The Texas Longhorns have every tool they need to handle Oklahoma this weekend. The game plan is simple, and the margin for error against a desperate Sooners team is thinner than it looks.
If the Texas Longhorns want to guarantee a win against the Oklahoma Sooners this weekend, three things have to happen. None of them are complicated.
The Longhorns' offense, Arch Manning's comfort level, and a special teams unit that nearly handed Tennessee a game all decide whether Texas walks out of this one clean. And frankly, I believe Texas has every capability of checking all three boxes
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Number one, Texas has to run this offense through Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown. I was in the building when the Longhorns faced Tennessee, and you could feel how much the offense missed Smothers in that rushing attack. Without him, Texas put way too much on Arch Manning's shoulders.
Now, to be clear, you want Manning creating in spurts. You want the backyard football we saw in the comeback against Ohio State. But that shouldn't be the focal point of the offense. Brown is an explosive running back, but he's not a bell cow back. The real star of the show, and one of the most underrated storylines in the entire country, is how much Texas needs Smothers in that lineup.
And you may say, where's the Cam Coleman breakout everyone keeps waiting for? Here's my answer. If Texas runs the football effectively against a very good Oklahoma defensive line, that's what sets up the explosive plays downfield Longhorns fans have been begging for. The run game is the key that unlocks Coleman.
The second key is letting Arch be Arch. When you watch Manning play this season, you can see a hesitancy in him. He looks like he's deciding, snap by snap, whether he's allowed to run the football or whether he should scale back and be a pocket passer who creates.
I don't know if someone inside the program is telling him not to run. But in a spot like this, Oklahoma is going to try to speed him up and force a mistake. So get him comfortable. Move the pocket to the right and to the left. Call designed quarterback runs, which Texas has scaled back for reasons that have honestly confused me all season.
Think about the Texas A&M game. The Longhorns ran quarterback counter, and it won them that football game. Against an Oklahoma team that's going to be desperate, folding Manning into the rushing attack from key number one puts him in a great position to succeed. That's not a gimmick. That's using your best weapon.
The last key doesn't even involve the defense, because that's the side of the ball I have the fewest questions about. Do not make the first mistake on special teams.
I was baffled. I was appalled. I could not believe that Texas put Ryan Wingo on the hands team for onside kicks against Tennessee. Say what you want about the result, but the lack of discipline on special teams is what kept the Volunteers in that football game.
Texas has to be clean here, because this is exactly where Oklahoma will try to win on the margins. The Sooners know their offense isn't capable of driving the length of the field every single time. A muffed punt, a blocked kick, or one little play here or there is all a team like Oklahoma needs to stay involved and steal momentum.
The same goes for the offense. Don't give the game away. Don't hand the Sooners a short field. Make them go 10-plus plays to score. And frankly, I do not believe Oklahoma has the capability of doing that.
These keys are simple for a reason, because the game plan in front of Texas is that simple. I am 110 percent confident Texas beats Oklahoma, because this team has every tool it needs to execute all three of these keys. If the Longhorns leaves the door open, that's on them. Nobody else.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Texas Longhorns have 3 simple keys to beating Oklahoma Sooners, including avoiding another baffling special teams blunder
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