Oklahoma-Texas Observations: AllSooners LIVE In-Game Blog

John Hoover, Ryan Chapman and Ross Lovelace offer their real-time observations from the Sooners' road trip to play the Texas Longhorns.

DALLAS — Unranked Oklahoma looks to bounce back this week against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. AllSooners has four reporters on site to cover the game.

This live blog will be updated throughout Saturday's contest. Newest posts appear at the top. Simply refresh your browser to see the latest posts.

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2:00 p.m.

Oklahoma quarterback Nick Evers is entering the game. Let’s see if he can engineer the comeback.

— RC 

1:44 p.m.

Texas running back Jonathan Brooks caps off that scoring drive with an 18-yard run. The Longhorns needed just 2:37 to march 54 yards in five plays, extending their lead to 49-0.

— RC 

1:37 p.m.

Third quarter stats:

-- JH

1:35 p.m.

Third quarter. It's 42-0, currently the biggest margin of defeat for OU in the Red River Rivalry. That can change ... but it probably won't.

-- JH

1:24 p.m.

Trey Morrison just got into a shoving match and was flagged for a personal foul penalty. Brent Venables brought him to the sideline and gave him a stern talking-to — no yelling, no gesturing. No idea what was said, or what the tone was.

It’s 35-0 here, so at this point, if I’m Morrison’s coach, I might be applauding him for showing a little fight. And maybe Venables did, but Morrison came out of the huddle angry, likely at himself.

— JH

1:02 p.m.

And just as everyone predicted, the first Oklahoma takeaway is an interception by backup cornerback C.J. Coldon. Ewers tried to throw away the football to escape pressure, but he floated it to Coldon on the Texas sideline.

This game is so weird.

— JH

12:58 p.m.

Maybe the most uninspiring series yet for the Sooners. Once again sticking with Beville, quick three-and-out, nowhere near the markers on fourth down.

Even though Oklahoma is playing for pride at this point, the effort on the field is concerning.

— RL

12:57 p.m.

Not sure what else I can say. Davis Beville has no confidence because the offense is running better without him, and yet the Sooner coaching staff keeps calling on him on third and/or fourth down. It’s a disaster.

— JH

12:35 p.m.

This game is quickly going to be put right up there with this list of Texas wins over Oklahoma:

2005 - 45-12

1998 - 34-3

1970 - 41-9

1941 - 40-7

Oklahoma hasn’t been shut out in the Cotton Bowl since 1965, and that streak is now in danger as well. The Sooners threw for just 32 passing yards and two interceptions in the first half, and let Texas run for 6.2 yards per carry.

— RC 

12:33 p.m.

Halftime stats:

12:31 p.m.

Halftime. Sooners trail 28-0.

-- JH

12:21 p.m.

Lebby finally dialed up the jump pass from the wildcat, and I think we’ve completely filled out the bingo card. Only other place the Sooners could go would be a quarterback change.

Fells like the OU defense is just one massive coverage bust down the field from the wheels completely falling off the wagon. Texas is up 21-0 and it somehow doesn’t feel anywhere near that close.

— RC 

12:20 p.m.

Not sure how wise it is to play Davis Beville at wide receiver out of the wildcat formation. Playing 10-on-10 isn’t going to beat Texas today.

— JH

12:19 p.m.

Frankly, Jeff Lebby has just gotten too cute for his own good. OU was churning out chunk yardage out of the wildcat with runs by Brayden Willis and Eric Gray, and then Lebby calls a jump pass from Gray, who floats one directly to Texas’ Jahdae Barron for the interception. Another promising drive goes to waste.

— JH

12:15 p.m.

Oklahoma’s defense gets a stop and the Sooners are back in the wildcat. Brayden Willis is the man.

Looks like Caleb William ain’t walking down that ramp this year.

— JH

12:15 p.m.

Booty and Evers don’t even have their helmets on in the offensive huddle before the OU offense takes the field. Not even a discussion right now as OU would rather roll with Brayden Willis at quarterback.

— RC 

12:14 p.m.

Another three-and-out for the Sooners, who have yet to make a change on offense. This could get out of hand. Sark and Ewers putting together a work of art.

