Texas @ Oklahoma preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 12, 2013 ) Oklahoma 20, Texas 36

Oklahoma took a big hit to its playoff hopes with a loss last week, but a big victory over rival Texas could be just the thing to get the fans back on board. The ninth-ranked Sooners, who host the Longhorns on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, had the fortune of suffering their loss on the same weekend as several other top-10 teams, leaving them still in the race if they can recover to win the Big 12. Texas has dropped three of its last four games and remains a program in transition.

First-year head coach Charlie Strong is rebuilding the Longhorns and is starting to see some results on the defensive side of the ball, where the team is limiting opponents to an average of 19.2 points. Oklahoma is averaging 42.4 points and has yet to score below 33 in a game but showed some holes on the other side of the ball in its last two contests. “On a couple of occasions we didn’t identify properly on who we were going to,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops told reporters in regards to last week’s 37-33 loss to Texas Christian. “That just happens. That leaves a guy free and that’s why we broke down.”

TV: 12 p.m. ET, ABC. LINE: Oklahoma -14.5

ABOUT TEXAS (2-3, 1-1 Big 12): The Longhorns held the top-scoring team in the country, Baylor, 23 points below its season average last week but could not find their own way into the end zone in a 28-7 setback. This marks Strong’s first taste of the border rivalry but several of the players remember last season, when Texas took down a favored and undefeated Sooners team that had plans for a National Championship. “We definitely went out there with a mentality that we have to win this game and it’s a big game for everybody,” running back Johnathan Gray told reporters. “That’s the same kind of mentality we have this year and we have to step out there on Saturday and do it.”

ABOUT OKLAHOMA (4-1, 1-1): The Sooners’ setback dropped them behind TCU, Baylor, Kansas State and Oklahoma State in the Big 12, and the team can ill afford another conference loss. Oklahoma’s defense tightened up in the second half against the Horned Frogs, but a mistake by the offense – an interception that was returned for a touchdown – proved to be the difference, and quarterback Trevor Knight was just 14-of-35 for 309 yards, one touchdown and a pair of interceptions. “We weren’t as consistent as we need to be,” Stoops said. “There are three reasons: At times we were getting pressured and we didn’t protect as well as we have in other games, at times it was an errant throw and at times we were covered.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. Oklahoma holds a 9-6 lead in the series under Stoops.

2. Texas’ defense has nine interceptions in 2014 after totaling 10 in 2013.

3. The Sooners are 22-1 in their last 23 against unranked opponents, with the lone setback coming to the Longhorns last season.

PREDICTION: Oklahoma 31, Texas 17