Game Primer: OU vs. Texas

¹² Oklahoma

Texas

October 14 / 2:30 p.m. CT / Cotton Bowl / Dallas

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Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• In a matchup of the Big 12's two most successful programs, No. 12/12 Oklahoma plays Texas for the 112th time on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game, to be played in Dallas' Cotton Bowl (capacity 92,100) for the 89th straight year, will be televised by ESPN with Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe announcing.

• OU has won 10 Big 12 titles in the league's 21-year history, with no other program during that span winning more than three. All 10 of OU's Big 12 titles have come in the last 18 years, with no other program winning more than two during the span. Texas ranks second with three Big 12 titles (last one in 2009).

• This season marks the first since 1947 that both Oklahoma (Lincoln Riley) and Texas (Tom Herman) have first-year head coaches of their respective programs. 1947 marked the first year of the Bud Wilkinson era at OU (went 145-29-4 in 17 seasons and won three national titles) and the debut season for Blair Cherry at UT (went 31-10-1 in four campaigns and posted a pair of top-five AP national finishes). Wilkinson's Sooners lost to Cherry's Longhorns 34-14 in 1947 but posted 20-14, 20-14 and 14-13 victories the next three years.

• Texas is the only Big 12 program with a winning record against the Sooners. Oklahoma is 45-61-5 in the series, but owns a 24-19-3 (.554) advantage since 1971. In the Big 12 era, OU is 12-9 (.571) against the Longhorns. The Sooners have won five of the last seven meetings.

• Each of the last three OU-Texas games have been decided by seven or fewer points (and by a total of 17 points).

• The home team has won each of the last five matchups and seven of the last eight. Texas is the designated home team this season.

KEY STORYLINES

• Oklahoma's loss to Iowa State on Saturday marked just its third since the start of the 2000 season in the game immediately prior to its matchup against Texas. The Sooners rebounded to beat the Longhorns on each of the previous two occasions (lost 27-24 at Colorado in 2007 as AP's No. 3 team and beat Texas 28-21; lost 37-33 at TCU in 2014 as AP's No. 4 team and beat Texas 31-26).

• Dating back to the start of the 2012 season, the Sooners have won 27 of their last 32 regular season games away from home. In those 32 games, Oklahoma has outscored its opponents 1,266-852 (40-27 average). OU has scored at least 30 points in 26 of those 32 contests.

• This marks the fifth straight season that OU enters the Red River Showdown ranked in the AP Top 25 while Texas is unranked (both teams were ranked in each of the seven matchups prior to the current streak). Despite that fact, the Longhorns have won two of the last four meetings. The Sooners have been ranked in the AP poll at the time of the Red River game in each of the last 12 years and in 17 of the last 18 seasons.

• Oklahoma has not lost back-to-back regular season games since Oct. 2 and 9, 1999, Bob Stoops' debut season as head coach. OU has won 36 consecutive regular season games following a regular season loss.

• After finishing fourth in Heisman Trophy voting in 2015 and third in 2016, Mayfield is off to his best career start in 2017. In four-and-a-half games (he did not play after halftime against UTEP), Mayfield is 100-for-134 (74.6 percent) through the air with 15 touchdowns and no interceptions. He is averaging 327.0 passing yards per game. Mayfield leads the nation with his 214.1 pass efficiency rating (next best among Power 5 QBs is 186.2) after last year setting the FBS single-season record with a 196.4 mark.

• Oklahoma boasts one of the best big-play passing attacks early in 2017. The Sooners have already completed 34 passes of 20-plus yards, good for a nation-leading 6.8 per game. The Sooners are also the only team in the country with two completions (and three plays overall) from scrimmage of at least 80 yards.

SCOUTING TEXAS

• Texas enters the Red River Showdown with a 3-2 record and a 2-0 mark in conference play. The Longhorns outlasted Kansas State 40-34 in double overtime Saturday, amassing 546 yards of total offense. UT also limited a potent Kansas State rushing attack to just 140 yards (3.6 per carry).

• The Cyclones are under the direction of first-year head coach Tom Herman. Herman came to Austin from the University of Houston, where he compiled a 22-4 record in two seasons. Prior to his time with the Cougars, Herman served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ohio State from 2012-14, and served in the same role at Iowa State from 2009-11.

• Texas ranks 35th nationally in scoring offense (35.6 ppg), 33rd in total offense (464.0 ypg), 58th in rushing offense (175.8 ypg) and 29th in passing offense (288.2 ypg). Freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger is a dual threat, averaging 300.0 passing yards and a team-high 55.0 rushing yards per game.

• Fourteen Longhorns have made at least one reception this year, including seven of whom have registered seven or more catches. Sophomore Collin Johnson and freshman Reggie Hemphill-Mapps lead the way with 25 receptions each and average 97.0 and 52.2 receving yards per game, respectively. Senior Armanti Foreman has a team-high three TD catches.

• After surrendering 51 points in a season-opening loss to Maryland, the Longhorns' defense has allowed just 17.0 points per game over the last four contests. UT ranks 17th nationally in rushing defense (105.2 ypg) and 42nd in total defense (354.2 ypg), and its four defensive touchdowns lead the country. Junior safety DeShon Elliott is tied for the national lead with five interceptions this season and returned one for a TD. Junior defensive back Holton Hill has returned both of his picks for scores.

LAST YEAR VS. THE LONGHORNS

• In the highest-scoring contest in the 111-game history of the series, Oklahoma registered 672 yards of offense and held Texas to 73 yards below its season average in a 45-40 victory in Dallas last year on Oct. 8.

