GAME BREAKDOWN
KEY MATCHUP: The Texas defense versus the Oklahoma rushing attack. The Longhorns know that OU’s passing attack will be tough to stop, but they have to try to make the Sooners as one-dimensional as possible and the way to do that is by stopping their run game, and especially keeping Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray bottled up.
DRAFT SLANT
–FS Brandon Jones is one of the “top safety prospects in the nation,” according to NFLDraftScout.com analyst Ric Serritella, who writes that Jones (6-2, 205) has “shown vast improvement this season and owns the prototypical size and speed that NFL teams covet at the safety position. He self-admittedly was over-thinking last season, resulting in too many mental errors. … While his play had been streaky, with Jones taking his fair share of risks, his experience and maturity have seemed to win out, helping to limit some of his mistakes. His aggressiveness shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a negative, as he makes plenty of momentum-changing plays to make up for his misses.”
ROSTER REPORT:
–QB Sam Ehlinger has his school and Big 12 record for consecutive passes without an interception snapped at 308 by a second-quarter interception last week at Kansas.
–S Brandon Jones suffered a head injury during a punt return last week in the second quarter against Kansas. “Everything is pointing to a return to play (for Jones) around Wednesday, Thursday at the latest,” coach Tom Herman said. “Again that’s barring any setbacks.”
–After missing a combined 36 games along the offensive line in 2017, UT’s starting offensive linemen have missed just three combined games in 2018.