Can Sooners O Top Horned Frogs D?

It's a classic case of the irresistible force against the immovable object, and something has to give.

In a game that is basically a warm up for the Big 12 title game, No. 6 TCU travels to Norman to take on No. 5 Oklahoma. All that's on the line is the top seed in the conference's first ever championship game, as well as staying alive in the race for a College Football Playoff berth.

Oklahoma (8-1, 5-1) leads the nation in total offense, the only team in America averaging over 600 yards per contest. The Sooners are fueled by quarterback Baker Mayfield, the country's leading passer and favorite for the Heisman Trophy.

Kenny Hill (7) is one of the top dual threat QBs in America (KVUE.com)

TCU (8-1, 5-1) sports the nation's fifth leading defense, allowing just 4.4 yards per play and holding foes to just 26.7 percent on third down conversions.

"Obviously one of the best football teams in the country right now," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. "In my opinion, probably the most complete team we've played to this point. They're really tremendous."

The Horned Frogs lead the nation in rushing defense, allowing just 70 yards per contest. While Mayfield and the passing game have gotten the headlines, it's the Sooners running game that has made a lot of the offensive production possible. Oklahoma has scored three rushing touchdowns in each of the last three games, and averaged over 6.0 yards per carry in those contests.

Rodney Anderson has been the standout, averaging over six yards per carry and scoring five touchdowns, while freshman Trey Sermon has come on to become the team's leading rusher with 568 yards and four scores.

TCU plays a unique 4-2-5 set, which has been a staple of Gary Patterson coached teams through the years.

It has proven effective, and Riley knows his team will need to be firing on all cylinders.

"They're unique," he said. "You don't play a lot of people like them. I don't know that I'd compare it to playing the wishbone, but you just don't see something like them every week. So that makes it a little more difficult to prepare for."

TCU isn't nearly as prolific with the football as Oklahoma is, but the Horned Frogs have been able to put up points -- eclipsing 40 four times this season -- due in large part to an efficient ground game and a matured Kenny Hill at quarterback. After tossing 13 interceptions a year ago, Hill has just five this year. He also has 15 touchdown passes, though has gone without one in three of the last four games.

Darius Anderson does most the damage running the ball for TCU, amassing 726 yards and scoring seven touchdowns. Sewo Olonilua has added six scores and Kyle Hicks also gets his share of carries. The Horned Frogs will look to make plays against an Oklahoma defense ranked 87th nationally, and which has allowed over 200 rushing yards three times this season -- twice in the last three games.

TCU has victories against three top 10 offenses, holding each well below its season total, and have shown people that defense isn't a dirty word in Big 12 circles.

The Sooners aren't totally devoid of star power on defense, thanks to Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and his eight sacks. TCU counters with Ben Banogu, who has 6.5 sacks on the season. Both teams have been good protecting their quarterbacks, TCU allowing just 11 sacks and Oklahoma allowing 18.

Patterson knows that this challenge could be his team's toughest, and it will have to have laser-focus to stop the Sooners diverse attack.

"You can't let Oklahoma big-play you, and that's hard to do because they have a lot of people," Patterson said. "You've got to be able to give them different looks and you've got to have a group smart enough to do that and still play within the structure of the defense. Because any time you put the quarterback in play, it makes it harder."

Baker Mayfield has proven nearly impossible to stop in 2017 (SB Nation)

There is some history with "the quarterback" and Patterson, as Mayfield -- a Texas native -- claims TCU slow-played him in recruiting before deciding against taking him. He wasn't happy about it, and his father had harsh words for Patterson's program in a later magazine interview.

But the two have mended fences, with Mayfield saying of Patterson, "he's one of the best defensive minds in the game."

Patterson has reciprocated respect, saying what many non-Sooners fans feel.

"Baker's really done a great job," Patterson said. "He's one of those guys, if you're playing against him you probably don't like him. ... If you love competitors, you've got to admire the things he's been able to do. He keeps plays alive. He's tough to tackle."

Oklahoma won a 52-46 shootout last year in Fort Worth, and has taken five of the last six meetings.

As far as being a an appetizer for a Big 12 championship game main course, neither coach is thinking that far ahead.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Patterson said.