Finally, Oklahoma’s defense gets a stop and some momentum, but until the offense gets going, this game remains on the verge of getting out of hand.

— RL

12:13 p.m.

Pretty telling about the state of the OU quarterback room that Jeff Lebby has tried every version of the wildcat so fat but hasn’t turned to General Booty or Nick Evers instead of Davis Beville.

— RC 

12:11 p.m.

This is actually shocking that the Oklahoma offense doesn’t have a quarterback who can complete a forward pass. Drake Stoops, Eric Gray and Jalil Farooq take a bunch of reverses (Stoops tried to pull up and throw it) and the result is another three-and-out.

— JH

12:06 p.m.

Sark and Ewers are toying with the OU defense now. Everything is working. The Sooners are in that lousy three-man front, but I don’t think it would matter. The main thing is Sark is getting the matchups he wants, and Ewers is finding the open man on just about every play. If there’s not one, he throws them open.

Keilan Robinson’s 15-yard TD catch ends a 9-play, 80-yard drive, and it’s 21-0, 7:31 til halftime.

— JH

12:06 p.m.

Oklahoma’s three-man front has to go. Quinn Ewers has all the time in the world and he’s already showing his arm talent, as exhibited by his inch-perfect third down throw to Bijan Robinson at midfield.

Texas is going to name its score today, the only question is just how high Steve Sarkisian wants to go.

— RC 

12:03 p.m.

Ewers is a Rembrandt. He slid away from Ethan Downs pressure and feathered a ball into a tight window over DaShaun White’s outstretched arms. That takes some serious skill.

— JH

11:59 a.m.

If Farooq is hurt, my guess is it’s from the hard shot he took on the sideline on that second direct snap on the previous drive. It was an absolute thud.

— JH

11:59 a.m.

Sooners with another offensive drive stalling out on the Longhorns side of the 50-yard line. You have to wonder how much longer until they make a change. Offense needs life bad, and Texas is putting up points in a hurry. It's time. It could unravel quick.

— RL

11:59 a.m.

There’s a window open here at the end of the press box and we can hear all the noise from the Texas half.

As Major stepped in for his turn as wildcat quarterback, a Longhorns fan screamed, “They’re running it!”

I think Pete Kwiatkowski knows. Everybody knows. Only question now is if the Sooners turn to General Booty or Nick Evers for the portion of the game where they slot an actual quarterback behind Andrew Raym.

— RC 

11:57 a.m.

The answer is no.

Major throws to Mims for a 4-yard loss, and then Beville fires an absolute rocket behind Mims on a screen pass on third down. Sooners punt.

— JH

11:56 a.m.

After Beville strikes a dart to Willis, Eric Gray takes a direct snap for 8 yards, 10 yards and 4 yards. Now Major is in. Looks like the Sooners found something. Is it sustainable?

— JH

11:56 a.m.

Oklahoma cannot catch a break. Farooq reportedly headed to the locker room.

According to @PlankShow on OU radio, Jalil Farooq being taken to the locker room. #Sooners

— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) October 8, 2022

— RC

11:53 a.m.

Steve Sarkisian is dominating the battle of the play callers. This Oklahoma defense looks hapless even when they’re in the right spot, much less after Sarkisian is scheming guys wide open and coming up with great answers every time Venables dials up any extra pressure.

Shaping up to be a very long day for those in the OU half of the Cotton Bowl. The 14-point deficit already looks insurmountable after the Sooners tried everything on the last offensive drive and came up short. Oklahoma has to have a special teams or defensive touchdown, and fast.

— RC 

11:50 a.m.

Another nice answer from Sark, Ewers, Robinson, Roschon Johnson and, finally, Worthy, who catches the touchdown from Ewers to put Texas up 14-0.

The Sooners have had two big opportunities fall flat early, and they haven’t shown the ability to consistently stop the Texas offense.

That’s a bad combination for Oklahoma.

— JH

11:44 a.m.

First quarter is over, Texas leads 7-0.

11:44 a.m.

First quarter stats:

11:43 a.m.

