Last year, the Red River Rivalry was a one-sided blowout, with the Texas Longhorns defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 49-0. In 2023, the stakes were higher. Oklahoma was ranked 12th in the nation entering Week 6, while Texas was ranked third and would be in the College Football Playoff if the season ended last week. There would be no bigger win for the Sooners if they were to end their National Championship hopes.
On Saturday, Oklahoma defeated Texas 34-30 after quarterback Dillon Gabriel heaved a three-yard touchdown pass to Nic Anderson with pressure in his face with just 15 seconds remaining on the clock.
With this, the Sooners are undoubtedly going to climb up the AP Top 25 next week, while Texas will fall.
Let's just say that Oklahoma fans on social media were glad to point out to Longhorns fans that Texas still isn't back.
Oklahoma fans troll Texas after winning thrilling Red River Rivalry game
In the closing minutes of the game, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian opted to go for a field goal on fourth-and-four instead of trying to go for the touchdown to put them ahead by seven. That decision ended up biting Sarkisian, as Gabriel drove the Sooners downfield relatively quickly despite having a little over a minute left in the game.
Gabriel started off the drive with an 11-yard pass to Drake Stoops, a 16-yard throw to Jalil Farooq, and a 28-yarder back to Stoops to bring Oklahoma to Texas' 20-yard line. Gabriel would attempt a throw to Anderson but was interfered with, drawing the penalty and setting Oklahoma up on the six-yard line. That was when Gabriel made his impressive go-ahead touchdown pass.
On that final drive, Gabriel completed all four of his passes for 58 yards and the aforementioned touchdown to Anderson. Overall, Gabriel completed 23-of-38 pass attempts for 285 yards and no interceptions while running for 113 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
As for Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, he had a rough game, especially when it comes to holding onto the football. Ewers threw interceptions on each of his first two drives. The second pick was a tipped pass, but the first one was a bad throw in the vicinity of multiple Oklahoma defenders. Not to mention, Ewers also had a fumble on Texas' opening drive of the second half.
Oklahoma has bragging rights for the rest of the year with this win. Well, that's if the two teams don' meet up in the Big 12 Championship Game later this season.
