7) in the Texas Bowl, is off to a 1-4 start with its lone victory at home versus Rice (42-28). The Longhorns have lost at Notre Dame (38-3), at home to California (45-44) and Oklahoma State (30-27), and at TCU (50-7). Those four teams are a combined 19-1.
• Big 12 Conference teams have registered two wins against top-25 teams (at the time of competition) this season and OU owns both (31-24 at No. 23/23 Tennessee in double overtime and 44-24 vs. No. 23/21 West Virginia).
• This is the 12th time in 17 seasons (third straight and fifth in the last six years) under Stoops that OU has started 4-0. The Sooners have begun a season with a 5-0 record nine times during his tenure.
• Oklahoma is 40-5 since the start of the 2010 season against teams unranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.
• An OU win on Saturday would give the Sooners five victories in their last six meetings against Texas and six in the last nine matchups.
FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Texas is the only Big 12 program with a winning record against the Sooners. Oklahoma is 44-60-5 in the series, but owns a 23-18-3 advantage since 1971. In the Big 12 era, OU is 11-8 against the Longhorns, while head coach Bob Stoops boasts a 10-6 record in the series. The Sooners have won four of the last five meetings, including a 31-26 contest last year in which OU was outgained 482-232 but got touchdowns on a 91-yard kickoff return by Alex Ross and a 43-yard interception return by Zack Sanchez.
• This marks the 10th time in the 17-year Stoops era that Oklahoma enters the Texas game undefeated (it is 7-2 against the Longhorns in that scenario). This is the first time ever that Texas will face OU with four losses.
Oklahoma's defense, which ranks first in the Big 12 by allowing only 5.8 yards per opponent pass attempt on the season, will be facing a Texas offense that ranks last in the league in passing offense.
• Oklahoma's defense, which ranks first in the Big 12 by allowing only 5.8 yards per opponent pass attempt on the season, will be facing a Texas offense that ranks last in the league in passing offense (167.2 yards per game). On the other side of the ball, OU ranks second in the Big 12 in yards per pass attempt (10.0), while Texas ranks ninth in passing defense (296.6 yards per game).
• Junior QB Baker Mayfield ranks second among FBS players in points responsible for per game (25.5), fourth in passing TDs per game (3.25), fifth in passing efficiency rating (178.5), sixth in total offense per game (380.0) and eighth in passing yards per game (345.5). He has thrown for at least three touchdowns in all four games and has run for at least one in three contests.
• OU has scored at least 55 points against Texas four times in the first 16 years of the Stoops era (63-14 in 2000, 65-13 in 2003, 55-17 in 2011 and 63-21 in 2012). The Sooners never reached the 55-point mark in the previous 93 matchups.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS
The 35Express project is reconstructing I-35E between Denton and Dallas. Please note, there should not be any mainlane closures this weekend, however, there have been some geometry changes and narrowed lanes from US 380 in Denton County to I-635 in Dallas County. Also, the speed limit has been reduced to 55 mph between US 380 in Denton and Swisher Road in Corinth. Click here (http://www.35express.org/) for the latest information.
SCOUTING TEXAS
• Texas (1-4, 0-1) has faced one of the most difficult schedules in the nation, already playing four teams that are ranked in the current AP Top 25 Poll. The Longhorns' only win was a 42-28 home victory over Rice in their second game of the year.
• UT ranks ninth in the Big 12 in scoring offense (24.6 ppg), eighth in scoring defense (38.2 ppg), 10th in total offense (338.6 ypg) and eighth in total defense (507.2 ypg).
• Texas leads the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally with its 21.4 yards per punt return. Senior wide receiver Daje Johnson averages 17.6 yards per punt return to pace the league and rank 13th nationally. He was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 14 with 119 punt return yards against Rice, including one return that went for 85 yards and a TD.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard leads Texas with his 63.6 yards rushing and 132.2 yards passing per game.
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard leads Texas with his 63.6 yards rushing and 132.2 yards passing per game. He is rushing for 4.7 yards per attempt and has scored three TDs. Heard is completing 55.3 percent of his pass attempts and has two TDs and two interceptions. In a 45-44 loss to California on Sept. 19, Heard set a school record with 527 yards of total offense (364 passing and 163 rushing). He became the first UT freshman quarterback to throw for 300 yards since Colt McCoy in 2006.
• Sophomore running back D'Onta Foreman is averaging 42.2 yards per game on the ground and is coming off a 112-yard effort against TCU (6.2 yards per carry). Johnson has caught a team-high 14 passes for an average of 40.2 yards per game.
• Senior linebacker Peter Jinkens leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big 12 with his 8.0 tackles per game. He has registered 4.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and three quarterback hurries.
• Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas, '82) is in his second season as head coach at Texas (7-11 record) and sixth year as a head coach overall (44-27 record). Prior to arriving in Austin, Strong went 37-15 in four seasons at Louisville. He also served as Florida's interim head coach in 2004 in the Peach Bowl.
