Oklahoma-Texas Observations: LIVE In-Game Blog

DALLAS — AllSooners offers real-time observations throughout today's massive edition of the Red River Rivalry. Newest posts are at the top. Just keep your browser open and refresh often.

3:03 p.m.

Dillon Gabriel came up big when it counted against Texas, competing 23-of-38 passes for 285 yards and the game-winning, 3-yard TD pass to Nic Anderson in the corner of the end zone with 15 seconds left. Oh, and he added 113 yards rushing and a TD on 14 carries. Perhaps he'll get some Heisman consideration now.

-- TW

2:56 p.m.

Sooners celebrating at midfield. Gabriel, who missed last year's game with a concussion, is hugging and kissing family members. Defensive end Rondell Bothroyd, one of multiple transfers to come up big in this game, is trying the golden hat on for size.

-- TW

2:51 p.m.

Last shot for Texas with two seconds left. Ball on the OU 44 yard line. Ewers' Hail Mary to the end zone is batted down and that will do it. OU avenges 49-0 loss with a hard-fought 34-30 Red River Rivalry victory. Golden hat changing hands shortly.

-- TW

2:44 p.m.

Here comes OU. Consecutive completions by Gabriel to Stoops, Farooq and Stoops, plus a pass interference penalty puts the ball at the Texas 6. First and goal. DG picks up three yards then finds Nic Anderson alone in the corner of the the end zone for a TD. 34-30 Sooners with 15 second left and two time outs for Texas. Gabriel looked like he was going to take a sack and was throwing the ball away but apparently knew exactly what he was doing.

-- TW

2:38 p.m.

Longhorns line up to go for it, but change their minds when defense doesn't jump. Texas kicker Bert Auburn successful on 47-yard FG attempt. Longhorns take a 30-27 lead with 1:17 remaining and no timeouts for OU.

-- TW

2:36 p.m.

Jacob Lacey with a huge sack, OU's fifth of the game. Texas facing third-and-9 from OU 35. Longhorns get 5 yards on run. Brings up fourth-and-4. FG attempt coming.

-- TW

2:35 p.m.

Texas eating clock and picking up first downs. First down Texas at OU 35-yard line. Billy Bowman hurt making tackle on Xavier Worthy.

-- TW

2:30 p.m.

Austin Stogner can't catch Gabriel pass on third-and 5, OU punting ball back to Texas.

--TW

2:21 p.m.

Defensive end Trace Ford flagged for unnecessary roughness, extending drive for Texas. Gentry Williams taken to the lockerrom with an injury. Longhorns tie the game 27-27 on a 28-yard run by Jonathon Brooks. There's 6:10 remaining in this slugfest.

-- TW

2:18 p.m.

Tough ending to a promising drive for the Sooners. Guard McKade Mettauer is carted off the field with a leg injury and Zach Schmit is wide right on a 45-yard field-goal attempt. Longhorns back in action with 7:55 left.

-- TW

2:13 p.m.

Gabriel is taking what the Texas defense gives him, rushing for 110 yards on 13 carries and a TD. His last carry netted 48 yards. On the day he's averaging 8.5 yards per carry. His previous career high in rushing was 64 yards against Boise State.

-- TW

2:10 p.m.

Gabriel picks up 44 yards and is now over 100 yards rushing on the day.

-- TW

2:06 p.m.

Tawee Walker breaks a 12-yard run to get the Sooners out of the shadow of their own goal line after that huge defensive defensive stand. Then Gabriel picks up another first down on a 12-yard run but takes a big shot.

-- TW

2:02 p.m.

OU stonewalls Texas on four plays from the 1-yard line. Sooners take over on offense. Defense stops three running plays and a quick pass.

-- TW

1:55 p.m.

Stats headed into the fourth quarter:

— RC

1:54 p.m.

Huge moment to bookmark.

Dillon Gabriel can’t connect with Drake Stoops and the Sooners turn the ball over in the middle of the field.

Andrew Raym looked pretty upset with Gabriel after that one and was motioning that he had space to the left. Not sure if Raym wanted Gabriel to tuck it and run, but either way Texas now marching with a chance to tie the game to start the fourth quarter.

