Most expected the defenses to steal the show as the Texas Longhorns squared off against the Oklahoma Sooners for the annual rivalry.
It wasn’t a secret that Texas needed to improve on offense, but the result was nothing short of embarrassing for a team led by a head coach hired for his offensive genius who seems unable to reconcile that he may be the problem.
It’s either the head coach, who is lauded as both an offensive mind and a quarterback developer, one of the two other coaches with the title
of offensive coordinator, or one of the two quarterback coaches, who should carry the blame for their team — and former elite quarterback recruit — being ill-prepared for the biggest moments.
Texas time of possession: 29:29
One frequent trend in the Red River Rivalry is that the team that wins the time-of-possession battle usually wins the game, and that held true again in 2026. However, in the last two minutes, that could have gone the other way. After Texas missed a field goal with two minutes left, the Longhorns forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with 54 seconds left. Texas took 30 seconds off the clock in four plays before Manning gave the ball to Oklahoma for the second time.
If Texas holds onto the ball there, they set themselves up to win with a walk-off field goal rather than lose, and they hold onto the game and buck the time-of-possession trend.
The second half was an even 50-50 split in time of possession, but Oklahoma took the air out of the ball in the third quarter and wore down the Texas defense for the final frame. The Sooners had possession for 9:53 in the third quarter, running the ball 12 times at 6.7 yards per carry and scored their lone offensive touchdown just eight seconds into the fourth quarter on a two-yard rush.
Texas averaged just four plays and less than two minutes per drive, gaining an average of just 24 yards per outing. They had just one drive longer than 10 plays, which ended in a field goal near the end of the first half when Texas went hurry-up and couldn’t punch it in from five yards out.
Arch Manning: 19-31, 260 yards, three TDs, two INTs
This was the prototypical Arch Manning performance: flashes of brilliance amid inconsistency and frustration. He finished the first half 9-of-13 passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns, dimes to Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo. Those plays show the heights that fans expect from the pairing of Steve Sarkisian and Manning — a well-designed scheme paired with elite arm talent putting up big numbers.
Much has been made of Sarkisian failing to put Manning in the best position to succeed based on his skill set, and the two second-quarter scoring drives back that up. After the disastrous blocked punt, Texas went no-huddle for all but two plays on the next drive, both for just two yards. Manning operating out of the no-huddle on that drive went 5-of-6 passing for 71 yards and a touchdown. Their next drive was also primarily uptempo, with no-huddle on five of the nine plays, and they kicked a field goal with 15 seconds left to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.
Add to the pile the second-half touchdown drive, where Texas went no-huddle on five of its seven plays, including a 42-yard dime to Cam Coleman that put them deep in Oklahoma territory and set up the score.
Gianni Spetic: 1-2 (23)
While it doesn’t show up in any statistical category, we should have known it would be a bad special teams game when the opening kickoff went out of bounds at the 1-yard line. While there’s plenty of blame for the embarrassing Cotton Bowl loss, Jeff Banks’s unit carries much of it, for the second week in a row. Oklahoma’s first score of the game was a blocked punt in the end zone – the result of a simple misunderstanding of blocking responsibilities as a protector.
Add the missed Spetic field goal with less than two minutes left, and that’s a 10-point swing directly from a special teams unit unprepared for the moment. You can quibble about whether or not Sark should have gone for it on fourth down rather than sending the kick unit out, but regardless of how you feel about the coaching decision, once it’s made, you have to capitalize.