Riley, the youngest head coach in the FBS, knows that looking ahead could prove lethal to his team.

"We'll worry about it when we get there," he said. "It'll take all we've got to play well and give ourselves a chance to beat these guys. We'll throw everything we can at 'em, and I'm sure coach Patterson would probably tell you the same thing."

Confidence Heading Different Directions As Red River Shootout Approaches

This will be the scene in Austin Saturday afternoon as Texas and Oklahoma play the Red River Showdown (Dallas Morning News)

There isn't much on paper that says Texas should be able to hang with Oklahoma in this Saturday's Red River Showdown, but, as a wise man once said, games aren't played on paper.

The Longhorns would seem to have the mental edge, coming in off of a confidence-building overtime victory against Kansas State while the Sooners felt the sting of losing at home to Iowa State -- a team which had beaten Oklahoma only five times previously.

Even if Texas is sitting on cloud nine, the Longhorns players know one thing.

"[Oklahoma] is going to come out with a chip on their shoulder," leading receiver Collin Johnson said.

After a shocking home opening loss to Maryland, Texas has improved -- by leaps and bounds in some areas, incrementally in others. Bottom line, the Longhorns right now look more like the team that lost a three-point game to USC than like the team that appeared clueless against the Terrapins.

The Longhorns scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of last year's game, but it wasn't enough as Oklahoma won 45-40.

Given the history of the rivalry, 12th-ranked Oklahoma knows that it cannot merely assume that it will win just because it is perceived to be the better team.

"They're a good football team," Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said of Texas.

Oklahoma (4-1, 1-1) enters the game with the nation's top offense, averaging 587 yards per game, and is sixth in scoring (44.6). It all begins with quarterback Baker Mayfield, who leads the nation in passing and has yet to throw an interception through five contests.

A Texas native, Mayfield knows how important this game is to fans of both schools, and to the teams as well. He threw for 390 yards and three scores a year ago in this contest. He knows what needs to be done to get his team focused.

"Unfortunately, it's not something to be proud of, but I have two years of experience being a leader in this time period," Mayfield said. "I've been in this situation before, but that means I know what to do and how to handle it. It's the most disappointing thing, you know this team didn't need that loss (against Iowa State) to put our backs against the wall and go to work. ...

"Like we've handled it the past two years, it's back to business."

Texas (3-2, 2-0) has improved in large part because a young team has matured, has stopped making silly mistakes, and has gained confidence.

The Longhorns know that if you can stop Mayfield, your chances of winning increase.

Texas coach Tom Herman believes that one key to keeping the Heisman candidate relatively in check is to limit the amount of time he spends outside of the pocket. Like Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, Mayfield is an assassin when he rolls out or when pressure forces him to move.

"We're going to do our best to contain and not him get outside of the pocket and keep plays alive," Herman said. "

The teams have alternated victories the past five meetings, with the last three contests all decided by one score. Oklahoma has won six of the last 10 games.

The best advice either coach can give to his team is to play all out, and to expect the unexpected.

"Not a whole lot has changed," said Herman, who was a Texas graduate assistant in 1999 and 2000. "I know it's one of, if not the greatest, rivalries in college football. It would be silly to not recognize the place this rivalry has in college football lore. We recognize that this is a historic game every year, and it's a very heated rivalry."

Texas will likely send Sam Ehlinger out at quarterback, and though he is a true freshman, he is one of the maturing players that appears to be hitting stride.

Ehlinger threw for 380 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Kansas State, and carried the ball 20 times for 107 yards. That dual threat option is what Herman wants his team to have, so he is encouraged by what Ehlinger showed last week.

Johnson had seven catches for 92 yards last week, and presents a big target -- 6-6, 220 -- in the passing game.

Oklahoma has not lost consecutive regular season games since falling to Notre Dame and Texas in 1999, on the way to a 7-5 campaign. Riley believes that his bunch will be ready for Texas, whether or not the Longhorns are ranked, and that they learned a lesson last week.

"Our expectations can't be relative to the team we are playing," Riley said. "That translates into not letting up against lesser teams."

"I am very confident in how this group will respond,"  Riley said.

The Red River Showdown kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Texas leads the all-time series 61-45-5, and its last two victories over the Sooners were as an unranked team.

