There are almost two weeks left in the Red River rivalry game against Texas and Oklahoma, but the stakes are higher than ever. Both teams are standing tall with top 10 positions in the AP Poll, and the clash between two new QBs, Arch Manning and John Mateer, is just making it all the more fun. The rivalry that started in 1900 is now a 120-game face-off between the two teams, and Texas leads it with a 64-51-5 record. But Steve Sarkisian’s team is not just leading in their all-time series but also in making a strong social media presence, and the numbers don’t lie.

Look, the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry sounds more like a one-sided game than an intense rivalry, as in their first 42 meetings, Oklahoma has just won 11 games. Even last year, they couldn’t do much against the Texas side and ended up losing with a 3-34 record. But just when they are about to go up against each other this season, Steve Sarkisian’s team took it all to another level, posting their social media brand value on X, where they are leading the charts with a total value of $60,858,580, followed by Ohio State, which has a $51,442,789 social value.

But what’s turning the heads is their bold stunt of fading in Oklahoma’s numbers, which are standing at the 6th position. Interestingly, they smartly started fading the numbers after LSU’s $48,021,431 value, then Tennessee’s $38,923,149,and Bama’s $32,738,904. At the end, Oklahoma’s social media presence faded like it never existed. That’s what shows that the rivalry might seem one-sided, but the fire’s still alive. Even CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello hits X, pointing at it: “The fading of ‘Oklahoma’ on this list is peak petty rivalry flex.”

Even if Oklahoma couldn’t beat Texas in their online presence, there’s a high chance they might beat them on the field this year. Their explosive defensive line has just allowed 9 points per game and is 22nd in rushing defense with 89 yards per game and seventh in passing defense at 118.5 yards per game. The numbers don’t stop there; their 4th position in total defense, allowing 207.5 yards per game, shows their dominance, and their 4.0 sacks per game can add more to Texas’s woes.

And their inconsistent run against UTEP already tested their offense. As they held Arch Manning to just 69 yards in the first half of the game. And even with the win, Manning could only complete 11 of his passes in 25 attempts for 114 yards with an interception in the end zone, and even when he rushed for 2 scores, his slumping arm raised many eyebrows. So, the off-field jabs might end up being a big problem for Sarkisian and his team against Oklahoma.

The misery doesn’t stop there.

Steve Sarkisian gets real on one key issue

After weeks of fighting for consistency and throwing 10 incompletions against UTEP, Steve Sarkisian’s QB Arch Manning came in strong against Sam Houston. And his stats prove it, as he completed 18 of 21 passes for 309 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, adding 2 rushing TDs. But just when Sarkisian thought he could relax, misery hit him again.

One key area remains a big question mark, and that’s the Longhorns’ RB room. After Quintrevion Wisner and CJ Baxter went out with injuries early in the season, the young running backs got a chance to step up and make an impact. But it didn’t really pan out the way they wanted it. And the numbers don’t lie. First, they went 4.5 yards per game against Ohio State, and against San Jose State they were 4.8 yards per carry and 4.0 against UTEP.

Now, heading into the bye week makes Wisner and Baxter’s availability clear: “We really got to start to assess, you know, as Tre [Wisner] and C4 [CJ Baxter] start finding their way back. Now we’ve got five of these guys that have carried the ball, and we know can carry the ball, and we start to look at their strengths and areas of maybe where we think they can improve and need to improve.” Both of them were supposed to take the Longhorns to another level, but ended up getting injured.

It’s not like the team doesn’t have explosive players. There’s Jerrick Gibson, who’s standing tall with 155 rushing yards on 36 carries, and even Christian Clark is making an impact with 117 yards in two games. On top of that, freshman James Simon turned heads in the game. But the real concern is balancing all of them in the game. And even Sarkisian’s trying to figure that out. “How do you balance that out? What does that look like?” he said. “That’s what a week like this is for. And then how do we complement that? Do we use multiple running backs in on the same play?… And so, you evolve as the season goes on. Then you try to look at: what are we doing well? And how can we do it better? And what maybe can we do well?”

Now, with their next game against Florida, let’s see if Sarkisian has been able to bring all the components together, or if we’re headed for another lackluster performance.