Live Updates From No. 6 Oklahoma's Red River Battle With Texas

John Hoover, Ryan Chapman and Ryan Aber offer their real-time observations from the 121st edition of the Red River Rivalry.

Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Kendal Daniels (5) pressures Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

DALLAS — Sooners on SI offers real-time observations from Cotton Bowl Stadium throughout Saturday's matchup between No. 6 Oklahoma and the Texas Longhorns. Newest posts are at the top. Just keep your browser open and refresh often.

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5:58

Oklahoma droped its first game of the season, losing 23-6 to the Longhorns on Saturday.

John Mateer struggled for much of the day, going 20 of 38 for 202 yards and throwing three interceptions as Texas outgained the Sooners 302-258.

Oklahoma managed just 48 rushing yards, with Mateer being sacked five times for 32 yards.

5:25

The Sooners dodged a massive bullet, but then Texas delivered what might be the backbreaker.

Mateer's lateral to Tory Blaylock bounced off Blaylock's hand and bounded back deeper into Sooners' territory.

But a Texas defender who made first contact with the ball did so while standing out of bounds, keeping the ball with OU — though at a 13-yard loss.

The Sooners had to punt a few moments later, and Ryan Niblett returned the punt 75 yards for a touchdown to put the Longhorns up 20-6 with 9:54 remaining.

5:16 p.m.

The Sooners are still in this. 

Another Mateer interception results in zero points for Texas thanks to another long field goal miss. 

This time, it was a 56-yarder that Shipley was unable to get through the uprights. 

Oklahoma only down a touchdown despite Texas enjoying all the momentum in the second half. 

— Chapman 

5:07 p.m.

Third quarter stats:

4:52 p.m.

The Sooners respond to the Texas touchdown by going three-and-out. 

Mateer made an ill-advised late throw on first down, then he was unable to make anything happen on third down. 

Grayson Miller got a great bounce on his punt, however, and Texas was flagged for a personal foul. 

The Longhorns will take over on their own 6-yard line. Huge drive for Oklahoma’s defense. 

— Chapman

4:50 p.m.

That's two really bad throws by Mateer to start the second half. One was a bad decision. Something Arbuckle and Venables need to watch very, very closely.

— Hoover

4:40 p.m.

Texas takes advantage of Oklahoma’s horrid end to the first half. 

Arch Manning finds DeAndrew Moore Jr. all alone in the back of the end zone to give the Longhorns their first lead of the day. 

Peyton Bowen immediately threw his hands in the air toward Kendel Dolby after the play, seemingly indicating it was Dolby’s coverage bust. 

Texas is on top 10-6 with 7:49 left in the third quarter, and 30 of the 75 yards gained on that 14-play drive came on the ground. First semblance of a sustained rushing attack from either team today. 

— Chapman 

4:36 p.m.

R Mason Thomas pulled Arch Manning down with one hand for a fantastic sack, but he was in the neutral zone on the snap two plays later. That’s the second time he’s been flagged for jumping off on Arch’s snap count. 

Texas is now finding some success on the ground and the Longhorns are in field goal range on the first drive of the second half. 

— Chapman

4:11 p.m.

Halftime stats:

4:10 p.m.

Ending the half like that typically looms large in this game. 

Right after the odd clock management, Mateer missed Deion Burks in the end zone. If he delivers a good throw, it’s surely a touchdown.



Instead, he missed way to the left and Muhammad caught his second interception of the day. 

OU wasn’t even able to settle for a Tate Sandell field goal attempt, and the Sooners head to the locker room up 6-3. Texas will get the ball to start the second half. 

— Chapman 

4:06 p.m.

That is some seriously poor clock management by the Oklahoma bench there. Woof. Ran on 1st & 15, ran on 1st & 10, in no hurry, subbed after that play with 27 seconds on the clock and then finally burn your last time out with 10 seconds. Woof.

— Hoover

4:02 p.m.

Texas’ first three drives: 14 plays, 20 yards, zero points.

Texas’ fourth drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 3 points

This is a big drive for OU, which has dominated on defense but now leads only 6-3.

— Hoover

3:57 p.m.

The Bowen brothers helped Oklahoma limit Texas to a field goal. 

Eli Bowen (with the help of Robert Spears-Jennings) made sure there would be no easy touchdown pass for Arch Manning on second-and-goal. 

