NEWS
NORMAN, Okla. – The midway lights of the State Fair of Texas will shine brighter this weekend as the sixth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners prepare to face the Texas Longhorns in the annual Red River Rivalry. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. inside Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Tx. The game will be nationally televised on ABC.
The Sooners (5-0, 1-0) enter the week ranked No. 6 in the latest AP poll following an emphatic 44-0 win over the Kent State Golden Flashes this past weekend, Oklahoma’s first shutout win since the 2023 season opener vs. Arkansas State.
Oklahoma’s No. 6 AP ranking this week is its highest when facing Texas since 2021, when the No. 6 Sooners posted a 55-48 victory over the No. 21 Longhorns. OU is 17-9-2 all-time against Texas when the Sooners are ranked in the AP top 10.
OU enters the Red River Rivalry with the top-ranked defense in college football, leading the nation and SEC in several key categories including total defense (193 yards allowed per game), sacks per game (4.2), opponent yards per play (3.5), 3rd down conversion percentage (17.4) and takles for loss per game (10). Offensively, OU is averaging 415.2 yards per game and 33.8 points per game.
The Longhorns (3-2, 0-1) are now unranked after falling to the Florida Gators 21-29 over the weekend. Texas ranks in the top 20 in several defensive categories including total defense, (260.2 yards allowed per game), 3rd down conversion percentage (29) and scoring defense (12 points per game allowed).
OU owns a 30-22-3 series lead over Texas since 1970 and a 17-9 record against the Longhorns since the start of the 2000 season. For more on the history between the two teams, visit soonersports.com.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
Three University of Oklahoma graduate students have been named winners of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition, which challenges participants to explain their research in three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
Sarah Sharif, a researcher with the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create innovative light detectors that pick up mid-wave and long-wave infrared signals at higher temperatures than previously considered achievable.
A team from OU and WVU recently earned a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how concept cigarillos influence the potential for addiction. The results will be used to inform the FDA’s impending flavor ban on cigar products and could have wider-reaching implications for other tobacco products that come in flavors, such as e-cigarettes and tobacco-free nicotine pouches.
