Five key ingredients to Red River Success
Each week I’ve offered 10 ingredients for victory but on the morning of the annual biggest game of the year it’s hard to come up with that many. That sounds crazy given the gravity of the rivalry, but Texas is catching OU at a time OU normally catches UT. That time is coaching transition, often followed by a couple losses and a shaky psyche.
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Texas suffered a bad loss to OU last year after jumping out to a giant lead. I don’t know how much that will play into UT’s motivation today, mainly because the team seems generally focused week to week. Yes, they want revenge. Throughout human history that’s a common motivation. Even Tupac rated it No. 2 on life’s list of joys. But this team is too focused to get caught up in last year, at least that’s my interpretation of what I’ve heard.
Credit to Steve Sarkisian and his coaches that my keys to victory aren’t numerous. They just need to play their game and dictate terms. It’s also a reminder that OU is in rough shape.
1. Focus and energy
It’s going to be a staple this year because they do control their own destiny if they harness both for four quarters. I have loved the consistent energy of the team this season. It’s been a great mix of confidence and understanding of assignments which unleashes athleticism. It comes across in team pursuit and tackling, as well as effort in blocking on offense (if not always execution).
2. Punish them for attention on primary weapons
OU won’t be able to take away Bijan Robinson without devoting numbers to the run game. If their remaining secondary numbers favor covering Xavier Worthy, Sark will shrug and direct Quinn Ewers elsewhere. The most important offensive player in the game at that point is Jordan Whittington. If Texas needs to go to page 2, J-Whitt is perfect for it. He can exploit underneath, is tough to cover in man, and is physical. He’s primed for a big game against this pillowy defense.
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3. Texas’ D-line advantage
I don’t think OU can run the ball consistently on Texas. Honestly I’m not sure a whole lot of teams can. The D-tackles are stout and the Edges are assignment sound. I predicted WVU getting shut down in the run game and I think we’ll see more of the same this week. OU’s offensive line isn’t great. If this plays out like I think, then OU’s offense becomes one dimensional, and given the Jeff Lebby offense, that allows Texas to devote more bodies to covering space.
The offensive lines are fairly similar in quality, but UT’s D-line is much better than OU’s.
4. Headsets
The headsets matter a whole lot less if you don’t have the personnel to pull off the game plan and calls. As an obvious example, I can beat @malaise at chess even if Gary Kasparov is whispering in his ear. This frustrates Gary. Sark, PK , and the other Gary have the advantage in this game before accounting for personnel issues. This will more clearly show up if Dillon Gabriel can’t play. Most of the murmurs we’ve heard make it sound like he’s out, but we’ll see.
Last week it was noted Sark would feast on WVU’s secondary confusion. Let’s double down on that. This will be a game where Sark should be able to create free runners, especially with so much focus on Worthy.
5. The perimeter advantage
One place where UT’s athleticism and physicality shines is on the perimeter. Last week OU struggled mightily getting numbers to the ball and then doing something about it when they arrived. Texas has perimeter power in the form of Whittington, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Bijan Robinson, and spirited wide receiver blocking.
It’s a pretty fitting advantage to have on International Greg Davis Bubble Screen Day.
Kickoff is in a little more than two hours. That makes it 8:45 and OU…
