Here’s to the Red River Rivalry, and redemption for Texas QB Arch Manning
Call it the Red River Shootout, the Red River Showdown or the Red River Rivalry.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a nonconference, Big 12 or SEC game.
Texas-Oklahoma in October at the Cotton Bowl — with half the stands clad in burnt orange and white, and the other in crimson and cream — remains one thing college football fans can count on.
In a world of near-constant conference realignment and the transfer portal, the annual Red River Rivalry game at the State Fair of Texas is one of the few things the sport hasn’t screwed up.
Embattled Texas quarterback Arch Manning can bask in all of the game’s glory after providing a steady hand in the Longhorns’ 23-6 victory Saturday.
This game marked my first Texas-OU game in person in 27 years, since I was a UT student. My record as a Longhorns fan was 2-0, having watched Ricky Williams rush for 223 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-24 win in 1997, then returning to see him run for 139 yards and two scores in a 34-3 blowout in 1998.
Going 3-0 with Texas seemed to be an uphill climb coming into Saturday, but more on that later.
I arrive at the fairgrounds early at 10:30 a.m., four hours before kickoff. Fans are already filing in, sporting the uniform of the day: men in jerseys or team-colored polo shirts and ballcaps, women in dresses or denim skirts with cowboy boots.
No team chants, no taunts. The only “Horns down” signs I see are when OU fans pose for photos. People are here with their families, enjoying the day.
They’re lining up for Fletcher’s corny dogs and the fair’s famous array of bizarre fried foods. After fried cheesecake (OK), fried double-stuffed Oreos (yum) and a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich (... interesting), it’s time for some football.
Arch Manning’s last stand
That’s if Longhorns fans can stomach it.
Whether he knows it or not, Texas quarterback Arch Manning is making his last stand in the eyes of many Longhorns fans. That might not be fair, but it’s reality.
The No. 1 team in the Associated Press preseason poll should not be unranked and all but out of College Football Playoff contention six games into the season. Texas is 3-2, with wins over three Group of Five of teams and losses to the only real teams it played, Ohio State and Florida.
Manning and the Longhorns can’t afford to leave the Cotton Bowl 3-3 after quarterback Quinn Ewers took Texas to the national semifinals the past two seasons.
Never mind that most Texas fans were happy to usher Ewers out of the building to install Manning as the starter. That’s when he was the Heisman Trophy favorite with the famous NFL bloodline, not the guy overthrowing receivers downfield and overdosing on dump-offs and screen passes.
This is Garrett Gilbert taking over for Colt McCoy all over again.
Despite all of those negative vibes, in the cold, hard numbers of the betting world, the unranked Longhorns are 2.5-point favorites over the No. 6 Sooners.
More of the same in the first half
Manning does nothing to change the narrative in the first half, and the Sooners lead 6-3.
He completes 10 of 14 passes for a paltry 69 yards, making one memorable throw, 24 yards across his body to DeAndre Moore Jr. That drive ends in a missed 55-yard field goal.
On the Longhorns’ lone scoring drive, Manning performs competently, but running back Quintrevion Wisner does the heavy lifting with a 37-yard run. Facing second-and-goal from the 3, Manning throws one ball away, then throws incomplete on third down, and the Longhorns settle for a 22-yard field goal.
Third quarter all Texas
And suddenly, there is a change.
The Longhorns take the opening kickoff of the second half and use nearly half of the third quarter to drive 75 yards in 14 plays, capped by Manning finding a wide-open Moore in the back of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown and a 10-6 lead.
After holding Oklahoma three-and-out, Manning takes Texas 65 yards in 13 plays, and a 48-yard Mason Shipley field goal extends the lead to 13-6.
The Red River gods are shining on the Longhorns, and Manning gets the help he needs. Ryan Niblett returns a punt 75 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown, and Texas has some breathing room with a 20-6 lead with 9:54 remaining.
What a difference a quarter-plus makes. Now the fan base questioning its quarterback is Oklahoma’s. Did John Mateer return too soon after surgery for a broken bone in his right hand?
He has thrown three interceptions — one off a deflection — but could have had more. After he throws incomplete on fourth down with 5:15 remaining, the Texas celebration has all but begun.
Manning ends up completing 21 of 27 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown — and, most importantly, no interceptions. Mateer completes 20 of 38 passes for 202 yards with no touchdowns and the three picks.
Arch Manning buys some goodwill
Of course, in the spotlight of big-money college football, Arch Manning has only bought himself a week of goodwill.
The Longhorns (4-2, 1-1 SEC) have two straight road games at Kentucky and Mississippi State, go to No. 10 Georgia later in the season and host No. 5 Texas A&M the day after Thanksgiving before a potential SEC championship game.
They can probably only lose one more game the rest of the season and have a reasonable chance to make the 12-team playoff.
But those intrusive thoughts can wait for another day.
Texas beats Oklahoma 23-6 in the 121st edition of the Red River Rivalry.
Arch Manning isn’t the hero, but he is a winner.
In this game, that’s really all that matters.
Have a corny dog and enjoy it.
This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 5:56 PM.