LAST YEAR IN DALLAS
• Oklahoma was outgained 482 yards to 232 and watched Texas register a 24-11 advantage in first downs, but still managed to claim the Golden Hat Trophy for the fourth time in five years by fending off the Longhorns last season at Cotton Bowl Stadium, 31-26.
Alex Ross returns a kick-off for a touchdown during last year's AT&T Red River Showdown.
• Alex Ross returned a kickoff 91 yards for a TD and Zack Sanchez returned an interception 43 yards for a score as the Sooners took a 17-13 lead to halftime despite amassing only 29 yards of offense.
• OU took a 31-13 lead following a Sterling Shepard 24-yard TD pass from Trevor Knight and a Samaje Perine 13-yard scamper before Texas responded with a pair of fourth-quarter TDs to make things interesting. Shepard led OU with four catches for 63 yards while Perine paced the Sooners with 62 yards on 18 carries.
• The game featured 17 punts (nine by Oklahoma) and only one turnover.
• Knight completed 12 of 20 pass attempts for 129 yards and a score while Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes was 27 for 44 for a career-high 334 yards and two TDs (he also ran for one).
• Texas ran 84 plays to Oklahoma's 50 and outgained the Sooners 5.7 yards per play to 4.6.
MAYFIELD'S HOT START
• Junior quarterback Baker Mayfield is off to a strong start in his first year of competition with the Sooners. A former walk-on at Texas Tech who transferred to Oklahoma (also as a walk-on) without talking to OU coaches after being named Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year as a Red Raider, Mayfield ranks second among FBS players in points responsible for per game (25.5), fourth in passing TDs per game (3.33), sixth in total offense per game (380.0) and eighth in passing yards per game (345.5).
• Mayfield is tied with Josh Heupel for most total TDs (17) in the first four games of an OU career. He has passed for 13 scores and run for four (see chart above).
• According to ESPN Stats and Info, Mayfield, who is now on scholarship, became the first FBS player since at least 2000 with three or more passing TDs and one or more rushing TD in each of his team's first three games of a season.
Mayfield became the first FBS player since at least 2000 with three or more passing TDs and one or more rushing TD in each of his team's first three games of a season.
• Mayfield entered the Heisman Trophy conversation, ranking fifth in ESPN's voting after week three.
• Last week against a West Virginia defense that allowed just 7.7 points, 154.0 passing yards and 0.7 touchdown passes per game, Mayfield threw for 320 yards and three scores in a 44-24 win.
• Mayfield set the OU single-game record for total offense (572 yards) against Tulsa two games ago and tied the school record by accounting for six TDs (four passing, two rushing). His 487 passing yards stand as the fourth most in OU single-game history. He was 32 for 38 through the air, and his 226.6 pass efficiency rating was the highest by a Sooner with more than 30 attempts in a game.
• At then-No. 23 Tennessee in the season's second game, Mayfield engineered a comeback from a 17-0 deficit by leading the Sooners to TDs on their final four possessions for a 31-24 double-overtime victory in front of 102,455 fans (the most to ever see an OU game).
• In his first game as a Sooner, Mayfield set the OU record for passing yards in a season opener (388) in a 41-3 win over Akron.
SENSATIONAL SEIBERT
• Austin Seibert is the only FBS true freshman to handle his team's placekicking and punting duties, and he's been stellar through four games.
• Seibert, from Belleville, Ill., has made all seven of his field goal tries and all 21 of his point-after attempts. Only one other Sooner in history has started his career by making seven field goal attempts (Michael Hunnicutt in 2011). No OU player has ever made the first eight field goal tries of his career.
Austin Seibert is the only FBS true freshman to handle his team's placekicking and punting duties, and he's been stellar through four games.
• Seibert leads Big 12 kickers and ranks second among all league players with his 10.5 points per game.
• Seibert ranks fourth in the Big 12 with his 45.2-yard punting average. Eight of his 21 punts have gone 50 yards or more, and nine have been downed inside the 20-yard line (only one touchback).
EXTRA POINTS
• Oklahoma has played more games against Texas and Oklahoma State (109 each) than any other opponent.
Eric Striker is Oklahoma's all-time leader in sacks among linebackers.
• Saturday's game will mark the 125th under Bob Stoops that Oklahoma has been ranked in the AP's top 10 (first this season). The Sooners are 102-22 (.823) in the first 124 such contests. OU is 25-10-2 all-time against Texas when ranked in the AP's top 10 (8-1 under Stoops).
• Seven of OU's 10 wins against Texas under Stoops have been by double digits and four have been by at least 30 points.
• OU is 51-26 (.662) against AP Top 25 teams in the 2000s, good for the second most wins nationally (LSU is 55-31 [.640]).
• Senior Eric Striker is OU's all-time leader in sacks among linebackers (18.0).
• In its three home games, OU is averaging 579.7 yards of total offense and 415.3 passing yards. Quarterback Baker Mayfield is 69 for 96 through the air for a 71.9-percent completion rate and is averaging 396.7 passing yards and 3.3 passing TDs per game.
• The Sooners are looking for their 13th season of at least 10 wins under Stoops. Oklahoma is the only FBS program to rack up 12 seasons of double-digit victories since 2000.
Players Mentioned
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