The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
No. 9/9 Football preview: vs. No. 5/5 Oklahoma [Dec. 1, 2018]
11.26.2018 | Football
The Longhorns and Sooners meet Saturday in the 2018 Big 12 Championship.
No. 9/9 Texas (9-3, 7-2 Big 12) vs. No. 5/5 Oklahoma (11-1, 8-1 Big 12)
December 1, 2018
Where: Arlington, Texas
Stadium: AT&T Stadium
Time: 11 a.m. CT
TV: ABC (Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe)
Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Craig Way, Roger Wallace, Quan Cosby)
Spanish Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva, Jesus Mendoza)
National Radio: ESPN Radio (Marc Kestecher, Dusty Dvoracek, Ian Fitzsimmons)
Live stats: hookem.at/FootballLiveStats
All-time series: Texas leads 62-46-5
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
The Opening Kickoff
• The University of Texas, fresh off its first nine-win regular season since 2009, will play in Saturday's Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship against the University of Oklahoma.
• Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Todd Blackledge (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline) will call the action on ABC with kickoff set for 11:08 a.m. CT at AT&T Stadium.
• The Longhorn IMG Radio Network broadcast with Craig Way (play-by-play), Roger Wallace (analyst) and Quan Cosby (sideline) can be heard on Sirius channel 105, XM channel 199 and app channel 953 in addition to the local affiliates listed on page two.
• The Longhorns' Spanish language radio broadcast, Cadena Deportiva, can be heard in Austin and Dallas, or online at TexasSports.com. Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva (play-by-play) and Jesus Mendoza (analyst) are on the call.
• Longhorn Network's broadcast begins at 9 a.m. with Texas GameDay, a two-hour pregame show. LHN also broadcasts Texas GameDay final after each game.
• ESPN Radio's broadcast can be heard on Siriux XM and app channel 80.
• The Longhorns are making their sixth all-time appearance in the Big 12 Championship, with a record of 3-2. UT's last appearance in the game was in 2009. Texas' six appearances are tied with Nebraska for second-most in league history.
• UT is 9-3 overall and finished 7-2 in conference play. They played nine, one-possession games this season, going 6-3 in such games. They enter coming off a 24-17 win at Kansas to close the regular season.
• Earlier this season (Oct. 6), Texas defeated then-No. 7/5 Oklahoma 48-45 in the AT&T Red River Showdown played inside the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park in Dallas.
• Oklahoma comes into Saturday's game with a record of 11-1 overall and 8-1 in the league. Their lone loss came at the hands of the Longhorns. They are coming off a 59-56 win at West Virginia last Friday to close the regular season. The Sooners are making their 10th championship game appearance. They defeated TCU 41-17 in last season's championship game.
• Saturday's championship game will be the 17th Big 12 Championship Game, as there was no game played following the 2011-16 seasons.
The All-Time Series
• There is no rivalry quite like the Texas/Oklahoma series which is being played for the 114th time on Saturday. Texas leads the series 62-46-5.
• The series, which began in 1900, has been played in Dallas since 1912 and at the State Fair since 1929, but Saturday's Championship Game will be played in a different setting - at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
• Saturday marks the first time since 1903, and just the third time ever (also 1901), that the two schools will meet for a second time in a season.
• In 1901, UT won 12-6 on Oct. 19 at home and then 11-0 on Nov. 25 at Oklahoma. In 1903, UT tied 6-6 on Oct. 17 at home and then won 11-5 at Oklahoma on Nov. 13.
• The first matchup between the two teams in 1900 ended with a 28-2 Longhorns' victory. Texas is the only Big 12 Conference team that holds an all-time series lead against the Sooners.
• Only Texas A&M (118 times) has played the Longhorns on more occasions. Since 1900, the only years Texas and Oklahoma have not played were 1918, '20, '21 and 1924-28.
Head Coach Tom Herman
• Tom Herman is in his second season as the head coach at Texas and his fourth season overall as a head coach.
• He owns a record of 38-13 (.745) in his career, including a 16-9 (.640) mark at Texas.
• Herman has led his programs to bowl games in all three seasons thus far and has the Longhorns bowl eligible this year. Saturday's game will also mark his second conference championship game appearance in just four seasons. Houston defeated Temple, 24-13, in the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championship Game under Herman.
• Including the 2018 season, Herman has spent 15 of his 21 seasons as a coach in the state of Texas on the collegiate level.
• Herman graduated from Cal Lutheran and received his master's degree in education from The University of Texas.
• He owns a career mark of 11-5 against Top 25 opponents, 4-3 against Top 10 foes and 2-1 versus teams in the Top 5, including one of those Top-5 wins being against Oklahoma.
The Big 12 Championship Game
• Saturday's game marks the 17th Big 12 Championship Game all-time. The game was played from 1996-2010 and then resumed last season.
• UT will make its sixth appearance in the game, tied with Nebraska for second-most in conference history.
• The Longhorns are 3-2 in championship games. They were victorious in 1996 (Texas 37, Nebraska 27), 2005 (Texas 70, Colorado 3) and 2009 (Texas 13, Nebraska 12). They were defeated in both 1999 (Nebraska 22, Texas 6) and 2001 (Colorado 39, Texas 37).
• Oklahoma is making its 10th championship game appearance all-time. The Sooners are 8-1, with their lone loss coming in 2003 at the hands of the Kansas State Wildcats.
Both Teams Ranked
• Saturday's matchup will pit the No. 9/9 Longhorns against the No. 5/5 Sooners. Before this season, when Texas was ranked No. 19/20 and Oklahoma No. 7/5, the two teams had not met as ranked foes since 2012.