— RC

1:43 p.m.

Texas cuts it to 27-20 on Auburn’s 45-yard field goal. Big stand by Oklahoma to stiffen as UT reached the red zone, but Sark had a play dialed up on fourth down before the false start pushed Texas back 5 yards. There’s 1:53 to play in the third quarter. Buckle up.

— JH

1:35 p.m.

Oklahoma’s defense has been outstanding.

The Sooners have forced three turnovers today, but the offense has only turned those takeaways into seven points.

Dolby’s interception was followed by Texas’ punt block.

That fumble did end up backing the Longhorns to their own 6-yard line, but generally have to cash in on those massive plays in this rivalry.

— RC

1:31 p.m.

Ethan Downs is having a day that reminds me of Auston English in 2006, I think. He just sacked Quinn Ewers for the second time and stood over Ewwers flexing (smart play by Jordan Kelley to pull him off). He also assisted on that forced fumble by Peyton Bowen that was recovered by Gentry Williams. Huge day for Weatherford’s Finest.

— JH

1:24 p.m.

Great drive from Jeff Lebby and the Oklahoma offense out of halftime.

Tawee Walker caps it off with a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Sooners up 27-17 with 10:21 in the third quarter.

Drive went 75 yards in 13 plays and ran 4:39 off the clock, and the OU ran for 36 yards.

Got a couple of nice plays from Austin Stogner and Andrel Anthony as well. Goes without saying but a defensive stop here could allow Oklahoma to really flex its muscles.

— RC

1:00 p.m.

I'm always struck by how much Brent Venables loves a challenge and loves to be pushed. He talks about it almost weekly.

Let's check in on some of his thoughts on Tuesday: "Our guys are excited about the challenge. It’s going to be a real challenge. I challenge our guys. Because our guys know, we haven’t played fully to our capability and if you want to get there, then you’ve got to have challenge to create the change that you want. So you need the challenge and to see where we’re at and get exposed and we know where we got to go to work at."

When asked at halftime about today? "Embrace the chaos."

“Embrace the chaos.”

Welcome to the Committee, Brent. pic.twitter.com/xBPZNQn7pX
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 7, 2023

Venables is built for these moments. We'll see if that translates to his team coming out of halftime.

— RC

12: 55 p.m.

Halftime stats:

— JH

12:54 p.m.

Oklahoma did just about everything right on that last drive of the half — except catch the football and walk into the end zone. Dillon Gabriel got creative on that third-and-2 and found Tawee Walker all alone running toward the goal line, but the throw got on him quickly and he dropped it.

Zach Schmit field goal from 25 yards out and the Sooners take a 20-17 lead into halftime — and get the ball to start the third quarter.

— JH

12:46 p.m.

Oklahoma’s streak of no points allowed in the last four minutes of the first half just ended with a Texas field goal, but that’s probably a win for the Sooners, as the Horns had first and goal at the 9.

That tackle for loss on the second-down jet sweep might have been Rondell Bothroyd’s best official play of the season.

It’s 17-17 with 1:53 left in the half. OU ball, and the Sooners get it coming out of halftime.

— JH

12:31 p.m.

Big boy drive by the Sooners.

Couple of nice plays by Dillon Gabriel, and true freshman Cayden Green helped Andrew Raym open a gaping hole for the touchdown.

Green needs to rock at left guard for the foreseeable future.

Capped off a 10 play, 75-yard march that took 4:04 off the clock. OU up 17-14 with 5:23 until halftime.

Oklahoma’s defense has been excellent in the last four minutes of the first half all year, let’s see if that trend holds here. OU with a chance to get a stop, extend the lead and get the ball back to start the second half if things fall correctly.

— RC

12:25 p.m.

As the defense came off the field, Brent Venables had a decently long conversation with safety Reggie Pearson and then linebacker Danny Stutsman.

Sarkisian got the best of Oklahoma’s defense with that play call, but the Sooners have been good at adjusting so far this year. Needed to clean up the run defense on a pair of plays on that drive before even getting to the fourth down.

