NCAA Football
2026-10-10 - Oklahoma Sooners at Texas Longhorns
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football Week 6
Saturday 10th October 2026 - Scheduled 3:30pm EST
8:30pm (British Time)
Preview
The Red River Rivalry has moved from the Big 12 into the SEC and it is the Texas Longhorns (4-0) who have won both games played in this Conference.
Both teams are coming out of a Bye Week, but the Texas Longhorns will be much more comfortable with the start made to the season compared with the Oklahoma Sooners (2-2) and you have to feel the latter could be one more loss away from being eliminated from Playoff consideration.
That does bring a pressure onto the field for the Sooners who will have spent the last two weeks trying to work out how they can turn things around on the Offensive side of the ball. They were blown out by the Georgia Bulldogs two weeks ago, but the Sooners have also been beaten by the Michigan Wolverines and it is a real problem that they have not scored more than 14 points in any of the last three games since crushing UTEP to open this season.
John Mateer is experienced at Quarter Back, but he has thrown 4 Interceptions to go with the 8 Touchdown passes and he has struggled as the competition has ramped up.
This feels like it is going to be a real problem for the Sooners when trying to move the ball with any consistency against the Texas Defense, although it is not solely down to Mateer's struggles.
Fingers can be pointed at the Offensive Line which has helped Oklahoma pick up just 99 yards per game at 2.9 yards per carry and those numbers are inflated by the performance in the Week 1 win against an overmatched opponent. Since then, the Sooners are averaging 75 yards per game on the ground and at 2.4 yards per carry and it is very difficult for any Quarter Back to perform out of third and long spots consistently.
It also means Defensive players can pin back their ears and get after John Mateer in obvious passing situations and that could be really problematic against this Longhorns pass rush. The Texas Defensive Line is going to be very confident they can pick up where others have left off and effectively shut down the run game and that will allow them to put Mateer under immense pressure throughout this contest.
The Sooners have struggled to compete with the Longhorns over the last couple of years because of the Offensive difficulties and this looks to be another tough outing for them, barring some massive improvements being made in the Bye Week.
Despite the record, the Longhorns will also know there are improvements to be made and that is largely on the Offensive side of the ball as well.
They have managed to run the ball a little more effectively than the Oklahoma Sooners, but you would not really describe Texas as a power running team right now and that is something the Offensive Line will want to improve. The Longhorns have averaged close to 150 yards per game on the ground, but they have not been very efficient and that will need to change to help Arch Manning and the passing game.
It is the Sooners Defensive unit that has given them an opportunity to win games having restricted the first three opponents to less than 18 points each time, although Georgia bust through the doors last time out. Oklahoma fans will feel this Texas Offensive unit is not operating at nearly the same level as the Bulldogs, but the Longhorns do seem to have a couple of edges that may allow them to pull away for a solid win.
One is that while they have not run the ball as effectively as hoped, they have been able to run the ball with some success and certainly superior to what the Sooners have been able to put together.
Turnovers may also play a big part in the final outcome and Arch Manning may be able to take care of the ball better than John Mateer.
In the last couple of seasons, Texas have restricted Oklahoma to 3 and 6 points and keeping them at 10 or below in 2026 is a possibility, which may also be enough to help the Longhorns find enough Offensive plays to produce a cover of this spread.
Prediction
Lay the points with the unbeaten SEC team in the latest Red River rivalry game.
The Pick :
Texas Longhorns 17-6 Oklahoma Sooners
