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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Game Primer: OU vs. Texas
October 06, 2016 | Football
20 Oklahoma
Texas
October 8 / 11 A.m. CT / Cotton Bowl / Dallas
OPENING KICK
• In a matchup of the two most successful programs of the Big 12 era, No. 20/22 Oklahoma plays Texas for the 111th time on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. Played in Dallas for the 88th straight year, the contest will take place at the Cotton Bowl (capacity 92,500).
• Saturday's game will be televised by FS1, with Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst) and Shannon Spake (reporter) announcing.
• OU has won nine Big 12 titles in the league's 20-year history, with no other program during that span winning more than three. All nine of OU's Big 12 titles have come in Bob Stoops' 17 years, with no other program winning more than two during the span. Texas ranks second with three Big 12 titles (last one in 2009).
Saturday's game will mark just the second this season for OU against an unranked opponent. Under Stoops, the Sooners are 125-18 (.874) against unranked teams (74-14 [.841] in Big 12 play vs. unranked competition).
• Saturday's game will mark just the second this season for OU against an unranked opponent. Under Stoops, the Sooners are 125-18 (.874) against unranked teams (74-14 [.841] in Big 12 play vs. unranked competition).
• Oklahoma's two losses have come to current No. 6/5 Houston (at NRG Stadium in Houston) and No. 2/2 Ohio State (at home).
• OU is one of six teams to play three AP Top 25 teams so far in 2016, joining Auburn (1-2 vs. Top 25), Georgia (1-2), Ole Miss (1-2), USC (0-3) and Wisconsin (2-1). Georgia has played three ranked teams in five games, while the other schools have done it in their first four contests.
• Among OU head coaches who directed the Sooners for at least five years, only three have posted a winning record against Texas, and Stoops leads all of them in victories. He is 10-7 against the Longhorns, while Barry Switzer (1973-88) went 9-5-2 and Bud Wilkinson (1947-63) went 9-8. Bennie Owen (1905-26) went 8-8 against the Longhorns.
• The Sooners are coming off a 52-46 win at TCU on Saturday. After falling behind 21-7, OU outscored the Horned Frogs 42-3 in the second and third quarters, and then had to hang on to post its eighth straight true road win. Baker Mayfield threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns while running for 55 yards and two more scores. Dede Westbrook finished with a career-high 158 receiving yards and two TDs, while Joe Mixon (105 yards, 1 TD) and Samaje Perine (98 yards, 2 TDs) combined for 203 rushing yards and three scores.
• Texas posted home wins over Notre Dame (50-47 in double overtime) and UTEP (41-7) to start the season, but has dropped two games since (50-43 at Cal and 49-31 at Oklahoma State). In Stillwater on Saturday, UT ran for 329 yards, but gave up 392 yards through the air (20.6 per completion). It also had three point-after attempts blocked.
FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Texas is the only Big 12 program with a winning record against the Sooners. Oklahoma is 44-61-5 in the series, but owns a 23-19-3 advantage since 1971. In the Big 12 era, OU is 11-9 against the Longhorns, while head coach Bob Stoops owns a 10-7 record in the series. The Sooners have won four of the last six meetings.
• Dating back to the start of the 2012 season, the Sooners have won 21 of their last 26 regular season games away from home. In those 26 games, Oklahoma has outscored its opponents 985-644 (38-25 average). OU has scored at least 30 points in 20 of those 26 contests.
• This marks the fourth straight season that OU enters the Red River Showdown ranked in the AP Top 25 while Texas is unranked. Despite that fact, the Longhorns have won two of the last three meetings. The Sooners have been ranked in the AP poll at the time of the Red River game in each of the last 11 years and in 16 of Stoops' 18 seasons (not in 1999 or 2005). Texas was ranked in the first 14 meetings of the Stoops era.
• Seventy-seven of the 113 players on OU's roster hail from the states of Texas (45) and Oklahoma (32). Of the Sooners' 22 starters against TCU on Saturday, 11 are from Texas (six on offense, five on defense).
• Oklahoma has scored at least 55 points against Texas four times in the first 17 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. UT's most points vs. OU is 45 (2005 and '08).
SCOUTING TEXAS
• Third-year head coach Charlie Strong leads the Texas Longhorns into the Cotton Bowl at 2-2. Texas defeated then-No. 10 Notre Dame, 50-47, in double overtime to open its season and then bested UTEP, 41-7, both at home. Since then, the Longhorns have dropped road games to California (50-43) and Oklahoma State (49-31).
