No. 6 Oklahoma downs No. 11 Texas 34-27 thanks to elite defensive performance

One College Football Playoff contender very likely lost its vie for a spot in the playoff.

No. 6 Oklahoma (6-0) overcame No. 11 Texas (4-2) via an elite defensive performance for the 34-27 victory. Eight sacks on Sam Ehlinger validates Lincoln Riley's hire of Alex Grinch, the Sooners' new defensive coordinator this season.

"You can play great defense at Oklahoma and we damn well sure did today." 💪@OU_Football HC Lincoln Riley chats with @JennyTaft after securing the W in the Red River Showdown 😤 pic.twitter.com/vE6vtVPPjB

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 12, 2019

Texas made mistakes. And Oklahoma wasn't perfect either, but the Sooners capitalized on their strengths.

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Oklahoma out-performed Texas in offense by 201 yards (511-310), and spread the ball around fairly equally. Jalen Hurts ran for 131 yards on 17 carries, while Kennedy Brooks rushed for 105 yards on 10 carries. 

CeeDee Lamb had an incredible performance with 171 yards and three touchdowns on 10 receptions. His numbers are overwhelming, and his ability to elude defenders and escape for touchdowns made a huge difference in the game.

ARE YOU SERIOUS, @_CeeDeeThree 😱😱

The @OU_Football WR hauls in the flea flicker and puts the Texas defense on ice for the TD. pic.twitter.com/Giw0Hvdra2

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2019

The Longhorns were outscoring their opponents by 15.2 points per game coming into Dallas, and Sam Ehlinger's ground game had been a huge part of Texas' offense. But not Saturday. He entered the game with 236 rushing yards on the season. He carried the ball 19 times for 60 yards and a touchdown against LSU — Texas' only other loss of the season. Against Oklahoma, he netted negative nine yards and accounted for two of their three touchdowns — all rushing. 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: View full live scoreboard

During the first half, Oklahoma struggled in the red zone, turning over the ball twice near the goal line. This made the game look very close when Oklahoma never really lost control of the game.

A larger scoring gap between the two teams could've been made in the beginning with two additional red zone appearances that led to a field goal and a no score. It didn't matter, however. Oklahoma never trailed, and their hopes of making it to CFP stay in tact.

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The Sooners and Longhorns played each other twice in 2018. Texas won the first meeting in the Cotton Bowl before OU won the Big 12 title game to help secure its spot in the CFP semifinals. With this being Texas' first conference loss, the Longhorns are still in line to meet the Sooners again in the Big 12 title game.

The moment every @OU_Football QB waits for 🤠 #FOXFieldPass pic.twitter.com/4N73xLdmXQ

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2019

Below, check out in-game live updates, game time and TV channel information.

Texas vs. Oklahoma: Score, updates

Click here for live stats.

FINAL — Oklahoma 34, Texas 27

The Sooners remain undefeated (6-0), as head coach Lincoln Riley achieves his 30th win in 34 games at the helm of the program.

Oklahoma 34, Texas 27 | 1:49 Q4

Ehlinger responds with his own rushing touchdown. He still has yet to throw a touchdown.

Oklahoma 34, Texas 20 | 4:19 Q4

The score now reflects Oklahoma's overall play today. Hurts scored the Sooners' fourth touchdown with a three-yard rush.

Oklahoma 27, Texas 20 | 7:00 Q4

Texas' passing game continues to struggle as Ehlinger cannot complete a touchdown pass — and has not recorded one touchdown pass all game. The Longhorns settle for a field goal.

During that drive, Oklahoma recorded its eighth sack, the most in a game since 2011, which also occurred against Texas.

Oklahoma 27, Texas 17 | 11:56 Q4

Lamb leads the country in missed tackles, and he just showed why. Hurts threaded the needle to Lamb, and he continued the impressive play by ducking from two defenders straight into the end zone. 

This is his first career game with three receiving touchdowns.

😱 @OU_Football WR @_CeeDeeThree IS NOT HUMAN pic.twitter.com/pEgyRrlIrM

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2019

END OF Q3 — Oklahoma 20, Texas 17

The run game has come alive for Texas and so has Oklahoma's turn to make mistakes on defense. Texas began on its 40-yard line and positioned Roschon Johnson for a 23-yard rush. A pass interference call on Oklahoma in the end zone gave the Sooners a new set of downs and allowed for Ehlinger's easy two-yard touchdown sneak.

The Longhorns have excelled since their disappointing first half. They now have 214 yards of offense, closing in on the Sooners' 353 yards.

