newsweek
The Red River Rivalry delivered another shocking result on Saturday as the top-ranked Texas Longhorns were upended by the Oklahoma Sooners, 27-24. The Sooners, who entered the game unranked with a 2-2 record, improved to 3-2 with the victory over their archrival.
Texas had built a 17-7 halftime lead, but the second half unfolded disastrously. The Longhorns were forced to punt four times, and quarterback Arch Manning threw two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, allowing Oklahoma to complete the comeback and salvage their season.
The Longhorns began the year ranked No. 5 and climbed to No. 1 after a thrilling comeback win over then-No. 1 Ohio State on September 12. However, that top ranking will now vanish after falling to an Oklahoma squad that had dropped out of the polls following a narrow 14-6 win over New Mexico and a 17-10 loss to Michigan.
According to ESPN Insights, Texas became just the second team since 2010 to be ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll and lose to an unranked opponent. The only other instance was Alabama's 40-35 loss to unranked Vanderbilt in 2024.
Earlier in the season, on September 26, Texas narrowly avoided an upset by holding off a late comeback from then-No. 14 Tennessee. Despite being an imperfect No. 1 team, the Longhorns boasted the best win of any college football team with their victory over the Buckeyes.
Key Analysis
Following the loss, head coach Steve Sarkisian acknowledged the team's shortcomings. "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, via On3. "But they reared their ugly head today against a quality team."
Texas will look to rebound next week when they host the Florida Gators, who are coming off a loss to South Carolina on Saturday.
Originally reported by newsweek.