For Texas fans, this is the best week of the fall football season! We’re about to learn if this Longhorn Football team, led by first-year coach Steve Sarkisian, is truly special. The annual Red River Showdown kicks off inside the grounds of the Texas State Fair this Saturday at 11 am.
The Longhorns squeaked by the TCU Horned frogs last week with a five-point victory capped off by a dominating drive on the shoulders of Bijan Robinson. With Bijan’s 216 yards rushing on 35 carries, the Longhorns overcame TCU’s 87-yard kickoff return to start the game, a mid-game interception from gunslinger Casey Thompson, and a rushing attack from TCU’s Zach Evans, who went for an impressive 113 yards and one touchdown.
Of course, the Longhorn’s loss at Arkansas still stings, but the bus full of burnt orange will be rolling up to Dallas as a 4-1 football team ranked 21 in the AP poll. Fans are sensing momentum, and the players are showing more confidence every week in their own abilities, a new brand of coaching, and recent performances on the field.
We imagine that as the Longhorns stop for a kolache at the famous Czech Stop in West, they will begin to ponder what they will be up against on Saturday in Dallas.
The Oklahoma Sooners come into the Red River Showdown as an undefeated 5-0 team, but not without a few bruises.
From a gambling perspective, Texas comes into the Red River Showdown as -3.5 point underdogs against our rivals from the north. This will be our first game this season going in as underdogs, and with a difficult October ahead with OU this week and Oklahoma State at home the following week, it is imperative Texas returns to Austin with the golden hat. We are 4-1 against the spread (ATS).
Although OU does have a 5-0 record, it certainly has not come in an expected fashion as they have a poor 1-4 record ATS. We are looking for the Horns to build on our momentum from the past two weeks and show some dominance over our future SEC brother.
Every member of Football on the 40 is predicting a Texas win this week. Hook ’em, and OU sucks! You can listen to this week’s podcast here.
We are Football on the 40, a podcast hosted by University of Texas alumni that takes weekly dives into the Texas football season.
