Oklahoma's Ethan Downs flashes 'Horns Down' at halftime of Sugar Bowl

The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners rivalry extends well past the confines of the court, field, or whatever arena the two institutions face off against one another. And that was on full display for the world to see during the halftime of the College Football Playoff semifinal matchup between the Longhorns and the Washington Huskies.

With the college football season winding down and with that, players across the country are receiving awards and accolades for their work both on and off the field. On Monday, during the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the insurance giant and bowl game host brought down this year’s recipients of the Allstate Good Works team — an award was given out to two players across the country for their work within their communities. And a part of this year’s honorees was Oklahoma defensive lineman Ethan Downs.

Upon receiving his award, during the group photo with the Allstate CEO, Downs made it a point to remind the college football world of the love the Sooners have for the Longhorns by posing with a horns down gesture.

Ethan Downs with a high “Horns Down” as he’s being honored for his work off the field during the season at Texas’ CFP game against Washington

Truly a legendary moment #Sooners pic.twitter.com/VzlCLrQ1k2

— Josh Callaway (@JoshMCallaway) January 2, 2024

Sarkisian identifies where Texas must improve in the second half

We seem to have a game on our hands in New Orleans. Texas and Washington head into the halftime break tied at 21, setting up to be another great College Football Playoff semifinal. If any side has had some frustration though, it’s Steve Sarkisian after some self-inflicted wounds.

Sarkisian knows if Texas is going to have success in the second half, those will have to go away. He also wants to make sure his team is not playing frantically, having a bit of a cooler demeanor. You could see a difference once the Longhorns got settled into the game.

“We got to quit getting in our own way,” Sarkisian said during his mid-game interview with ESPN. “We had some unforced errors with some penalties and different things. I thought we settled down a little bit once we got going. But we got to stay out of these third and longs and get into third and manageable situations.”

Texas will walk into the locker room with six penalties for a total of 36 yards. A couple of holding calls have gone against the offensive line, while an illegal block was called against cornerback Ryan Watts down in the Washington red zone.

For the most part, Washington has been able to play clean football. Their one mistake was a big one though, muffing a punt to give Texas the ball back. They were able to capitalize and at the time, the score was knotted back up at 14.