DALLAS — Tate Sandell kicked a 47-yard field goal on the final play and Oklahoma overcame its continued offensive ineptitude with touchdowns on special teams and defense in a 27-24 win over No. 1 Texas in the Red River rivalry game on Saturday.
The Sooners (3-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) beat a No. 1 team for the first time since a 38-17 win over Missouri in 2007. They had been 0-4-1 when facing a top-ranked Texas team.
Arch Manning threw three touchdowns for the Longhorns (4-1, 1-1), but both of his interceptions were costly.
Texas had two late chances, but Gianni Spetic was wide right on a 53-yard field goal attempt with 1:55 left. After the Sooners went three-and-out for the seventh time in the game, Manning’s last pass was intercepted by Courtland Guillory with 19 seconds left.
That set up the Sooners at their 39, and John Mateer completed passes of 13 and 20 yards to Isaiah Sategna on opposite sides of the field and both were upheld on replay review.
Oklahoma then ran a play to set up the kick by Sandell, who earlier had made a 53-yarder and missed another from the same distance.
Dakoda Fields recovered a blocked punt in the end zone and Peyton Bowen returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown for the Sooners, who in their previous game two weeks earlier lost 41-13 at No. 2 Georgia.
The pick-6 by Bowen came after Manning was scrambling away from pressure and throwing to Cam Coleman, who had an earlier touchdown. But the ball instead went to the Oklahoma safety, whose return with 10:07 left put the Sooners up 24-17.
Texas responded with a tying 75-yard drive and Manning's third TD pass, a 15-yarder to Jermaine Bishop Jr. with 6:32 left.
Manning finished 19-of-31 passing for 260 yards.
Mateer completed 18 of 26 passes for 155 yards. The Sooners had only 238 total yards, well below their average of 321 coming into the game that was last in the SEC.
Texas didn’t have a first down on its first four drives, and it wasn’t until the first play after a short punt that Coleman made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone for a 41-yard score for a 7-0 lead with 6:56 left in the first quarter.
Oklahoma's first TD in a while against Texas was special
Danny Okoye had the blocked punt for the Sooners in the first minute of the second quarter, appearing to get his hands on the ball even before it got to the Texas punter’s foot. Fields fell on the ball in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
That was the Sooners' first touchdown against Texas since Dillon Gabriel's 3-yard pass to Nic Anderson with 15 seconds left in the 2023 game for a 34-30 victory.
Their only offensive TD on Saturday was Lloyd Avant's 2-yard run that tied the game 17-all only 12 seconds in the fourth quarter, on the first play after a defensive pass interference penalty in the end zone on third-and-goal from the 9.
The takeaway
Texas: The Longhorns had won seven games in a row, four of them against ranked teams. They had been No. 1 since their big comeback to beat then-No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 12, but their inconsistency had raised questions about if they still deserved to be the top-ranked team. The loss answered that, and they will find out Sunday how far they drop in the new poll.
Oklahoma: The Sooners avoided a third consecutive Red River loss. They haven't lost three in a row to Texas since 1997-99.
Up next
Oklahoma plays its first SEC home game when hosting Kentucky next Saturday night.
Texas is home next Saturday against No. 16 Florida (4-2, 2-2), which has lost two in a row.
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