A year ago, an unranked, two-loss Texas team walked into Dallas and pulled off a shocker against undefeated Oklahoma. Today, the roles have completely flipped. But Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian isn’t letting his top-ranked squad feel comfortable. He is using Texas’s own past desperation as a warning mirror for his locker room.

“Nobody’s overlooking anybody in this game,” Steve Sarkisian said regarding the Red River Rivalry. “We were in the same situation a year ago. You know, we were just coming off a loss, losing to Florida. We were a two-loss team. We were a desperate football team and found a way to win, and played a really good second half. And so we know what it is. We’re going to need to find a way to put together four quarters of good football, doing the things that I touched on that are going to be important in this game.”

Sarkisian’s message to the locker room was blunt: a wounded rival with two losses has nothing left to lose and is the most dangerous opponent on the schedule. Texas currently sits at No. 1 in the nation with a clean 4-0 record, holding the top projection for the College Football Playoff. But with five ranked SEC opponents waiting right down the road, a sudden slip-up against an unranked Oklahoma squad would instantly shatter their national championship dreams.

When the Sooners and the Longhorns met last October, the script was a bit different stats-wise. The roles were reversed. The Longhorns were coming off a disappointing 29–21 loss to Florida the previous week and were trailing a 3–2 record.

On the other hand, Oklahoma was on a perfect loss-free drive of 5-0, ranked 6th in the AP poll. Their QB, John Mateer, was an early top candidate for the 2025 Heisman Trophy, finishing that season with 2,885 passing yards and 14 passing touchdowns in his pockets.

Texas was unranked after being kicked off the AP top 25 polls, so the fire to prove themselves was high. The Longhorns wreaked havoc on the Sooners and won the Red River rivalry 23–6. Ryan Niblett took away the MVP award of that game when he scored the final 75 yards for a touchdown in the 4th quarter. Arch Manning also put up a decent performance of 21 of 27 passes for 166 yards.

Coming back to the Sooners this season, they are coming off a humiliating loss of 41–13 against the Georgia Bulldogs. After coming out of their bye week, they are also down the rabbit hole with no AP ranking. They entered the season with a lot of promise to make it to the CFP, but now that doesn’t seem like the case anymore. The FPI predicts Oklahoma to finish 6-6 this season.

That is exactly why Sarkisian is ringing the alarm bells. In rivalry games, talent alone never wins; raw emotional drive does. By forcing his team to respect Oklahoma’s desperation, Sarkisian wants to make sure Texas plays with controlled focus instead of walking in lazily and getting surprised.

How are the Sooners feeling before the matchup?

There has been a lot of chatter going on inside. The Sooners’ locker room after quarterback John Mateer’s performance keeps going down. There is a high chance that he might not be seen as their starting QB against Texas. Back QBs Whitt Newbauer and Bowe Bentley were seen taking a lot of snaps during practice. However, for the head coach, Venables, he still has faith in his QB.

“I have no idea,” Venables said to Fox Sports on October 4. “We’re not there right now … John’s our starting quarterback.”

“We’ve got great belief in them, trust in them,” Venables said. “There’s a body of work that both of those guys, both Bowe and Whit, have put out there and for us to evaluate. They’re doing a nice job, they’re working hard, improving incrementally, and doing all the things that we want our quarterback to do as a whole, as a group.”

Venables has also acknowledged the fanbase’s disappointment after the Georgia blowout. He issued a direct message during the bye week, asking fans to “hang in there.” He promised that the team would make a comeback.