• Texas has been potent under first-year offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert. The Longhorns have topped the 30-point mark in all four games and have surpassed 40 three times. UT ranks 15th nationally in total offense (517.3 yards per contest).
True freshman QB Shane Buechele is completing 65.5 percent of his passes and has thrown for 959 yards and eight touchdowns with three interceptions so far in 2016.
• True freshman Shane Buechele is Texas' primary quarterback. He is completing 65.5 percent of his passes and has thrown for 959 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior Tyrone Swoopes, utilized primarily in short yardage and red zone situations, has been a weapon for UT, racking up five rushing touchdowns and consistently delivering first downs. He has 27 carries for 112 yards (4.1 per rush) and is 5 for 8 through the air for 66 yards with an interception.
• Five different Longhorns have at least 10 catches on the year and six have hauled in a touchdown pass. Sophomore WR John Burt leads the team in receiving with 14 grabs for 191 yards and one score. RBs D'Onta Foreman and sophomore Chris Warren III, both weighing around 250 pounds, have been effective. Foreman leads the team in rushing with 436 yards on 62 carries (7.0 average, five TDs), while Warren has 367 yards on the same number of rushes (5.9 average, three TDs).
• Texas ranks 87th nationally in total defense (opponents average 428.5 yards per game) and 116th nationally in scoring defense (opponents average 38.3 points a contest). The Longhorns have yet to record an interception in 2016.
• Sophomore DE/OLB Breckyn Hager has been a standout through four games. Hager ranks second on the team with 23 total tackles, while adding a team-high 3.5 tackles for loss and tying a team high with 2.0 sacks. Sophomore LB Malik Jefferson was a freshman All-American and the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2015. The 2016 Big 12 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year has 23 tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss (a sack).
MAYFIELD CONTINUES TO SHINE
• Junior quarterback Baker Mayfield is picking up where he left off in 2015 when he finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting and was named national player of the year by Sporting News. Mayfield, who completed 68.1 percent of his passes for 3,700 yards and 36 touchdowns against only seven interceptions last year, is 78 for 115 (67.8 percent) this season with nine TDs and two picks.
• Mayfield is averaging 266.8 passing yards through four games, but he did not play in the second half against ULM after directing the Sooners to six touchdown drives and a 42-0 halftime lead. He is averaging 152.4 passing yards per half played, which equates to a 304.8 average per game.
• Mayfield's 168.11 passing efficiency rating ranks second in the Big 12 behind Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes.
• Mayfield has accounted for 54 touchdowns as a Sooner, the most by a player in the first 17 games of an OU career. He ranks second behind Sam Bradford with 45 touchdown passes through his first 17 games (Bradford had 48; see chart to the right).
• Mayfield owns a 5.0 touchdown-to-interception ratio as a Sooner (45 to 9).
MIXON ENJOYING BREAKOUT SEASON
• Redshirt sophomore running back Joe Mixon has amassed 340 yards on just 44 carries this season, good for a Big 12-best 7.7 yards per rush.
• For his career, Mixon is averaging 6.96 yards per carry, the most in the 18-year Bob Stoops era among players with at least 100 attempts. Following Mixon in the top five are Alex Ross (6.39 average; 123 carries), Samaje Perine (6.14; 539), Dominique Whaley (5.72; 152) and Trevor Knight (5.65; 151). See the top 10 in chart to the right.
• On OU's all-time chart, Mixon ranks seventh with his 6.96 career rushing yards per carry (minimum 100 attempts). He ranks fifth among running backs, trailing only Greg Pruitt (7.40 average; 1970-72), Marcus Dupree (7.24; 1982-83); Buck McPhail (7.06; 1950-52) and Leon "Mule Train" Heath (7.03; 1948-50). See the top 10 in chart to the right.
• Mixon leads the Big 12 and ranks fourth nationally (see chart at bottom of this page) with his 191.5 all-purpose yards per game this season. He is averaging 85.0 rushing yards per game (ranks fourth in Big 12), 40.5 receiving yards per contest (ranks third on team), a Big 12-leading 30.2 yards per kickoff return and 11.0 yards per punt return.
• Mixon is one of just six players in OU history to record at least 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in a career, and it took him only 17 games to do it (reached both marks Saturday at TCU). Only Quentin Griffin (1999-02; 16 games) reached the 1,000/500 mark faster. Others to do it were DeMarco Murray (2007-10; 26 games), De'Mond Parker (1996-98; 30 games), Steve Sewell (1981-84; 36 games) and James Allen (1993-96; 40 games).