— RC

12:22 p.m.

Oklahoma had everything defended well on that fourth-and-2 — except the boot pass to the tight end. Gunnar Helm was wide open and scores untouched to make it 14-10 Texas. A really clever design and timely call by Steve Sarkisian there.

— JH

12:18 p.m.

On third-and-3, Jonathon Brooks takes it 31 yards almost untouched up the middle. That’s only the second time this year the Sooners have allowed a 30-yard run (last week vs. Iowa State). Texas feels like it’s starting to establish the line of scrimmage — if it can cut out the mistakes.

OU still hasn’t allowed a rushing TD yet this year. The Sooners and Iowa are the only teams who can say that.

— JH

12:04 p.m.

First quarter stats:

— JH

12:04 p.m.

Sooners ran the ball for 2.4 yards per play in the first quarter. Simply not gonna cut it. Still plenty of time to get into a groove and wear down the defensive front, obviously, but will have to improve to help out Gabriel (and give the defense some rest).

— RC

12:02 p.m.

I’m back after a rough start (no wifi and no corndogs) and beyond.

This is as intense a start as I’ve ever seen in this game, and so many things happened in that first quarter that haven’t happened for these teams all year. How do the next three quarters unfold? Who settles in first? Who takes control of the line of scrimmage?

Dillon Gabriel chasing down that bad snap and throwing it away to keep the distance manageable resulted in a first down on the 5-yard running-into-the-kicker penalty. After that first down, Gabriel found Jalil Farooq for a 43-yard completion and now OU is threatening again. Heady play by the senior could result in points.

— JH

11:56 a.m.

Andrew Raym is killing Dillon Gabriel right now.

His second awful snap of the game, and Gabriel makes a fantastic play to save field position.

And then Texas almost gets to another punt. Sooners are getting absolutely whipped on on special teams. Lucky to draw the running into the kicker penalty to put OU’s offense back on the field.

— RC

11:48 a.m.

The happy feet have returned for Dillon Gabriel.

OU’s special teams cost the Sooners what should have been good field position. Texas’ defensive line is beating up the Oklahoma offensive line and Gabriel’s accuracy is all over the place.

Feels like a big drive early for Brent Venables’ defense just to stop the Longhorns’ momentum even though any result will keep this a one score game.

— RC

11:38 a.m.

When Venables was asked about OU’s special teams this week, he talked a lot about other areas of the game helping out the Oklahoma kicking game.

Sooners get the pick and have a terrible possession, forcing the punt out of the end zone.

And there you have it.

— RC

11:35 a.m.

Oklahoma can’t cash in.

Jeff lebby gets Gabriel under center and tosses to Jalil Farooq. OU can’t run conventionally. Gabriel huge miss on third down.

Quick three-and-out, and then Texas blocks the punt for a touchdown.

This game got hammered drunk on Fair Park at 7 a.m. What on earth.

— RC

11:33 a.m.

This Oklahoma defense just forces turnovers.

Kendel Dolby gets subbed in, catches the ball popped off of superstar Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, and the Sooners have another pick.

Insane start.

— RC

11:26 a.m.

Time to see how these teams will handle the swings. Huge fake punt call by Sarkisian. Defense will have to bow up.

— RC

11:19 a.m.

OU draws first blood against Texas. Gentry Williams picks off Quinn Ewers deep in UT territory, then Dillon Gabriel runs it in himself. 7-0 Sooners.

— TW

10:36 a.m.

Marcus Major was the running back who was listed as the starter for Oklahoma on the video board before the game. Follows suit from the past couple of weeks.

Also, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey just spoke with the media gathered at the Cotton Bowl. Hoov will have that video up for us shortly.

— RC

10:25 a.m.

Young corners Jasaiah Wagoner and Makari Vickers both made the trip and are dressed out. Vickers appears to have some sort of brace on his left shoulder.

— RC

10:15 a.m.

Players are slowly starting to trickle out onto the field in pads and OU cornerback Kani Walker is in street clothes. Doesn't appear he'll be available today for the Sooners.

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