• While OU's 672 yards of offense were five shy of the school record against the Longhorns, the Sooners did set several program bests. Dede Westbrook's 10 catches were the most ever by a Sooner against Texas, and his 232 receiving yards were the most ever by an OU player in any game. He caught three TD passes (71, 42 and 47 yards). All of that production happened by the 5:39 mark of the third quarter.

• Baker Mayfield was 22-for-31 passing for 390 yards and three TDs. The 390 yards were the most by a Sooner in the OU-Texas series. He averaged 12.6 yards per attempt.

• Samaje Perine ran for 214 yards, giving OU a 200-yard rusher and 200-yard receiver in the same game for the first time in school history. It marked just the fifth time in FBS history that a team has had a 300-yard passer, a 200-yard rusher and a 200-yard receiver in a game. Perine scored on runs of two and three yards, and none of his 35 carries resulted in a loss.

• Ogbonnia Okoronkwo finished with a team-high 11 tackles, a sack (-4 yards), the first forced fumble of his career and his first-ever pass breakup. The forced fumble resulted in OU's first touchdown of the day.

BOUNCING BACK

• This marks the third straight year the Sooners have lost at least once in the first five weeks of the season. Each of the last two years, OU has rebounded to win the rest of its regular season games and finish No. 5 in the post-bowl AP polls.

• A 4-0 Oklahoma team lost 24-17 to a 1-4 Texas team in 2015. The loss dropped the Sooners to No. 19 in the AP poll the next week, and OU went on to win its next seven games to make the College Football Playoff.

• Last year the Sooners started 1-2 with a 33-23 loss to Houston and a 45-24 home defeat to No. 3 Ohio State. They fell out of the AP Top 25 but responded with 10 wins, including a Sugar Bowl victory, to close the season.

15 FOR 30

• Oklahoma has scored at least 30 points in a school-record 15 consecutive games, the longest streak in school history. The previous record was 13 straight games in 2008.

• The Sooners are averaging 45.9 points (688 total) during the streak (high of 66, low of 31), for the highest average nationally since Oct. 1, 2016.

• OU has scored 30-39 points six times during the streak, 40-49 points three times, 50-59 points on five occasions and more than 60 once.

MAYFIELD: MODEL OF EFFICIENCY

• Baker Mayfield has thrown a touchdown pass in a school-record 31 consecutive games. He's thrown at least two TD passes in 18 consecutive contests (55 TDs to eight interceptions during the stretch). Sam Bradford held the previous Big 12 record for consecutive games with multiple TD passes with 17 in the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

• Mayfield has thrown 20 TD passes since his last interception, which came eight games ago at West Virginia. He has attempted 186 consecutive passes without being intercepted, good for the second-longest streak in OU history (Jason White attempted 198 straight passes without a pickoff in 2004) and third-longest active streak nationally.

• Mayfield's 15 touchdown passes this year are the most by any quarterback who has not thrown an interception. NC State's Ryan Finley has 10, Alabama's Jalen Hurts has seven, ULM's Caleb Evans has six and Stanford's K.J. Costello has three.

EXTRA POINTS

• Lincoln Riley is looking to become just the fifth Oklahoma head coach to post a win in his first meeting against Texas. Only Bennie Owen in 1905 (2-0 score), Jim Mackenzie in 1966 (18-9), Barry Switzer in 1973 (52-13) and John Blake in 1996 (30-27 in OT) won in their Red River debut.

• Oklahoma's 111 games against Texas are tied as its most against one opponent (also Oklahoma State).

• Sixty-eight of the 112 players on OU's roster (61 percent), including 11 of the team's 22 starters last week against Iowa State, hail from the states of Texas (40) and Oklahoma (28).

• Oklahoma leads the nation by averaging 8.74 yards per play while surrendering 5.31 yards per snap. That means OU is averaging 3.43 more yards per play than its opponents, good for the nation's best differential. Ohio State ranks No. 2 with a +3.20 yards-per-play differential and is followed by Washington (+3.04) and Oklahoma State (3.00).

• OU ranks in the top three in the Big 12 in total defense (tied for second; 356.0 ypg), scoring defense (third; 23.2 ppg), pass defense (third; 232.4 ypg), rush defense (third; 123.6 ypg) and sacks (second; 2.4 per game).

• Quarterback Baker Mayfield, offensive lineman Orlando Brown and defensive end/linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo were all named to 25-member ESPN midseason All-America team Monday, giving OU more representatives than any other school and as many as the rest of the Big 12 combined (no other Big 12 team had more than one honorees).

• Okoronkwo leads the Big 12 with 5.0 sacks (1.0 per game), is tied for first with two forced fumbles and ranks second with 9.0 tackles for loss (1.8 per game). He has recorded at least half of a sack in each of OU's five games, becoming the first Sooner to do so since defensive end Frank Alexander over the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

• The Sooners have gone seven straight games without throwing an interception, marking the first time they've accomplished the feat since the 1986 season (also went seven games without a pickoff).

• OU has thrown 17 TD passes this season and is one of five teams to not throw an interception. Alabama and Southern Miss are the teams with the next most TDs without an interception (11).

• Fourteen Sooners caught at least one pass last season. Through five games this year, 17 Sooners have made at least one reception.

OPENING KICK

KEY STORYLINES

SCOUTING TEXAS

LAST YEAR VS. THE LONGHORNS

BOUNCING BACK

15 FOR 30

MAYFIELD: MODEL OF EFFICIENCY

EXTRA POINTS

Players Mentioned

Orlando Brown

Baker Mayfield

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo

Samaje Perine

Dede Westbrook

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