Oklahoma 20, Texas 10 | 7:45 Q3

Hurts throws another questionable pass into the end zone that is nearly picked off by D'Shawn Jamison. The Sooners settle for another field goal. Texas' defense is still impressing in high-pressure stands. Its offense, though, just cannot bypass Oklahoma's defense.

Oklahoma 17, Texas 10 | 7:45 Q3

Lincoln Riley exemplified his fascination with trick plays on Oklahoma's second touchdown of the game. A flea-flicker pass to CeeDee Lamb wasn't all that amazed on the play. Lamb duped several defenders to enter the end zone.

Watch the ridiculous play below:

ARE YOU SERIOUS, @_CeeDeeThree 😱😱

The @OU_Football WR hauls in the flea flicker and puts the Texas defense on ice for the TD. pic.twitter.com/Giw0Hvdra2

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2019

Texas 10, Oklahoma 10 | 8:48 Q3

Roschon Johnson followed his 57-yard rush with a four-yard touchdown run to equalize the score. Johnson's 57-yard gain came on 3rd-and-8, in a time when Texas continued to look lost on offense. The Longhorns are now very much alive.

HALFTIME — Oklahoma 10, Texas 3

Texas just can't move the ball, and the more surprising number is the scoreboard. Oklahoma has looked more dominant, but its 10 points does not illustrate its play. The two turnovers in the red zone are to blame. Hurts has faced some dropoff, though, in passing. He started the game completing 6-of-7 passes; now, he's completed 9-of 15.

Alex Grinch's Oklahoma defense refused Texas any scoring opportunities until Cameron Dicker's 49-yard field goal to end the first half. The Sooners have outgained Texas 260-83, while Ehlinger has completed just 9-of-11 passes for 71 yards. 

Today is the fifth time in six games this season that #OU held their opponent to no points in the 1st QTR. Alex Grinch's defense had four sacks and eight TFLs in the first half vs #Texas.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 12, 2019

Oklahoma 10, Texas 0 | 2:10 Q2

For the third red zone trip of the half, Oklahoma exits without a touchdown, but Gabe Brkic's kick is good. The 53-yard drive was stunted once again by another impressive defensive stop by Texas.

Oklahoma 7, Texas 0 | 4:17 Q2

Texas is averaging 2.1 yards per play.

Receiving yards: UT — 50, OU — 73

Rushing yards: UT — -5, OU — 134

Oklahoma 7, Texas 0 | 11:00 Q2

The Sooners looked pretty unstoppable at this point with their dominating weapon in Hurts. His offensive line allowed plenty of time to make decisions, and if no one was open downfield, Hurts gained yards on his own.

But that was not the case when Oklahoma reached the red zone for the second time.

On 3rd-and-8, Hurts escaped from the pocket and could not find an open receiver. Instead of running for the eight yards, which would've been impossible, Hurts threw an interception to Brandon Jones. He returned it for 10 yards to the Texas 10.

Oklahoma had four turnovers all season coming into today's matchup. Hurts has turned it over twice in the first half.

END OF Q1 — Oklahoma 7, Texas 0

Oklahoma is dominating on offense (as usual) to start the game, outgaining Texas 136-35 in the first quarter, but a costly fumble deep in Texas territory thwarted the Sooners' second drive. Oklahoma will have the ball on their own 21 when the second quarter gets underway.

Oklahoma 7, Texas 0 | 1:50 Q1

Texas puts together a solid drive after the fumble, but another third-down sack forces a punt. Oklahoma will take over on their own 5-yard line.

Oklahoma 7, Texas 0 | 6:04 Q1

Hurts is hit hard and coughs up the ball after a big gain on third down. He was called down on the field, but after an official review, it was ruled a fumble, and Texas takes over on the 7-yard line. That's just the fifth turnover for the Sooners this season, and a huge stop for the Longhorns.

Oklahoma 7, Texas 0 | 8:00 Q1

Texas can't get anywhere on its first drive, which ended with Ehlinger getting sacked on 3rd-and-12. The Longhorns are forced to punt back after the three-and-out.

Oklahoma 7, Texas 0 | 9:54 Q1

And Oklahoma is on the board first. Jalen Hurts finds Cee Dee Lamb on a fourth and goal completion for the touchdown. The Sooners have scored a TD on four of its six opening possessions this season.

Hurts on his first drive: 3-of-4, 26 passing yards, 18 rushing yards (four carries), 1 TD.

Oklahoma 0, Texas 0 | 11:21 Q1

That didn't take long. Sooners are in the red zone on the first possession of the game after four rushes and a Jalen Hurts completion.