Oklahoma threw out the kitchen sink on that drive and got stuffed on fourth down. Looked like Eric Gray would have had the first down on the third down play if Davis Beville had handed the ball off instead of keeping it.

Sooners likely won’t be able to just run the ball down Texas’ throat, but now the Longhorns will have everything to think about net time the defense rolls out. Won’t matter much if the defense can’t get a stop, however.

— RC 

11:42 a.m. 

One of the most entertaining offensive possessions we’ve seen in years fizzles as Davis Beville comes in and keeps once and hands off once. The wildcat stuff was working brilliantly. Texas was off guard. Why would Jeff Lebby get away from that? 

— JH

11:38 a.m.

Pulling out all the stops: Out of field goal formation, holder Michael Turk flips a flat pass (from his knees) to kicker Zach Schmit. Appears Schmit has the first down, but here comes replay review.

— JH

Don’t really care how it ends, this is the most electric drive in OU history

— Josh Callaway (@JoshMCallaway) October 8, 2022

11:37 a.m.

Davis Beville comes in at QB and the Texas defense, knowing he’s not gonna throw it, bows up and stuffs the next two plays. Beville hits Stoops short on a third-down slant and the Sooners line up to go for it again on fourth down (second time this drive). Timeout OU, 2:39 to go, first quarter.

— JH

11:35 a.m.

Let’s hop in the time machine.

Baylor ran with a wildcat quarterback for the essentially entire 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl against North Carolina. The Bears ran for 645 yards and beat North Carolina 49-38.

Jeff Lebby was on that Baylor staff, and he brought a little bit of that back out today with the Brayden Willis/Jalil Farooq wildcat package.

— RC 

11:32 a.m.

Just as we all expected: Brayden Willis takes a snap in the wildcat formation and hands to Jalil Farooq, who sweeps 23 yards to the right. Second play, Farooq takes the direct snap and sweeps 12 yards to the left.

Gonna be that kind of day for the Oklahoma offense.

— JH

11:29 a.m.

The Oklahoma defense is back.

Can’t stop the run on that drive as both Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson run through arm tackles.

Steve Sarkisian had two great play designs, one to Ja’Tavion Sanders and the other to Xavier Worthy on the goal line that the Sooner defense had no answer for.

Woodi Washington’s dropped interception proved costly as Quinn Ewers led Texas right down the field. All of things are going to have to change as this thing continues if the Sooners are to stay in this one and pull the upset. Only good thing was that the Longhorns mercifully ran 4:31 off the clock.

— RC 

11:26 a.m.

Bijan Robinson’s ninth rushing touchdown of the season puts Texas ahead 7-0 with 11:19 left in the first quarter.

Really nice adjustments and response by Texas there to overcome near disaster, maintain composure and execute. The scoring drive was 12 plays and included eight runs and four passes. That includes the lateral bubble throw from Ewers to Xavier Worthy to set up the Robinson TD.

— JH

11:25 a.m.

It was a tough play, but remember that near-interception from Woodi Washington there. That’s a play the Sooners need to make to pull off an upset like this. Won’t get many opportunities like that to get the ball back.

— RL

11:23 a.m.

Oklahoma nearly had that big turnover I wrote about this week. Ethan Downs hammered Quinn Ewers on the throw and Woodi Washington had a potential INT in his hands but couldn’t hold on.

How big was that?

Texas is marching after first towns on its next three plays.

— JH

11:11 a.m.

That’s a clever play design by Sark against the Sooners’ 3-deep safety alignment. Ja’Tavion Sanders pops a short throw for 29 yards, but replay shows he stepped out of bounds. It’s a 16-yard gain. First down Texas.

— JH

11:13 a.m.

As expected, Sooners very hesitant to throw the ball. Wonder if we see some roll outs or something to add some movement. Pretty stagnant.

— RL

11:12 a.m.

Nice patience and throw by Beville on third and 4 to find Brayden Willis across the middle, but he missed badly to Drake Stoops on first down. The drive stalls on a Beville overthrow to Mims.

Think we’re gonna see a lot of that kind of inconsistent play today — good and bad.

— JH

11:12 a.m.

