Cotton Bowl – Dallas, TX
Kickoff: Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ET
Line: Oklahoma -10.5, Total: 73.5

Both Texas and #20 Oklahoma will be looking to get back over .500 when the teams meet in Dallas on Saturday.

Oklahoma has had a rough season, but the team is coming off of a solid win. The Sooners went into Fort Worth last week and defeated TCU 52-46. Oklahoma badly needed that one and will be hoping that the offense shows up to play in this one as well. The Longhorns have lost two straight games, but offense is not an issue for this team. They have scored more than 40 points in three of their four games this season and racked up 568 yards of total offense last week. This should be a very high scoring game between the two teams, and this has been a high scoring series in general over the years. Five of the past eight games played between these teams have gone OVER the total and Texas is 4-3-1 ATS in those contests, despite the teams splitting victories SU. One noteworthy trend to keep an eye on is that Oklahoma is a lousy 6-17 ATS versus defenses that allow eight or more yards per pass attempt since 1992. QB Baker Mayfield (Ankle) got banged up a bit last game, but he is expected to be out there for the Sooners on Saturday. The same goes for RB D’Onta Foreman (Ribs), who will be playing through some pain for the Longhorns in this one.

The Sooners had hopes of winning the national championship, but that is unlikely at this point. Regardless, Oklahoma is going to want to finish this season as strong as possible and the team could use a win over this Texas team on Saturday. If that is going to happen then QB Baker Mayfield (1,067 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT) will need to be on his game. This contest has shootout written all over it and that means Mayfield will need to make a ton of throws in order to win. Fortunately for Oklahoma, his confidence should be sky-high coming into this game. Mayfield was 23-for-30 with 274 yards, two touchdowns and no picks in a win over TCU last week. He also added 55 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and his ability to run should help him out in this one as well. This Sooners defense will, however, need to be prepared on Saturday. The Longhorns have one of the fastest paced offenses in college football this season, so Texas needs to be ready to play an up-tempo game.

Texas has dropped two straight games and things aren’t looking great for head coach Charlie Strong right now. His job is on the line at this point and the team needs to finish the season very strong in order for him to find a way to stay. A win over Oklahoma would certainly help Strong’s case and QB Shane Buechele (959 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT) will need to have a big game in order for that to happen. Buechele has struggled since throwing for four touchdowns against Cal in Week 2, as he has just two picks with two interceptions over the past two games. Texas needs the young gunslinger to be more effective as a passer or it will have no chance of winning this game. Defensively, the Longhorns need to make sure it always has eyes on Baker Mayfield. The Oklahoma quarterback is at his best when plays break down, so Texas will need to come at him with constant pressure on Saturday.