Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners Way-Too-Early Preview: Players to Watch

Week 6 of the 2025 season brings us to one of the most intense college rivalries of all time, the Red River Rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Longhorns hold a comfortable lead in the all-time series against their rivals, 64-51-5, and absolutely punished the Sooners in last year's edition of the game, resulting in a 34-3 win for the then-no. 1 ranked Burnt Orange.

Fast forward one year, and we might be in store for a repeat of the beatdown from last year, with Texas one of the favorites to win the national championship and Oklahoma having to adjust to new on-field personnel, especially with a new quarterback at the helm.

Players to Watch for Oklahoma in the 2025 Red River Rivalry

This may seem like an easy matchup on paper, but the Sooners are still a D1 football school, and the possibility of an upset is still massively on OU's side.

With that in mind, let's take a look at a few Sooners that Steve Sarkisian and staff need to make note of as the Longhorns head to Dallas in early October.

John Mateer, Quarterback

Brent Venables' new man comes out of Washington State to join the Sooners for the 2025 season. The redshirt junior put up a productive season in 2024 with the Cougars, starting all 12 games, leading the team to an 8-4 record while completing 224 of 347 passes for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns with only seven interceptions.

The signal caller is also very well-versed on his feet, rushing 178 times for 826 yards and 15 rushing scores last year, so should Oklahoma find themselves in a goal line situation, the Horns need eyes on Mateer at all times if they want to prevent a masterclass in quarterback keepers.

Jaydn Ott/Jovantae Barnes, Running Backs

Whichever of these backs stands out as the premier back for Venables, they could still be dangerous on the ground for the Sooners.

Ott joins the Sooners after three years with the California Golden Bears, which saw a breakout sophomore season from him in 2023, rushing 246 times for 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns.

After a down 2024 that only saw him advance for 385 yards and four scores on the ground, Ott would announce his transfer to Norman in April of this year.

As for Barnes, he returns to the Sooners as their leading rusher from the 2024 season, rushing 122 times for 577 yards on the ground and five touchdowns.

Regardless of who gets the RB1 spot, this 1-2 punch is definitely going to have to be contained by the Texas defense if they want back-to-back wins at the Cotton Bowl.

Kip Lewis, Linebacker

Not only can Lewis rack up tackles, totaling 65 in the 2024 season, but can also turn interceptions into points, as both of his picks last year turned into pick-sixes to help the Oklahoma cause.

With awareness like that, Arch Manning should keep a keen eye on Lewis and his whereabouts on the field before he unleashes a pass.