Then Peyton Bowen broke up the pass to Parker Livingstone on third-and-goal, forcing the Longhorns to settle for the 22-yard field goal. 

Oklahoma clings to a 6-3 lead with 4:49 left until halftime. Now let’s see how Mateer’s hand holds up. 

— Chapman

3:56 p.m.

Sark was like, “No, we ain’t going for it on fourth down! Do you remember 2023? Did you watch the first quarter?”

Not really.

But probably.

— Hoover

News from the Cotton Bowl: John Mateer's thumb hurts and is apparently bleeding. We'll keep an eye on it... https://t.co/Vqyloyq4WN

— John E. Hoover 🌮 (@johnehoover) October 11, 2025

3:51 p.m.

Sark is a really gifted play-caller and diagnosed of defenses. He’s countered nicely with this drive so far as Texas faces second-and-goal from the 3. Nine plays, 75 yards so far, and they’ve been perfect on third down. Had to know this was coming. Now it’s Brent Venables’ turn to counter Sark’s counter.

— Hoover

3:43 p.m.

The fourth down conversion ultimately resulted in a closer field goal attempt. 

It appeared Mateer took his eyes off the snap on third-and-10. It was a smidge to the left of an ideal snap, but Mateer bobbled it around and just got down to set up a 41-yard kick by Tate Sandell. 

The OU kicker knocked it through, and the Sooners lead 6-0 with 9:09 left in the first half. 

Oklahoma got a key catch on third down earlier in the drive from tight end Carson Kent that moved the chains and eventually led to points. Fellow tight end Kaden Helms also made a tough grab on the Texas side of the field. 

Gonna be a group effort today battling this Texas defense. 

— Chapman 

3:37 p.m.

A couple of grown man collisions there on fourth-and-1.

The Sooners brought defensive tackles Jayden Jackson and David Stone in and Jackson played the role of tight end on a little insert action. You want physicality at the point of attack? Jackson and Stone delivered and Xavier Robinson picked up the first down. 

So that’s what OU worked on during the double-bye week. 

— Chapman 

3:24 p.m.

Oklahoma right tackle Derek Simmons just got rolled up on at the front of that pile. Simmons was still engaged on the front side of the pile and it moved in his direction.

Logan Howland is out for today’s game, so Stanford transfer Luke Baklenko will be thrown into the line of fire. 

Simmons isn’t putting much weight on it as he is helped over to the sideline. 

— Chapman 

3:20 p.m.

It’s just amazing what a turnover can do for teams in this game. Texas was going nowhere offensively, and then Mateer throws the pick and the Longhorns are suddenly marching right down the field as if they have a plan. Takeaways are just huge every year here.

Another Texas penalty kills the drive though and the Longhorns miss a 44y FG on 4th & 24.

— Hoover

3:20 p.m.

The first turnover of the day goes the way of Texas. 

Mateer looked like he drifted out of the oncoming rush and his pass to Kanak sailed. Texas defensive back Malik Muhammad intercepted the ball to set the Longhorns up on the OU 37-yard line. 

And now Texas is on the move. 

— Chapman

3:17 p.m.

Three series, three different running backs for the OU offense. It’s the full DeMarco Murray experience, I guess.

— Hoover

3:17 p.m.

Jaydn Ott completely missed Anthony Hill on that first down play. It’s not a matchup he’s expected to win, but he didn’t even touch the Texas linebacker and it resulted in Deion Burks getting smoked. 

Those are the little things DeMarco Murray hates. 

— Chapman

3:16 p.m.

After two possessions, Oklahoma has 68 yards total offense. Texas has 9. Things could change, but this OU defense reminds me of some of the early 2000 Sooner defenses.

— Hoover

3:09 p.m.

After getting taken down again on that third down incompletion, John Mateer appeared to be favoring his right hand. Derek Simmons helped him up by pulling him up by the right hand, then Mateer kind of pressed the back of his hand into his hip, as if he was trying to stave off a surge of pain.

That may just be where Mateer is now. It’s gonna be sore, and every time he bangs it or falls on it (or gets helped off the ground by it), it’s probably gonna hurt.

— Hoover

3:08 p.m.

Oklahoma is unable to do much with the field position. 

A false start on third-and-11 was a killer, then Grayson Miller’s punt took a Texas bounce. 

