Oklahoma vs. Texas: Battle for the Golden Hat

​Come Saturday, there will be 90 thousand fans at the Historic Cotton in Bowl in Dallas, Texas.  At the 50 yard line the Burnt Orange and Crimson will be parted, as one of the biggest Rivalries in College Football will be underway.  The 4-1 Sooners still bring a lot to the table, after a loss to TCU in Fort Worth last week.  On the other hand, the 2-3 Longhorns have not been so hot this season with their first year head coach Charlie Strong.  Anything could happen tomorrow, bragging rights for a year depend on it.  What are key things that Oklahoma or Texas will have to do to win the game?

​After watching these two teams the first six weeks, the Sooners have looked like the better team.  On offense, Oklahoma needs to consistently give the ball to the 5'11 240 lb. Freshman Samaje Perine, he is a tank to say the least.  Perine has scored 7 touchdowns in the last two games, that is a good reason to give him the ball.  We should see Alex Ross also get a lot of playing time, if he gets into open field no one can catch him.  We know that Aaron Ripkowski will show up to play as always, along with the Freshman Dimitri Flowers who has been compared to Trey Millard.  The Sooners really need Sugar Bowl Trevor Knight to show up, if he does the Wide Receivers will have no problem getting open.  The HUGE Oklahoma Offensive Line always protects Trevor and make huge holes for the running backs.  As long as Josh Heupel calls good plays and lets Trevor Knight run out of the pocket the Sooners Offense should put up a lot of points.  Mike Stoops should have his Defense ready after being wrecked by the TCU Offense, as long as they keep pressure on Tyrone Swoops they will dominate.  I think we are going to see a lot of Eric Striker this weekend.  Texas always has good running backs so the Defensive Line and Linebackers will have to step up.

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On the other side, Texas is still a very good team even though their 2-3 record might not show it.  Come Saturday morning they will be fired up to upset Oklahoma, it showed last year when they were the underdog.  On offense the Horns need to use Tyrone Swoops as a running and passing threat, the Sooners defense hasnt been able to stop a dual threat quarterback year this season.  Behind Swoops in the backfield the Horns have some major threats in Malcolm Brown and Jonathan Gray, if they can control the line of scrimmage and make holes for their speedy running backs that will give them a good chance to pick away at the Sooners defense.  Swoops will have to make good passes on the Oklahoma secondary, they have been playing fabulous.  John Harris has been a big target for Swoops with 4 touchdowns and over 350 yards, as well as Jaxon Shipley who is a tremendous possession receiver.  The Offensive line has been weak for the Horns, with not much experience and suspensions.  On the other side of the ball for Texas, they have tons of talent holding the explosive Baylor offense to only 28 points and only letting Bryce Petty complete 7 passes.  You will see Jordan Hicks, Cedric Reed, Malcolm Brown and Quandre Brown will be all over the field.  Charlie Strong has a very mature defense, and if they can force Trevor Knight to pass the ball and stop the Sooners running game, they can beat the Sooners tomorrow.  

​I think that both of these teams have a good chance to win this game, whoever shows up to play.  The Sooners don't need to come into tomorrow too cocky, look what happened last year.  Whoever takes advantage of their opportunities should bring home the W.  This will be a showdown between two great coaches and a great game,  I am going to pick the Sooners to win 35-7.  Boomer Sooner, Hook em’ Horns!