Texas Longhorns Fall in AP Top-25 After Red River Rivalry Loss
The Texas Longhorns fell in the Associated Press's Top-25 rankings to the No. 9 spot after suffering their first loss of the season to the Oklahoma Sooners in this year's edition of the Red River Rivalry.
While one loss doesn't hurt the Longhorns' chances of making the college football playoffs or winning the Big-12, it adds the pressure of remaining perfect the rest of the way.
On a day when the Longhorns committed a season-high nine penalties against Oklahoma while losing the turnover battle, giving the Sooners the ball three times without creating a single takeaway defensively, they still had a chance to avoid the 34-30 loss.
Jonathon Brooks runs the ball vs. Oklahoma on Saturday
© Kevin Jairaj, USA TODAY
But it wasn't only the undisciplined play that saw Texas fall to the Sooners; the Longhorns also struggled to stop the Sooners' run game, aided by quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts.
Elsewhere, the reigning two-time defending national champion, the Georgia Bulldogs, put together their best performance of the season with a 51-13 win over the now No. 24 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. While the Michigan Wolverines also remain unbeaten after a 52-10 win over Minnesota.
While the Longhorns dropped six spots from No. 3, the Sooners rose to No. 5, while Florida State and Ohio State rose just one.
The Longhorns will not be in action next Saturday as they will have an extra week of preparation before facing their new Big-12 compatriots, the Houston Cougars.
Full AP Top-25 Rankings
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- Florida State
- Oklahoma
- Penn State
- Washington
- Oregon
- Texas
- USC
- Alabama
- North Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Louisville
- Oregon State
- Utah
- Duke
- UCLA
- Washington State
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- LSU
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Miami