Arch Manning will take over at his own 20-yard line. 

The Texas defensive line is having success early keeping OU from running the ball. 

— Chapman

3:00 p.m.

As expected, Oklahoma’s defensive line cratered the Texas offensive line on the first series of the game. 

After exchanging a few procedural penalties, Gracen Halton, Marvin Jones Jr. and Kendal Daniels took over. 

Isaiah Sategna’s punt return will set OU up at its own 45-yard line. 

Barring a massive turnover, the combination of OU’s defensive line and the Longhorns’ poor punt unit, the Sooners should have fantastic field position for most of the day. 

— Chapman 

2:55 p.m.

Oklahoma’s starters on defense:

Thomas - Damonic Williams - Jackson - Jones Jr. 

Kip Lewis - McKinzie - Daniels 

Gentry Williams - Spears-Jennings - P. Bowen - E. Bowen

— Chapman 

2:51 p.m.

Mateer gets pressure on his third down throw (a bad snap threw off the beginning of the play), and Tate Sandell bangs through a 42-yard field goal to put Oklahoma up 3-0, 11:49 left in the first quarter. 

Good drive by the Sooners to start this thing. Guessing Sandell will be needed a lot today.

— Hoover

2:47 p.m.

It’s true. John Mateer starts the OU-Texas game 17 days after surgery.

Jaren Kanak drops the first pass (a bit of nerves, to be sure), but Isaiah Sategna pulls in a third-down catch from Mateer — and wow, are we underway.

— Hoover

2:47 p.m.

Oklahoma’s starters on offense:

Fasusi - Ozaeta - Maikkula - Nwaiwu - Simmons 

Lewis - Kanak - Sategna - Burks 

Mateer - Blaylock 

— Chapman

2:44 p.m.

Texas wins the toss. 

The Longhorns defer to the second half. 

Mateer time. 

— Chapman

2:39 p.m.

Chris Del Conte just handed Joe Castiglione a black hat for retirement. We're six minutes from kickoff.

— Hoover

2:11 p.m.

Jovantae Barnes and Keontez Lewis were both going through the walkthrough with the starters on "passing plays". Tory Blaylock is consistently getting the first handoff from Mateer on "running plays".

Not expecting Barnes to lead the team in carries today, but his pass protection prowess will get him onto the field. 

— Chapman

2:03 p.m.

No real surprises from Oklahoma’s offensive line in warmups. 

The projected starters from left to right:

Fasusi-Ozaeta-Maikkula-Nwaiwu-Simmons

— Chapman

1:54 p.m.

Not unexpected, but defensive tackles Jayden Jackson and Damonic Williams are also back in the warmup line, preparing to get after it today. 

The duo sat out last week’s contest against Kent State.

— Chapman 

1:51 p.m.

Right guard Febechi Nwaiwu is taking the second-team snaps at center again this week. 

It’s not reflected in the depth chart, but if Jake Maikkula has to miss a play to fix his chinstrap, it’ll likely be Nwaiwu bouncing over to snap the football. 

— Chapman

1:47 p.m.

Wow, Keontez Lewis is in the normal warmup line. Insane to think he’s got a shot to play today with how scary last week’s situation appeared. Best-case scenario and fantastic news for him. 

— Chapman 

1:29 p.m.

The first phase of Mateer’s pre-game warmup is complete. He capped it off by throwing a 47-yard ball to Jaren Kanak in the end zone. 

The Oklahoma fans around the tunnel gave Mateer a huge cheer as he started back up the ramp toward the locker room. 

— Chapman

1:22 p.m.

Mateer’s now got a football in hand and he’s begun his throwing warmups. 

Now the fun pregame speculation begins. 

— Chapman

1:15 p.m.

John Mateer has hit the field for warmups. He’s not picked up a football yet, but he’s got a small splint on his right thumb. 

He’s currently stretching his lower body out.

— Chapman 

1:00 p.m.

The Sooners and the Longhorns have both made it to the Cotton Bowl. 

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer took in the crowd as he got off the bus, and he had both hands stuffed into his pockets.

Per the final pre-game availability report, Mateer was not listed at all. He’s a go. 

Receiver Keontez Lewis, the only other Sooner with his status truly still up in the air entering Saturday, was listed as a game-time decision. 

Offensive tackle Logan Howland will miss today’s contest.

— Chapman