Oklahoma football entered the Cotton Bowl unranked and written off ahead of facing No. 1 Texas. But walked into Monday shaking up the top 25 by stunning the Longhorns 27-24. Now coach Brent Venables earned a major award after outcoaching Steve Sarkisian.
Venables earned the Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Week award Monday. All after forcing the rival Longhorns to drop down the rankings.
Venables and OU proved its still a force in the SEC. And is very much alive and kicking when it comes to going after a bowl game. Oklahoma turned to a familiar blueprint to topple Texas: Venables' area of expertise defense.
The Sooners picked off Texas quarterback Arch Manning twice, including forcing one interception that helped set off Tate Sandell's walk-off 47-yard field goal to win the game. Courtland Guillory snatched the last Manning pass to hand Oklahoma its chance to score the winning points.
Oklahoma's pass rush came alive too, with Taylor Wein and Trent Wilson grabbing sacks on Manning. The Sooners crashed the line of scrimmage too, creating five tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Linebacker Owen Heinecke showed his nose for the football in producing 2.5 tackles for a loss against a vaunted Texas offense.
Article Continues BelowOU's defensive display made up for a struggling offense, including quarterback John Mateer struggling to deliver explosive plays. Mateer finished with 18-of-26 passing for 155 yards but didn't toss a single touchdown pass or even cross the end zone on a rushing touchdown. He even finished with -6 yards.
Not a single OU wideout, including leader Isaiah Sategna, surpassed 64 yards. Running back Lloyd Avant hit 72 yards on 10 carries. But now, OU has the Bear Bryant Coach of the Week on its side.