The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners play next season in the Cotton Bowl like they have since 1929. For the first time, the teams will play as members of the SEC.
The game will be of added importance for Texas after losing last year. While the Oklahoma game might have been on the back burner in preparation for Alabama last offseason, the Sooners should be the Longhorns’ top priority out of spring ball.
Oklahoma stunned Texas in Dallas in 2023. The game went down to the final seconds as the Sooners drove downfield with ease to take the lead with 15 seconds left.
Several faces from the game won’t be on the field for both teams. The Longhorns lose their dynamic interior defensive duo of T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy along with the majority of their receiving production. The Sooners will have a new offensive coordinator, quarterback and mostly new offensive line.
Let’s look at a few advantages and disadvantages each team will have in the game.
Johnny Nansen
Arizona defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen comes over from Arizona as the Longhorns’ new linebackers coach. While Nansen’s defense allowed big plays to Oklahoma in last season’s Alamo Bowl, the unit wreaked havoc on freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold and new play caller Seth Littrell. In the positive, Arnold went 26/45 for 361 yards and two touchdowns with 38 yards rushing. In the negative, Arnold had five turnovers including three interceptions. Despite a decided talent disadvantage, Nansen’s defense held the Sooners to 24 points on the game.
New Oklahoma playcaller
Seth Littrell and Bill Bedenbaugh are set to coordinate the Oklahoma offense. My guess is we haven’t seen what they will bring to the Cotton Bowl in October. In December, Nansen did a good job defending against the unknowns and baiting turnovers from a tunnel vision prone freshman, but…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/advantages-disadvantages-early-preview-texas-170256564.html
Author : Longhorns Wire
Publish date : 2024-02-23 17:02:56
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