Red River Rivalry Week

There are a handful of times where I feel great anticipation about an upcoming sports event. Opening day in baseball, Week 1 in the NFL, the BCS Championship game, the Super Bowl, and a few others come to mind.

The OU / Texas game ranks at the very top for me.

There is something special about seeing the Crimson and Cream on the same field clashing with that burnt orange that paints a beautiful picture of war and conflict. To me it's comparable with seeing pictures of the Revolutionary War with the good guys in blue and white, and the bad guys in those redcoats. The 7 days prior is a week full of build-up that is both nerve-racking and exciting.

What's on the line? For the two teams involved, the winner is on the fast track to the Big 12 Championship game and ultimately a BCS bowl game. The loser gets to look forward to the Independence Bowl. From a personal stand point, it is an entire year of bragging rights. It gives me a chance to have an entire year of sports-superiority over my friends who are mostly Longhorn fans. For the most part, we are all Cowboy, Ranger, Mavericks and Stars fans; the first week in October is the only time they and I go head to head. We can talk history between the two programs all day, but in the end, all that matters is who wins from year to year.

So, who will get those bragging rights this year?

Texas comes into the game in, let's face it, pure turmoil. Garrett Gilbert has been shaky at best, but that is to be expected with a first year quarterback. The main problem with the Texas offense is Gilbert is getting zero relief from the running game. They carry three backs and none of the three are getting the job done. This puts added pressure on Gilbert to make plays. Texas's offensive game plans have been trying to help Gilbert by designing screens and short passes to give him confidence and help get the offense moving down field. Problems arise when defenses take away these short passes and force the Texas passing game to make plays downfield. This is where Gilbert's inexperience hurts him.

I expect Oklahoma's defensive coordinator Brent Venables to take away the short passes while putting pressure on Gilbert with multiple blitz packages. The last thing OU wants is Gilbert to get into a comfortable rhythm and have time to make plays. The game is a little too fast for Gilbert at this point in his career, and I expect OU not to give him any extra time to think.

However, if Texas is able to protect Gilbert and get SOMETHING going on the ground, they may find success against OU's secondary. In OU's four wins, the secondary has been OU's weak point. The stats are slightly misleading for OU's defense after the Air Force game. QB's from three of the four teams (AF's triple option bonanza excluded) have burned the secondary for big plays due to corners and safeties being out of position and biting on double moves. Texas MUST get a running game going if they have hope of exploiting the OU secondary. This won't be easy against Jeremy Beal and Frank Alexander leading the front-4, and Travis Lewis leading the linebackers. These are All-American, future NFL players who will make life difficult for Greg Davis and Texas's offense.

Despite the trouble Texas's offense has been having, Longhorn fans could take comfort in knowing their defense is top-notch. After UCLA torched them for 264 yards rushing, what do we really know about this Texas defense? Hopefully for the Longhorn fan, they figure out the problem because DeMarco Murray is playing his best football of his career right now. The (longshot) Heisman candidate has averaged 105 yards per game and 4.2 yards per carry.

The question for the OU offense is which Landry Jones will show up? Will it be the Landry Jones who won the Big 12 offensive player of the week against Cincinnati? Or will it be the erratic Landry Jones that misses open receivers and looks flustered in the pocket like against Air Force in the 1st half? Hopefully for Sooner Nation, it's the former.

The only way to truly know what will happen is to watch the game. When OU and Texas meet, everything changes. It's always emotional, exciting, and either joyful or devastating. As an OU fan, I feel pretty good about this game, but anything can happen. I'll say 27-13 Oklahoma, Landry Jones with a big day finding open receivers on short routes.

See yall Saturday.