PERINE APPROACHING OU CAREER RUSHING MARK
• After a stellar season that saw a continuation of his bruising, powerful style, RB Samaje Perine picked up third-team All-America honors last year and was selected to the All-Big 12 First Team. The Pflugerville, Texas, product racked up 1,713 rushing yards as a freshman (6.5 per carry) and 1,349 more as a sophomore last season (6.0 per carry), to give him 3,062 for his career. With 247 more yards this season (on 50 carries), Perine already ranks eighth in Oklahoma history with 3,309 career rushing yards and is just 809 yards shy of Billy Sims' school record of 4,118 yards.
MARK ANDREWS: TOUCHDOWN MACHINE
• As a redshirt freshman last year, receiver Mark Andrews scored seven touchdowns on his 19 receptions (37 percent TD rate). Andrews hasn't done anything to hurt that TD-to-catch ratio through four games this season, as he has registered four more scoring grabs (64 and 25 yards against Houston; 39 yards vs. ULM; 5 yards vs. Ohio State) on 11 total receptions.
Of all active FBS players with at least 10 career TD receptions, Andrews has the best TD-to-catch ratio at 36.7 percent.
• The 6-5, 250-pounder from Scottsdale, Ariz., now has 11 TDs on 30 career catches (36.7% TD rate), which equates to 2.2 points per total reception. He recorded his 10th career TD catch on his 23rd reception, making him the fastest player to reach double-digit receiving TDs.
• Of all active FBS players with at least 10 career TD receptions, Andrews has the best TD-to-catch ratio at 36.7 percent. The next closest players are Toledo's Michael Roberts (11 TDs on 39 catches; 28.2%), North Carolina's Mack Hollins (20 on 78; 25.6%), Michigan State's Josiah Price (18 on 78; 23.1%) and Texas Tech's Jonathan Giles (10 on 46; 21.7%).
• Andrews is averaging a team-high 19.7 yards per catch this year.
NOTING OU'S DEFENSE
• Oklahoma ranks 88th out of 128 teams in total defense at 429.3 yards per game, but it has faced three of the nation's top offenses. Ohio State ranks fourth in total offense at 576.3 yards per game, TCU ranks sixth at 563.6 yards and Houston 19th at 506.0. The Sooners held Ohio State to 133 yards below the Buckeyes' current average, Houston to 96 yards below its current average and TCU to 50 yards below its current average. Saturday's foe, Texas, ranks 15th in total offense (517.3 yards per game).
• Due mainly to injuries, 18 different Sooners have started on defense through four games.
• OU, which ranks second in the Big 12 and 40th nationally in rushing defense (130.8 yards allowed per game), has held three of its four opponents to less than 90 yards on the ground (89 by Houston, 78 by ULM and 65 by TCU). Ohio State rushed for 291.
• Outside linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo is tied for the Big 12 lead with his 1.0 sack per game, while inside linebacker Jordan Evans ranks third in the league with his 8.5 tackles per contest.
SOONERS HAVE DOMINATED BIG 12 ERA
• Oklahoma's performance in the Big 12 Conference since Bob Stoops took over as head coach in 1999 has been nothing short of dominant. The Sooners have won nine Big 12 titles in Stoops' 17 seasons, with no other program during that span winning more than two.
• Since the first year of the Big 12 in 1996, OU has claimed nine league titles and is followed by Texas (three), Baylor, Kansas State and Nebraska (two each), and Colorado, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas A&M (one each).
• OU owns a league-best 113-29 (.796) record in regular season Big 12 games during the Stoops era. Texas ranks second with a 101-41 (.711) record and is followed by TCU (22-16; .579), Kansas State (78-64; .549), Oklahoma State (77-66; .538), Texas Tech (72-70; .507), West Virginia (16-21; .432), Baylor (49-94; .343), Iowa State (41-102; .287) and Kansas (32-110; .225).
EXTRA POINTS
• Oklahoma has played more games against Texas and Oklahoma State (110 each) than any other opponent.
• Seven of OU's 10 wins against Texas under Bob Stoops have been by double digits and four have been by at least 30 points.
• Stoops is 55-16 all-time in the month of October. He's won four straight October games dating to last season and five his last six. OU is outscoring teams by an average of 36-21 (2,544-1,459) in the month.
• This marks just the fifth time in school history that Oklahoma has started a season by playing three ranked teams in its first four games. The Sooners also did it in 1981 (started 1-2-1), 1973 (3-0-1), 1960 (1-2-1) and 1954 (4-0).
• OU's 52 points against TCU last Saturday marked the most points surrendered by the Horned Frogs at home in a non-overtime game since 1996.
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