Arch Manning completed 78% of his passes for 166 yards and a touchdown to help Texas knock off No. 6 Oklahoma 23-6 on Saturday in Dallas.
The Longhorns’ defense intercepted Sooners quarterback John Mateer three times, and sacked him five times overall, including twice on a critical drive late to clinch their second straight victory in the Red River Rivalry.
With 9:59 remaining, Texas’ Ryan Niblett returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown to put the Longhorns up 20-6.
Needing to put points on the board for the first time since early in the second quarter, Oklahoma (5-1, 1-1 SEC) quickly drove inside the Texas 30, but Michael Taaffe and Colin Simmons sacked Mateer on back-to-back plays on second and third down before Mateer’s incompletion gave the ball back to the Longhorns (3-3, 1-1).
Mateer played just 17 days after having surgery for a broken thumb on his throwing hand.
Mateer suffered the injury early in the Sooners’ Sept. 20 win over Auburn. He finished 20 of 38 for 202 yards and had 14 carries for five yards.
Mateer’s streak of 10 consecutive games with at least one passing touchdown and at least one running touchdown was snapped.
Oklahoma controlled much of the first half, outgaining the Longhorns 170-114, but the Sooners couldn’t finish out drives, twice settling for Tate Sandell field goals early.
Texas cut the deficit to 6-3 late in the third quarter, and then Malik Muhammad picked off Mateer in the end zone in the closing seconds to keep the Sooners from stretching the lead before the break.
The Longhorns then ate up nearly half of the third-quarter clock with a 14-play, 75-yard drive, taking the lead on Manning’s 12-yard touchdown pass to one-time Sooners commit DeAndre Moore Jr.
Manning finished 21 of 27 through the air, ran for 34 yards, and was sacked just once by an Oklahoma defense that came into the game leading the nation in sacks per game.
Quintrevion Wisner rushed for 94 yards and had five catches for 34 yards. Texas outgained Oklahoma 302-258.
Deion Burks led the Sooners with five catches for 64 yards. Oklahoma ran for just 48 yards.
–Field Level Media
