The Texas Longhorns have their backs against the wall.
Coming off an embarrassing loss to Florida, Texas faces a must-win game in the Cotton Bowl, beyond the normal stakes of the rivalry with the Oklahoma
Sooners. A loss in the Cotton Bowl effectively eliminates Texas from contention for the SEC Championship and an at-large CFP bid, a literal adding insult to injury situation with your hated rival being the one to drive the final nail into the coffin. Texas has shown flashes of playing at a high level, but hasn’t done it consistently yet this year, with the pressure cooker of the annual rivalry capable of causing the wheels to completely come off of the season just six games in.
Oklahoma is having exactly the season they needed to rebound from another disappointing season under Brent Venables, sitting undefeated and in conference title contention. The biggest question mark for the Sooners is the health of quarterback John Mateer, who underwent hand surgery before their bye week. Oklahoma dominated Kent State with backup Michael Hawkins, but their former Heisman favorite quarterback will attempt to play on Saturday, despite falling short of the estimated three-week recovery time for his injury.
- Texas vs. No. 6 Oklahoma opponent preview: Sooners look to continue promising start
- Texas OL needs bounce-back performance against Oklahoma
- Kyle Flood’s Texas OL rebuild is going poorly
Injury report
- RB CJ Baxter (leg) — doubtful
- OT Andre Cojoe (knee) — out
- CB Kobe Black (undisclosed) — questionable
- CB Manny Muhammad (undisclosed) — probable
How to watch
TV: ABC
Time: 2:30 p.m. Central
Livestream: ESPNUnlimited
Radio: Texassports.com. Broadcasts are also available on Sirius 132, XM 199, and App Ch. 953
Odds: The Longhorns are 1.5-point underdogs on FanDuel.
Weather: partly cloudy, 88 degrees, wind SE 5 mph
