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The Oklahoma Sooners have not lived up to their preseason hype, and their offense has been a major disappointment. On Saturday, they have a chance to reverse their fortunes against their fiercest rival, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns, in the Red River Showdown.
Few believe the Sooners' offense can keep pace with the high-powered Longhorns. However, history has shown that this rivalry often produces unexpected outcomes, and in such games, conventional wisdom is often discarded. It might require some Sooner Magic to pull off the upset and keep their College Football Playoff aspirations alive, but Oklahoma has a knack for delivering special performances when counted out.
Below are the staff predictions for the 2026 Red River Showdown.
Oklahoma's Still Not Good Enough
The team that runs the football better almost always wins the Red River Rivalry. Well, Jim Nagy, Brent Venables, and Ben Arbuckle spent the entire offseason trying to improve the rushing attack, and now it's worse than it was last year. Texas' offense has talent, but the OU defense should be able to keep them from turning the game into a laugher. They'll give up a couple of scores, but OU's offense will also give Texas a few points as well. The Longhorns have a very good defense, and it'll be a long day for the Sooners on offense. Texas wins their third straight in Dallas and gets their fourth victory in five years over Venables. Texas 24, Oklahoma 3
Aaron Gelvin, Contributor
Sark Continues Dominance of Sooners
Steve Sarkisian is 3-1 against Brent Venables. However, Venables is 1-0 when his team scores a single touchdown. Unfortunately, Oklahoma's offense hasn't given any reason to believe it will score a touchdown this weekend, so I've got the Longhorns.
Jaron Spor, Contributor
Sooners Offense Still Not Right
Rivalry games are generally unpredictable. But the Sooners haven't punched above their weight class in this game in a long time, and several things are working against them. The injuries and lack of cohesion on the offensive line will make Saturday a tough challenge. Even though Texas isn't as good as advertised, they've proven they can overcome adversity with the big second-half comeback against Ohio State. The Red River Rivalry is generally going to the team that can respond to big momentum swings. Unfortunately, John Mateer and the Sooners haven't proven that this year. Texas 24, Oklahoma 13
James D. Jackson, Contributor
Oklahoma Defense Wins the Day
There's no reason Oklahoma should win this game. But it's the Red River Shootout. We're just going to bank on the crazy things happening. The Oklahoma defense has been good this year, but this is the game where they play at an elite level, slow down the Texas run game, and force Arch Manning into uncomfortable decisions. The defense finds a turnover or two and turns one into a score of their own. If the Sooners offense can put together a few scoring drives, including a touchdown, they'll have a shot to win the game. Oklahoma 17, Texas 13
John Williams, Lead Writer
Week 1: Predictions vs. UTEP
Week 2: Predictions vs. Michigan
Week 3: Predictions vs. New Mexico
Week 4: Predictions vs. Georgia
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Texas: Sooners Wire Staff Predictions.
Originally reported by yahoo.