What a game at the Cotton Bowl yesterday. Longhorns probably feeling pretty rough this morning, but for takeaways, did Oklahoma expose any major weaknesses?
I say no. Defensive front 7 played tough, Ewers looked fine, WRs were weaponized downfield, Sark and staff managed the game well.
What killed Texas yesterday, and what was always going to be difficult to prepare for, was the multifaceted play of Dillon Gabriel. Blitzing opened up the threat he'd run upfield. Spying with a LB forced Texas into man-to-man coverage. Gabriel is overall a good enough QB to succeed by ground and air, and it just so happened yesterday he knew which way to go at each right time.
The Longhorns schedule eases up the rest of the way. Surely everyone is expecting a rematch with Oklahoma in the conference championship game. Still a lot to play for.
The in-state team that lost its season yesterday was Texas A&M. In a year when both LSU and Bama are beatable, losing at home to Alabama yesterday killed the season. All through the 1st half the Aggie blitz was working, the DL was pushing back Bama's OL, Bama's running game was snuffed out, and the only thing working on offense for Bama was Trey Burton.
And for Texas A&M to come out so flat after halftime and get thoroughly beat the rest of the way by Bama's adjustments is a back breaker. For the whole third quarter the Aggie's defense couldn't get off the field and the A&M offense went dead. This is all on Jimbo and his staff getting outcoached yesterday.
Where does A&M go from here? They couldn't beat Bama with the talent to do so and homefield advantage, and now the Aggies are 4-2 with Ole Miss, LSU, and Tennessee left on the schedule.