Texas Longhorns Ignoring The Noise Heading Into Red River Rivalry vs. Oklahoma

The Texas Longhorns know all too well that rankings and point spreads have no bearing on the outcome of the Red River Rivalry

Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. (2), Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Kip Lewis (10), Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Jaren Kanak (7) and Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Dasan McCullough (1) stop Texas Longhorns running back Jonathon Brooks (24) during the Red River Rivalry college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. Oklahoma won 34-30. / Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUSTIN -- The No. 1 Texas Longhorns are currently a 14.5-point heading into the Red River Rivalry in Dallas vs. the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday.

But don't tell Steve Sarkisian or his players that, because they are well aware that once the two teams walk down the tunnel, everything else goes out the window.

"It's a rivalry game. Forget whatever we're favored by or not, it doesn't matter," Sarkisian said. "Records and things don't matter in games like this."

That is more so the case for this rivalry than most others as well.

The Longhorns hold the all-time lead in this game 63-51-5, but since 1960, the Longhorns are 31-31-3 against their rivals to the north.

In plenty of those matchups - 16 of them in fact - the lower-ranked of the two teams has come out on top, and thrown a serious wrench into their rival's post-season hopes.

Look back no further than 2023, when the then-No. 3 nearly blew their chances at a College Football Playoff berth after Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel led a last-minute game-winning touchdown drive to seal the game for the Sooners.

"I think nine of the last 10 years, this game's been decided by one score. And so to think like whatever happens in this game early on, that's the way it's going to go, and is probably not a reality," Texas head coach Sarkisian said. "Our first year, we jumped out to a really big lead, and they came back and got us. The next year, we kind of ran away with that game. Last year, we fell behind, we came all the way back to take the lead, and then ultimately they went down to score at the end to beat us."

That said, the Longhorns also learned a valuable lesson in that disappointing loss: how to control their emotions and stay level-headed.

"Emotions run high in games like this, and most notably in this game," Sarkisian said. "I'm not here to deny that our players won't have some emotions in this game, and I think they deserve that and they should have it. The key is not to cross over that threshold where we get emotional. And I felt like in last year's game, we got a little emotional at times."

"So I want to make sure that we stay true to who we are, that we do have emotion. There's nothing wrong with that, but we fight the urge to get emotional. So I think when we get emotional, that's when some of those types of things happen that that can put us in a position not to be successful. That's what I'm looking for, and that's what kind of I'm preaching to throughout the week, to get ourselves in the right frame of mind for Saturday when we kick off."

So can they move forward and take care of business in the 110th edition of this rivalry matchup?

On paper, they should have every chance to.

The Longhorns have the advantage at quarterback and at the skill positions, as well as on the offensive line. Their defense also ranks well above Oklahoma in passing defense, scoring defense, and total defense.

What we do know, is that the Longhorns are as motivated as ever to take back the momentum in the series.

And they're not going to let any external noise affect them one way or the other.

"To think I'm going to have to give some Knute Rockne speech to get ready for this game is probably not true," Sarkisian said. "I could probably show up at kickoff and our guys will be ready to play on Saturday morning. So I don't think it's going to take much to make sure our guys are fired up, ready to go."

The Longhorns and Sooners will kick off at 2:30 pm on Saturday, with the game set to be broadcast on ABC.