Can Texas use rivalry win over Oklahoma as springboard for rest of season?

College football is a strange sport, and that's why we love it. One weekend, you're feeling like things couldn't get any worse, and the next, you're on top of the world.

That's certainly been the case for the Texas Longhorns after their Red River Rivalry win over the then-No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday.

Texas came into the game at 3-2 after a terrible loss at the hands of the Florida Gators, who very well may soon fire head coach Billy Napier.

The loss dropped Texas out of the AP Top 25, and it seemed like the Longhorns were destined to keep dropping, especially when Oklahoma's Heisman-hopeful quarterback John Mateer strapped on his helmet and made an extremely fast comeback from a hand injury. 

By all accounts, it was a game No. 6 Oklahoma should have won, but the Longhorns came out and dominated their old rival. The end result was a resounding 23-6 win for Texas that had head coach Steve Sarkisian feeling a bit feisty after the game,

"I think we saw the true character of the men in that locker room today, their connectivity, their love for one another," Sarkisian said post-game (h/t On3). "You heard these two guys just say it — staying connected. Continuing to grind with one another. Because it’s easy to succumb to the outside noise. And there was a lot of s--- getting talked about our team, about these guys, and I think they responded."

Texas Longhorns control their own destiny

Heading into this season, the Longhorns were thought of as a no-doubt College Football Playoff team. Arch Manning, the highly-hyped nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, was viewed as a no-doubt Heisman Trophy contender.

Both parties still have a lot to prove in 2025, but it's worth noting that the Longhorns are once again ranked (No. 21) after the win, and with games against No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 9 Georgia and No. 4 Texas A&M still remaining on the schedule, they still control their own destiny as far as CFP "resume wins" are concerned.

Speaking of the resume, the fact that Texas' defense made Mateer look bad is a big deal. Maybe he came back too soon from the hand injury, but the numbers are the numbers.

Mateer completed just 20-of-38 passes for 202 yards and no touchdowns with three interceptions. He's typically a strong runner, but Texas gave up only five rushing yards on 14 attempts to Mateer.

"First of all, I’m glad the quarterback played and John Mateer is a heck of a player," Sarkisian said. "But I didn’t want to come up and hear and answer ‘what if he would have played.’ The fact that we created three turnovers. We got five sacks. When you look at our defense, there were a lot of great playmakers today and a lot of guys did some different things."

There were no "what ifs" about that game for Texas. It was about as good as a rivalry-game win as you can get. Now, it's time for the Longhorns to build off of it.