Texas walked into the Cotton Bowl as the No. 1 team in the country. It walked out with its first loss of the season and a lot of questions. Oklahoma won the Red River Rivalry 27-24 on a 47-yard Tate Sandell field goal as time expired, and quarterback Arch Manning’s two fourth-quarter interceptions did most of the damage.
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Analyst Shannon Sharpe did not hold back when assessing the quarterback’s role in the latest episode of Nightcap. “Arch played bad today,” Sharpe said. “One was a pick-six, and the other looked like they was in field goal range, and both were horrible throws.”
The criticism followed a game in which Manning threw three touchdowns but made two turnovers that directly contributed to 10 Oklahoma points. A high cost. The defeat also ended No. 1 Texas’ seven-game winning streak, leaving head coach Steve Sarkisian with more questions to answer about his offense.
Manning finished 19-of-31 for 260 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday. His touchdown passes to Cam Coleman, Ryan Wingo, and Jermaine Bishop Jr. helped, but his turnovers proved decisive when the game entered its final stretch.
The first interception came in the fourth quarter, when Oklahoma safety Peyton Bowen returned Manning’s pass 42 yards for a touchdown. The play gave the Sooners a 24-17 lead with 10:07 remaining, putting Texas under immediate pressure to respond.
Manning eventually delivered a 15-yard touchdown pass to Bishop to restore the tie, but with 19 seconds left, his second interception gave Oklahoma another opportunity to snatch the victory. Courtland Guillory picked off the quarterback near the Sooners’ 39-yard line. John Mateer found Isaiah Sategna twice to get Oklahoma in field goal range, and Sandell converted to give Brent Venables a much-needed win.
Texas had already missed an opportunity to take the lead when Gianni Spetic’s 53-yard field goal attempt went wide right. Those missed opportunities, combined with Manning’s late turnover, left Sarkisian watching his team surrender a game it had been positioned to win.
Still, Sharpe’s assessment was not the only perspective offered on Nightcap. Iso Joe pushed back against placing too much responsibility on the young quarterback.
“I think blaming Arch Manning kind of lets the rest of the team kind of off a little easy honestly,” Iso Joe said.
His point shows a bigger problem for Texas. Oklahoma gained only 238 total yards, but the Sooners stayed in the game because their defense and special teams did their job right.
Two of Oklahoma’s touchdowns came without the offense doing anything. One was the blocked punt Dakoda Fields recovered in the end zone, and the other was Bowen’s pick-six.
When the game was tied 7-7 in the first quarter, Oklahoma had managed only 15 yards on offense through multiple drives. Oklahoma went three-and-out seven times. But when the game was on the line, quarterback John Mateer came through. He hit Isaiah Sategna III for gains of 13 and 20 yards, and that put Oklahoma in range for the winning kick.
For Sarkisian, the result exposed issues that extend beyond Manning’s decision-making. Texas has struggled to establish consistent offensive production against Power Four opponents.
“It’s obviously a level of disappointment; there’s a level of anger and frustration because we know we have issues that need to be fixed and we’re working on those issues and trying to get them fixed,” Sarkisian said in the postgame presser.
The loss drops Texas to 4-1. Oklahoma moves to 3-2 and takes home the Golden Hat. It’s also the Sooners’ first win over a No. 1 team since they beat Missouri in 2007.
Next up for Texas is Florida on October 17, and the Longhorns need to fix their offense before a tough run of games. Manning threw three touchdown passes, so he can clearly make big plays. But the criticism is still fair that against top teams, a couple of costly mistakes can wipe out an otherwise good day.