College Football

Oklahoma has massive opportunity vs. Texas in Red River matchup

Updated Oct. 4, 2023 3:59 p.m. ET

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

Without hyperbole, this weekend's Red River Shootout is the most consequential since 2008, the first time that both Oklahoma and Texas have been undefeated heading into the game since 2011.

It's been a while since the game had stakes high enough for the entire country to have a vested interest, but nowhere near as long for OU or Texas fans who haven't won a national title since 2005 (Texas) and 2000 (OU).

A win this weekend for either would go a heck of a long way to ending that drought — or so OU and Texas fans can hope.

However, this feels like a year when any top of the top teams in a Power 5 conference can win the national title, so why not OU or Texas?

For the 12th-ranked Sooners, No. 3 Texas being "back" is a good thing, as it gives OU a chance to prove itself a legitimate national title contender against a legitimate national title contender.

Oklahoma is off to a roaring start, with the best-scoring offense at 47.4 points per game. That's the best scoring offense it has possessed since 2018 (48.4).

OU's defense has been cosplaying as a vault door. No one has gotten in with regularity. OU's best scoring defense — 10.8 points per game allowed — is on pace to be its best since 1987 (8.5).

They've put those numbers up against Iowa State, SMU, Cincinnati and Arkansas State.

Oklahoma vs. Texas: The 'biggest Red River game in 15 YEARS!'

Meanwhile, Texas walked into Tuscaloosa and came out with a win against Alabama, and has looked like a national title team since.

It's telling that only Georgia (3/1) and Michigan (3/1) are getting better odds to win the national title than Texas (7.5/1). And even with the loss, Alabama (25/1) is getting the same national title odds as undefeated Oklahoma (25/1).

This is also reflected in the spread for Red River — Texas is a 6.5-point favorite.

Texas is right now where OU was in 2008 — the higher-ranked team, the more talented team, the team most folks expect to win the Big 12 title.

But OU lost that 2008 game, 45-35 — losing the battle but winning the war when it was selected to play in the BCS national title game later that season. Texas would have been the better matchup for Urban Meyer's Florida squad 15 years ago, and the Gators were more than happy to beat OU for Meyer's second national title.

With the introduction of the College Football Playoff, that kind of computer-generated luck isn't likely to take place again.

However, the Sooners will walk into the Cotton Bowl on Saturday not looking to prove that they're national title contenders but to simply avenge the worst loss either team has suffered in the 100-plus year history of the Red River Shootout.

Never mind that Heisman contender Dillon Gabriel was out for that game last year. Never mind that OU was still reeling from the loss and addition of dozens of players through the transfer portal in Brent Venables' first year.

The Sooners finished the season 6-7 with a bowl game loss to another team that has national title aspirations this season (Florida State). Venables has been timid about saying what this team is capable of, even saying it's not quite a championship-caliber team.

But they sure do look the part. Gabriel is synchronized with wideouts Andrel Anthony, Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson and Drake Stoops. The run game is serviceable with Tawee Walker, Jovantae Barnes and Marcus Major.

Defensively, linebacker Danny Stutsman is having a Butkus Award-caliber year, averaging nearly 10 tackles per game. The Sooners have picked off 10 passes in five games.

There's no doubt that the Sooners will need to play their best football yet to beat a Texas team that is surging.

The Sooners might be taking it week-by-week, but you can't ignore what a 6-0 start would mean.

That's right where OU would like to be. Not many expect the Sooners to beat Texas, though the game is likely to be decided by one score. But if they do, you're gonna hear about it not just this season but next, when the Sooners and Longhorns each look to compete in the vaunted SEC.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube.