SAN ANTONIO – The oddsmakers, sports talk show hosts and some college football fans may sound convincing that this year’s Red River Rivalry game won’t have the same juice as years before.
The top-ranked Texas Longhorns are entering the weekend as 14-point favorites, but anything can happen in a rivalry game — especially in a rivalry game with 119 years of history.
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In 2023, the Oklahoma Sooners handed Texas its only regular-season loss before the Longhorns rebounded and qualified for their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.
This year, both programs enter Red River Rivalry weekend trying to prove themselves as first-year members of the Southeastern Conference.
Texas is 5-0 this season after picking up its first-ever SEC win on Sept. 28 against Mississippi State.
The No. 18 Sooners cannot afford another SEC loss if it wants to remain in the CFP conversation. Oklahoma first fell to previously sixth-ranked Tennessee but bounced back with a 27-21 victory on Sept. 28 against Auburn.
OU will give Michael Hawkins Jr., its true freshman signal caller, the opportunity of a lifetime to start against the Longhorns.
Meanwhile, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian announced he will start his trusted veteran quarterback Quinn Ewers, who is set to take the field for the first time since Texas played UTSA in mid-September.
Ewers was sidelined with an oblique strain during the game against the Roadrunners. Redshirt freshman Arch Manning stepped in Ewers’ place.
Before his injury, Ewers was considered a Heisman Trophy contender after guiding the Longhorns to a Week 2 win over the Michigan Wolverines, last year’s College Football Playoff National Champion.
It’s no secret that Ewers will have no time to ease his way back into things with the Sooners this week and No. 2 Georgia next Saturday night.
KSAT 12 Sports will be in Dallas for the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl, a game that will also air at 2:30 p.m. Saturday live on KSAT 12.
Stay tuned to KSAT 12, ksat.com and our KSAT 12 Sports’ social media platforms for our coverage leading up to and after the game.
During our stay in North Texas, the KSAT 12 Sports team will also be in Arlington for the Dallas Cowboys’ Sunday afternoon game against the Detroit Lions.
There will be plenty more on both games on an all-new episode of Instant Replay at 11 p.m. Sunday on KSAT 12.
