Longhorns Country

WATCH: Did Referees Miss A Critical Penalty on Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns?

The Texas Longhorns lost to the Oklahoma Sooners 34-30 on Saturday, but did the referees miss a critical penalty on OU?

Matt Galatzan

In this story:

AUSTIN, TX -- The Texas Longhorns dropped their first game of the season on Saturday in a devastating loss to the Oklahoma Sooners. 

Despite three turnovers, a turnover on downs, and multiple other mistakes and missed opportunities, the Longhorns were right there at the end, and by all accounts, likely should have won the game. 

With that said, things seemingly could have been in a much better position for the Horns, were the referees not to have made a critical no-call on the Sooners on a missed facemask on fourth and goal at the goal line.

At first glance, it appears that Worthy was simply stopped just short of the goal line in what was a great play by the Sooners' defense.

However, based on the replay, it appears the referees made a massive mistake in the most critical moment of the game to that point.  

Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. (2) stops Texas Longhorns wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) short of the goal line on fourth down beside Texas Longhorns wide receiver Jordan Whittington.
Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. (2) stops Texas Longhorns wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) short of the goal line on fourth down beside Texas Longhorns wide receiver Jordan Whittington :: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

Does that excuse the Longhorns from their disastrous final drive of the game, in which they let the Sooners march 75 yards in five plays, with less than two minutes to go?

Absolutely not. But, it was a huge play nonetheless. Were the referees to have not missed the penalty, the Longhorns would have gotten a fresh set of downs, with the ball inside the one-yard line. 

And give the Longhorns eight chances from the one? Odds are they likely get in the endzone. 

Either way, more time is taken off of the clock, and Dillon Gabriel might not even get a chance to move the Sooners down the field for the touchdown. 

That said, the refs didn't make the call, and the Sooners did get that chance. 

But it is certainly an interesting 'what if?' scenario.

Published
Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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