Pregame — 11:48 a.m.

We're about 10 minutes from kickoff at the Cotton Bowl. This will be the 115th all-time meeting between Texas and Oklahoma. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 62-47-5 but the Sooners are 13-7 since 2000. 

Some big pregame news: Oklahoma tight end Grant Calcaterra is out for today's matchup.

Catch @TexasFootball and @OU_football warmups LIVE ahead of the Red River Showdown! https://t.co/Fw03SxR3Y6

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 12, 2019

Texas vs. Oklahoma: Time

The Longhorns and the Sooners play in the Red River Rivalry at 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. Central) on Saturday, Oct. 12. The game is at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Texas vs. Oklahoma: TV channel

You can watch this year's game on FOX.

TV SCHEDULE: How to watch all of this week's games

Texas vs. Oklahoma: Preview, prediction

After sputtering through a 23-27 four-year stretch from 2004-2017, Texas' resurgence has helped bring this rivalry back to its expected perch.

Even through the down years, the Longhorns remained competitive against OU, as the last five regular-season meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less. Even the 2018 Big 12 title game was still 39-27 — a game that was tied in the fourth quarter.

Going into this year's Red River Showdown, the numbers look eerily similar to last year, though maybe to an even greater extent.

Texas has been involved in much closer games than Oklahoma.  The Longhorns are outscoring their opponents by 15.2 points per game, but they're only plus-41.8 in yards per game. For comparison, UT outgained teams by an average of 18 yards per game. So the Longhorns are statistically stronger, thanks to QB Sam Ehlinger and top target Devin Duvernay.

The problem? So is Oklahoma.

OU, with another transfer quarterback leading, is averaging 643.8 yards per game (up from 570 per game last season). And QB Jalen Hurts is outperforming Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray through the first five games in their Heisman seasons:

• Mayfield: 100-for-134 passing (74.6 percent), 1,635 yards, (15 TDs, 0 INT), 74 rushing yards, TD
•  Murray: 77-for-109 passing (70.6 percent), 1,460 yards (17 TDs, 2 INT), 285 rushing yards, 4 TDs
• Hurts: 82-for-109 passing (75.2 percent), 1,523 yards (14 TDs, 2 INT), 499 rushing yards, 7 TDs

UNDEFEATED TEAMS: Tracking all of the remaining unbeaten teams

Oklahoma	Tale of the Tape	Texas
No. 6	AP ranking	No. 11
5-0 (2-0)	Record (Big 12)	4-1 (2-0)
53.4	Points per game	41.8
19.0	Points against	26.6
643.8	Yards per game	483.6
346.4	Yards against	441.8
Jalen Hurts 1,523 yards (14 TDs, 2 INT)	Passing leader	Sam Ehlinger 1,448 yards (17 TDs, 2 INT)
Jalen Hurts 499 yards (8.8 average), 7 TDs	Rushing leader	Keaontay Ingram 313 yards (4.7 average), 3 TDs
CeeDee Lamb 439 yards, 7 TDs	Receiving leader	Devin Duvernay 463 yards, 4 TDs
Kenneth Murray 37 tackles, 4 tfl, 1.5 sacks	Defensive leader	Caden Sterns 29 tackles, 1 tfl
def. Kansas, 45-20	Last week	def. West Virginia, 42-31
vs. West Virginia (Saturday, Oct. 19)	Next	vs. Kansas (Saturday, Oct. 19)

This could very well be the first of two meetings this season. So the winner might hold bragging rights for only two months instead of 12. Again.

Even with the thrilling loss to LSU, Texas has to be pleased with how it's progressed. Just take a look at the Oklahoma State game three weeks ago. At first glance, a 6-point home win against the Cowboys doesn't look like much. But Oklahoma State had defeated the Longhorns four years in a row and in seven of the last nine. Texas coach Tom Herman is leading the program close to where it wants to be.

Texas has also been more tested than the Sooners. OU's FBS opponents are a combined 8-14; Texas' are 16-11.

But as of right now, Oklahoma appears to be in a better position. The offense looks as scary as ever, but the Sooners also look better on defense under first-year DC Alex Grinch (previously at Washington State and Ohio State).

And the Sooners don't need to become dominant defensively. Considering how much the offense scores, the yards allowed will always appear to be higher than other contenders. Right now, the Sooners have the better star quarterback and might also have the better defense. That's the difference.

The Pick	Oklahoma 38, Texas 28

RANKINGS: AP Top 25 | Coaches Poll

Oklahoma vs. Texas: Score, all-time games

*2018 Big 12 Championship Game