Big 12 Power Rankings: Texas Beats Oklahoma, Big 12 Up In The Air
By Ben Nielsen
Oct 12, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners fullback Trey Millard (33) is tackled by Texas Longhorns defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway (81) and safety Josh Turner (5) in the fourth quarter of the Red River Rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. The Texas Longhorns beat the Oklahoma Sooners 36-20. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
4. Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 5-1 (2-1)
Previous Ranking: 2
Last Week: Texas 36, Oklahoma 20
This Week: at Kansas
Next Week: vs Texas Tech
Oklahoma doesn’t have a quarterback, and they needed on desperately Saturday afternoon.
Despite allowing 445 yards of offense to Texas, Oklahoma’s defense played well enough to win. Fourteen of Texas’ points came without the defense being on the field, and Blake Bell’s second interception led to Texas’ final score. No, OU’s defense wasn’t great, but better quarterback play and OU is very much in that game.
So what does Oklahoma do now? There’s a reason why Trevor Knight didn’t receive is starting gig back after his injury early in the season and why Blake Bell couldn’t win the job out camp. Neither one of them has proven to be good enough to lead OU’s offense to much of anything. The Sooners’ ranking of 98th in the nation in passing offense would seem to confirm this notion.
Essentially, Oklahoma is going to have to be near perfect on defense and special teams the rest of the season if they are going to win the Big 12. That’s a tall order considering they’ll be up against Texas Tech and Baylor in two of the next three weeks. And the Baylor game is in Waco.
It is too early to count Oklahoma out of the race, especially with how crazy the conference has been this season, but the pathway to a OU conference title looks very hazy.