So welcome back to the Red River Rivalry. You weren't planning on it and

you weren't prepared for it, but you got a nice gem of a game from out

of the blue.

Players to watch: This might be a battle to see who the lead dog will be

in the national title chase, but it'll also potentially determine the

Heisman front-runner. With all due respect to Missouri's Chase Daniel,

if Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford or Texas QB Colt McCoy goes lights out, the

Heisman is the his for the taking.

Could Bradford handle the new changes to the offense? That was the

question mark this off-season as the sophomore struggled a bit with the

new quick-timing passing game that required quicker decisions and for

the ball to get out of his hands faster. There were some rocky practices

and a little bit of worrying about tinkering with what worked. After

all, Bradford led the nation in passing efficiency last year throwing 36

touchdown passes while spreading out eight interceptions. Instead,

Bradford has been even better. He threw two interceptions against

Cincinnati, but he made up for it with five touchdown passes and 395

yards. He completed 17-of-22 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns in

the opening day blowout over Chattanooga, he wasn't needed for most of

the game, and he has turned his game up another notch over the last

three weeks highlighted by a razor-sharp 1f-21, 304-yard, five

touchdown day in the win over Washington. While he's No. 2 in the nation

in passing efficiency behind Tulsa's David Johnson, he's not a runner.

Not only has McCoy run the ball well, he's leading the Longhorns with

317 yards and four touchdowns with a 103-yard day against Florida

Atlantic. While he's not the dynamic running Vince Young was, he's been

almost as productive while taking his passing to another level

completing 103-of-130 passes for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns with

three interceptions. Other than the three interceptions, several of the

24 misses were drops. Many quarterbacks couldn't complete 79% of their

passes vs. air; McCoy is making it look easy. As good as McCoy and

Bradford might be, they're getting a lot of help by getting a lot of

time.

Right tackle Kyle Hix, right guard Cedrick Dockery, center Chris Hall,

left guard Charlie Tanner, and left tackle Adam Ulatoski. The Longhorn

offensive line hasn't been a brick wall, but it hasn't been bad allowing

just seven sacks on the year. A few of those came because McCoy was

trying to run. McCoy has been devastating, and he's even better when

he's allowed to have ten minutes to throw. Texas doesn't have the

receiving corps OU has, so McCoy needs the extra half tick that

Bradford, who has a group of NFL caliber targets, doesn't.

Oklahoma's offensive line of tackle Phil Loadholt and Duke Robinson on

an All-America left side, Jon Cooper in the middle (even with a slight

knee injury) and guard Brandon Walker and tackle Trent Williams on the

right side is the best in America. If it's not, it's in the top three.

All five starters will earn all-star honors, and most will see time in

NFL camps with Robinson likely to be very rich next year at this time.

They allowed four sacks to TCU's phenomenal pass rush, and now they'll

be tested again against Will Muschamp's Texas defense that leads the

nation in sacks.

No one has benefitted more from the new defensive coordinator than

senior Brian Orakpo, a 6-4, 260-pound speed rusher who has 5.5 sacks,

seven tackles for loss, and 19 tackles on the year. He needs to know

what kind of gum Bradford is chewing for the mediocre Texas secondary to

have any chance of survival against the tremendous OU receivers.

Oklahoma will win if ... Bradford doesn't get touched. Last year, when

Bradford was pressured, more often than not he was a bit off. When he

gets time, and when his receivers are able to use their speed to run

their deep routes, they're unbeatable. Texas has been able to hide its

shaky secondary with a pass rush that's been hitting every quarterback

early and often. Bradford will have to eat a few sacks, but as long as

his internal clock isn't moving things up a half-tick, the offense

should be solid. Defensively, the OU pass rush has been fantastic and

the secondary has benefitted. No, the Sooners haven't played Texas Tech

yet, but it's not like Cincinnati can't throw.

Texas will win if ... it keeps OU's big plays to a minimum. If this

turns into any sort of a tight defensive battle, the edge might go to

Texas because of the field position factor. The Longhorn punting game

has been fantastic so far, netting a Big 12-best 40.59 yards per boot,

while the return game has been fine, but nothing special. Meanwhile, OU

has been awful punting the ball and has surprisingly gotten little pop

from the punt return game. As long as Texas isn't giving up home runs

and is forcing the Sooners to start deep in their own territory time and

again, it'll be in control of the game.

What will happen: Texas will be better than you think, but it'll need to

prevent the type of run OU has come up with game after game to put games

away. The Sooner defense will tee off on Colt McCoy and dare the

Longhorns to win with someone else. RB Fozzy Whittaker is struggling to

get back from a knee injury, Chris Ogbonnaya isn't consistent, and the

receivers, even Quan Cosby, aren't going to scare the OU defense. Texas

will hang around for more than a half, but will start to give up a few

big pass plays in the third quarter. The Sooners will get up by

double-digit points, and then McCoy will find a groove and make it

interesting late. In the end, OU will have too much on both sides of the

ball.

Whorns Suck.  Out.