Offensive starters for Oklahoma:

Harrison - Mettauer - Raym - Murray - Morris

Mims - Willis - Stoops - Farooq

Beville - Gray

— RC 

11:09 a.m.

Sooner defense forces a big-time three and out. Three strong tackles. Texas tried to check down with swing and screen passes, but OU linebackers were on the scene.

Interesting alignment with Graham and Davis as the outside corners, Washington at nickel and Broiles and Morrison at safety.

Davis Beville to start at quarterback.

— JH

11:09 a.m.

Defensive starters for Oklahoma:

Grimes - Redmond - Grimes

White - Stutsman - Ugwoegbu

Graham - Morrison - Washington - Broiles - Davis

Woodi Washington returns to safety, where he started his career, with Billy Bowman’s injury. Still a three-man front, but OU forces the three-and-out.

— RC 

11:06 a.m.

Texas calls the coin toss as heads… and it is tails. Oklahoma defers, and the defense will have to hold Quinn Ewers off the board first. Longhorn offense will be marching toward the OU half of the Cotton Bowl. It’s football time.

— RC 

11:04 a.m.

Both Davis Beville and General Booty are warming up on the sideline. Dillon Gabriel is in street clothes.

Well played, Brent Venables. Well played.

— JH

10:58 a.m.

Up next, kickoff at the Cotton Bowl. This is my 19th straight OU-Texas game and although I’m not hyperventilating like I used to, I’m no less excited for this one.

Brace yourselves, crazy things are about to happen.

— JH

10:54 a.m.

The Pride of Oklahoma is playing the Alma Mater. National Anthem is next. This stadium is almost full. Almost.

— JH

10:42 a.m.

Both teams are unranked. Both teams have dropped a couple of games. Both teams were fired up and ready to start jawing as they headed back up the tunnel. No pushing and shoving or anything like that, but you can tell it still has the sting. Still one of the best atmospheres in sports.

— RC 

Dillon Gabriel warms up Saturday at the Cotton Bowl / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

10:38 a.m.

Dillon Gabriel took the two or three “snaps” with the one’s before the game. Davis Beville with the two’s. Pop some popcorn and enjoy the drama. Scoreboard shows 29 minutes until kickoff.

— RC 

10:32 a.m.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby doing an excellent job of ensuring the Sooners don’t tip their hand. Going through warmups as normal, not spending any extra time with either Dillon Gabriel, Davis BEville or General Booty. Just observing the quarterbacks go through warmups, offering high fives and a few smiles along the way. We’ll all find out together at kickoff.

— RC 

10:27 a.m.

Finishing off some Rudy’s BBQ for the pregame meal, I turned around and there was the legend himself, Keith Jackson. He kindly introduced me to Sooner WR icon Eddie Hinton. I’ve been covering OU football for almost 20 years, and this is the first time I’ve met the OG OU WR.

“You just met the second-best wide receiver in school history,” Jackson cracked.

Keith was an incredible tight end and remains an awesome personality.

— JH

10:05 a.m.

In the warmup line, Dillon Gabriel and Davis Beville are right next to each other, both fully suited up and doing all the dynamic stretches.

— JH

10:02 a.m.

Not trying to read anything into this, but quarterback Micah Bowens is going through warmups. Oklahoma is designated as the home team, so everyone is here. I’m just saying, it’s new seeing him somewhere away from Norman.

He’d be a heck of a change-of-pace QB against the Longhorns today.

— JH

10:00 a.m.

No confirmation if he’s going to play, but Dillon Gabriel is in pads with the rest of the Oklahoma quarterbacks. Sooners playing the information game to the bitter end here if Gabriel isn’t cleared to play.

— RC 

Dillon Gabriel :: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

9:50 a.m.

Both teams are on the field for warmups and fans are pouring into the Cotton Bowl. 

Unfortunately for the Sooners, Billy Bowman is out for today's contest. OU will be down one of their best defenders to compound the issues of the past two weeks. 

AllSooners: Oklahoma-Texas Pregame Injury Report — Billy Bowman, Dillon Gabriel #Soonershttps://t.co/4LSS3sWXvI

— Sooners on SI (@SoonersOnSI) October 8, 2022

 — RC