Sooners face Longhorns in “Red River Rivalry” renewed

Oh, what a season 2018 has come out to be! A rematch that has been in the making since Week 6 is officially going to happen. Ehlinger and his Longhorns will march into JerryWorld Dec. 1st to take on Heisman front runner Kyler Murray. With a game this past weekend that looked to me as if defense had improved, with defensive touchdowns by Curtis Bolton and Caleb Kelly, and offense firing on all cylinders versus a tough West Virginia team in Morgantown, the Sooners are looking ahead to a tight match up in Dallas.

The Longhorns have had lots of success following that 3 point victory brought about by Sam Ehlinger and Cameron “Dicker the Kicker”. Ehlinger has a 64% completion percentage on 362 attempts, and has thrown for 2,774 yards all season long. It should be interesting to watch how he and his receivers, including standout Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, will perform against Oklahoma’s somewhat lagging defensive backfield. The front 7 should put up a match against the Longhorn front, and it should be fun to watch the trenches on both sides of the ball, with standouts Neville Gallimore on the Oklahoma defensive side, along with Texas defensive standout Charles Omenihu, who has 40 tackles and 8.5 sacks on this season alone.

The rushing game will be key in this matchup, being with two dual threat QBs and an outstanding array of running backs to keep an eye on for this game. Let’s start with Kennedy Brooks, standout RS freshman who came in after former Heisman and Doak Walker hopeful Rodney Anderson fell out with a torn ACL. Brooks has ran for 993 yards on 103 attempts, with a crazy average of 9.6 yards a carry, which is the national leading average. He has a long touchdown for 86 yards and has 12 total TDs on the season. He recently had a career high against Kansas with 25 carries for 171 yards and 2 TDs against the Jayhawks. Tre Sermon is also another powerful runner who can make it happen on the inside zone. He is a tough runner who the Texas D will be looking to slow down.

True freshman Keontay Ingram will be a rusher the Oklahoma defense will be looking to stop, as well. Ingram is a strong back who has 676 yards on 129 carries. Tre Watson will likely be having equal snaps with Ingram as well, with Watson the more experienced back for the Texas O. Ingram is also one to watch down field outside of the backfield, as he can catch the ball and turn it up field for big yards. Ehlinger is also a dangerous runner outside of the pocket, with 376 yards on the season and 11 TDs.

We all know what Kyler can do, with over 3000 yards passing and 37 touchdowns on the season. He also can take the ball and rumble downfield, with his longest TD run of 75 yards. He likes to target Marquise “Hollywood” Brown down the field deep, and can always trust the reliable hands of CeeDee Lamb.

Murray is looking to win the Heisman this weekend with a big game, a 4 peat on the horizon and a possible playoff berth if the Buckeyes lose to Northwestern this weekend, and likely 4 seed Georgia losing to ‘Bama in the SEC championship. It should play out to be a fun weekend, and America is looking forward to seeing what the Sooners and Longhorns have in store for a rivalry reimagined.

Image courtesy of Nate Billings, The Oklahoman