• Since 2000, the two teams have met as ranked foes 13 times in this game. Oklahoma owns an advantage in such matchups, having won 9-of-13 contests against Texas.
• The last time the two teams were both ranked inside the Top 10 for a meeting was in 2008, when No. 5/5 Texas defeated No. 1/1 Oklahoma 45-35.
AT&T Stadium
• Saturday's game marks the Longhorns' third inside AT&T Stadium. UT won the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game over Nebraska, when it was called Cowboys Stadium. UT then lost to UCLA, 20-17, in 2014.
Ehlinger By The Numbers
• True sophomore Sam Ehlinger has completed 233-of-362 passes for 2,774 yards (8th in school history) and 23 touchdowns this season. He has also rushed for 376 yards and 11 scores. The most rushing TDs by a UT QB in school history is 14.
• Ehlinger has thrown just four interceptions, and attempted a school- and Big 12-record 308 consecutive passes without an interception in between picks in the season opener at Maryland and the regular season finale at Kansas.
• Ehlinger is the 10th Longhorn to eclipse 4,000 career passing yards. He currently sits ninth with 4,689 career yards. His 34 career touchdown passes are seventh-most in school history.
• He has 3,150 yards (2,620 pass/375 rush) of total offense this season, sixth-most in school history. Only Colt McCoy (2007-09), Vince Young (2005) and Major Applewhite (1999) have had more in a season.
• For Ehlinger's career, he currently ranks ninth in school history with 5,450 yards (4,689 pass/761 rush) of total offense.
• Ehlinger has eight games this season of three-or-more touchdowns responsible for, behind only Colt McCoy (10, 2008) and Vince Young (9, 2005).
Ehlinger Against Oklahoma
• In two games against Oklahoma, Ehlinger has totaled 388 yards and 386 yards of offense, the two highest outputs by a Longhorn QB in school history vs. OU.
• His 314 passing yards in 2018 were the fourth-most ever by a Longhorn QB against Oklahoma.
• His five total touchdowns were the most ever by a Longhorn quarterback against the Sooners, as were his three rushing touchdowns. Only Bobby Layne (4 in 1946) has had more rushing touchdowns against the Sooners in school history.
• Ehlinger's 278 passing yards in the Red River Showdown in 2017 were a UT true freshman record in the game.
• In that game, he became just the fourth player (seventh time) to pass for 275 yards and rush for 100 in school history. He joined Vince Young (Nov. 6 & 13, 2004) as the only other player in school history to do so in back-to-back games.
Lil'Jordan, Big Impact
• Lil'Jordan Humphrey became the ninth player in school history with a 1,000-yard receiving season in the win over Iowa State. He became the first 1,000-yard receiver since John Harris in 2014.
• He leads the team with 72 catches (5th UT single season history) for 1,058 yards (8th UT single season) and eight touchdowns (9th UT single season).
• Humphrey is one of just five players in school history (Jordan Shipley, 2008-09; Quan Cosby, 2008; Roy Williams, 2003; and Wane McGarity, 1998) with at least 1,000 yards and eight receiving TDs in a season.
Two-Headed Monster
• Junior wide receivers Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson have combined for 129 receptions, 1,826 yards and 14 touchdowns so far this season.
• Sixty-four FBS teams have at least one receiver with 55-plus catches so far this season, but Texas is one of just 14 to have two receivers with 55-or-more catches.
• The 14 schools are TEXAS, Arkansas State, Ball State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, Nebraska, NC State, Ohio State, Old Dominion, Oregon State, USC, Texas Tech and Washington State.
• Humphrey (72) and Johnson (57) became just the eighth WR duo in school history to both eclipse the 50-catch mark in the same season (also 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014). This season marks just the fifth time, however, that two UT receivers have had at least 57 catches in the same season (also 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014).
• A UT player has had 50 catches in a season just 26 times in school history.
Duvernay Eclipses 1,000
• Junior WR Devin Duvernay eclipsed 1,000 career receiving yards in Friday's win over Kansas. He now has 65 receptions for 1,004 yards and seven touchdowns in his career.
• On the season, Duvernay has caught 36 passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns.
Watson Surpasses 2,000
• Graduate transfer running back Tre Watson has started 10 games for the Longhorns this season after starting eight games in four years at California.
• In Friday's win, he surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards. He entered this season with 1,390 rushing yards at Cal, and has totaled 656 this season at UT for a career total of 2,046 yards.
• On the year, Watson has six touchdowns (three rushing, three passing) with 20 catches for 137 yards.
Johnson A Defensive Leader
• Senior linebacker Gary Johnson leads the team with 74 tackles, which ranks 12th in the Big 12.
• Johnson has added 14 tackles for loss (5th Big 12) and 5.5 sacks (9th Big 12).
• in conference play, Johnson's 60 tackles ranks 10th, while his nine tackles for loss are ninth and 4.5 sacks are 11th.
Omenihu Living In The Backfield
• Senior defensive end Charles Omenihu registered at least one tackle for loss for the eighth-straight game on Friday at Kansas, totaling two TFL and a sack in the win.
• Omenihu has lived in the opponents' backfield. He has 14.5 tackles for loss (4th Big 12) and 8.5 sacks (2nd).
• In conference games, Omenihu has 13.5 TFL (3rd) and 7.5 sacks (2nd).
Shark Attack
• Junior LB Jeffrey McCulloch had a career game at Kansas, totaling three tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and an interception that he returned 65 yards.