Oklahoma Wants Revenge As It Heads To Ohio State

J.T. Barrett will take center stage as his Ohio State Buckeyes host Oklahoma this Saturday (NewsOK)

  
 Now the real fun begins.

 After easy wins over their first opponents, Ohio State and Oklahoma face off in a top 10 contest sure to impact the College Football Playoff race. The Sooners are looking for revenge after the Buckeyes came in to Norman last year and walked out with a 45-24 victory.

 The Sooners are working on an 11-game winning streak, the nation's longest -- the last loss being against the Buckeyes.

 Oklahoma blasted UTEP 56-7 in its opener, while OSU took a bit of time to get going before pulling away from Indiana and winning 49-21. 

 The stakes may be high -- ESPN GameDay will broadcast from Columbus, and the game is a national telecast, Saturday night at 7:30 -- but Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield wouldn't want it any other way.

 "You're either born with it or you're not," Mayfield said. "Without pressure, there's no diamonds."
  
 Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer is one of Mayfield's biggest fans, and knows that the OSU defense will have to be on high alert Saturday night. Indiana was able to throw for 410 yards against Ohio State's young secondary, and even though he's breaking in new receivers and running backs, Mayfield has enough experience to take advantage of anything he sees as a weakness.

 "What I love about Baker, he's a competitive guy," Meyer said.

 Mayfield went 19-of-20 with three touchdown passes against UTEP, his favorite target being junior tight end Mark Andrews, who finished with seven grabs and 134 yards. Given how many issues Ohio State had with the Indiana passing game, it wouldn't be surprising if Mayfield's eyes got as big as saucers when he takes the field.

 Meyer knows the challenge ahead of his young secondary.

Baker Mayfield (NewsOK)

 "We have to knock some balls down," Meyer said. "The one thing about IU, that quarterback is extremely accurate, the receivers made a bunch of great catches. But we have got to knock some more balls away."

 One way to keep Mayfield from going crazy is to dial up the pass rush. The Sooners have one of the best left tackles in the country in Orlando Brown, and he will be in charge of stopping Sam Hubbard and Nick Bosa from imposing their will. Bosa played 59 snaps against Indiana, and got better as the game progressed, so Riley knows that his linemen will need to be on point if the Sooners offense is to succeed.

 "They're definitely one of the top groups we'll see among the defensive front," Riley said. "Their depth and explosiveness is very impressive. These guys do a great job schematically. Their coaches are very good, they're very, very sound." 

 It will be almost 40 years to the day -- Sept. 24, 1977 -- that Oklahoma last came to Columbus, and to call that game memorable is doing a disservice to memorable games. Oklahoma, which had Billy Sims, Kenny King and Elvis Peacock in its backfield, took a 17-0 first quarter lead before the Buckeyes were able to gain their bearings. A Sooners field goal made it 20-0, and ABC made the decision to switch away to regional coverage.

 It was the nation's loss as OSU scored twice within a minute, the second coming on a Rod Gerald scamper, and it was suddenly 20-14 at halftime. The Buckeyes stayed hot and took a 28-20 lead into the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma trimmed it to 28-26 with a touchdown and failed two point conversion. Oklahoma recovered an onside kick, marched to the Buckeyes 23 yard line with six seconds left. Sooners kicker Uwe von Schamann split the uprights, giving his team a thrilling victory.

 While Mayfield receives most of the buzz, the Buckeyes have J.T. Barrett, and there is no one with whom Meyer would rather go into battle.

 "He's a very accurate passer," Meyer said. "I made this comment -- the accuracy of the quarterback has to do with the timing and relationship he has with the receivers. If he's expecting a receiver to come back and the receiver goes there, it may look like it's the quarterback's fault. We had some accuracy issues (last season) with J.T., but also with the receivers. It's much better now."

 The Buckeyes will have the services of sophomore running back Mike Weber, who sat out the opener with a hamstring issue. In his stead, freshman JK Dobbins ran for 181 yards on 29 carries, and showed excellent change of direction and the ability to get skinny in traffic. Meyer wasn't sure about the workload each would have, but that's a pleasant dilemma.

 The Buckeyes have lost just one non-conference home game under Urban Meyer, 35-21 to Virginia Tech in 2014.