Josh Pate says Red River Rivalry will be make-or-break for Texas
By Jacob Moss
Published:
It might seem a bit hyperbolic to say that the Texas Longhorns’ entire season will come down to their matchup with hated rival Oklahoma this Saturday, but at this point, that very well could be the situation the ‘Horns find themselves in.
A 3-2 start has seen Texas fall from preseason AP No. 1 to unranked in a matter of weeks, and now head coach Steve Sarkisian has to get his team ready to play one of the best teams in the country with everything on the line.
That’s certainly how college football analyst Josh Pate sees things for Texas, and he sat down with ESPN’s Greg McIlroy to discuss how this Saturday is a “make or break” type game for the Horns.
“It is their season,” Pate said. “We will be looking back at the Oklahoma game as either the point where the entire season went south, or it was the turning point. That thing, whatever that is, that happened… People start to develop the habit of thinking that you kind of are what you are. Maybe by Week 10, I believe that. In Week 3,4, or 5 of college football seasons, I don’t always believe that.”
There’s no denying that Texas has always had the talent on both sides to be an elite team, but time is quickly running out for them to prove they can live up to the billing they received in the preseason.
Like Pate said, the Red River Rivalry appears to be the crucial inflection point for the Longhorns, and if they can’t rise to the occasion, then whatever hopes they came into 2025 with of making the College Football Playoff will have all gone down the drain.
The Longhorns are a 1.5-point favorite over the Sooners, per BetMGM. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday.
RELATED: Take advantage of this BetMGM bonus code to bet on the Longhorns‘ upcoming game against the Sooners, or use it in the CFP futures market.
