Sandell kicks Sooners to 27-24 Red River Rivalry win
With five minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the Sooners had narrowed the Texas lead to 17-10 on a 53-yard Tate Sandell field goal, and judging from the reaction of the crimson clad crowd that populated the south half of the Cotton Bowl, you would have thought Oklahoma was well on its way to defeating the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns.
The Oklahoma fans were raucous. Texas fans were pensive.
The Sooners were in the game in the second half. And that’s not what any pundit, predictor, gambler or arm-chair quarterback in the country had predicted.
Momentum had shifted and any doubts about whether the Sooners had any chance for an upset were being supplanted by a measure of belief, or maybe we should say, blind faith, that maybe, just maybe, OU fans were going to witness the 2026 version of something called Sooner Magic.
Turns out, they did.
Sandell’s field goal was a precursor of what was to happen. Oklahoma would go on to outscore the 9 1/2-point favorite Texas 17-7 in the fourth quarter and win this year’s Red River Rivalry 27-24 with a walk off home run field goal by Sandell.
‘Forty-seven yards in high school is still 47 yards in college. It doesn’t really matter how many fans are here. Just get in the zone and do what you do.’ — Tate Sandell.
The win put Oklahoma at 3-2 on the year, and at least for now saved the season from the despair that had enveloped Sooner Nation following losses to Michigan and Georgia.
The win spoiled the unblemished Texas season, dashing their fans’ hope for an easy win over the struggling Sooners, an expectation fanned by pre-season hype and a No. 1 ranking in the polls after wins over Ohio State and Tennessee.
With a sputtering offense that didn’t manage to get a first down in the entire first quarter, the prospects for a Sooners win seemed doubtful early on.
The game began as a defensive stalemate. Even when Longhorn QB Arch Manning threw a 41-yard TD pass to strike first at the 6:56 mark of the first quarter, the Longhorns didn’t earn its second first first down until the second quarter.
OU’s defenses held Texas to three and outs on each of their next two possessions. And, with the Longhorns backed up, Danny Okoye blocked a Texas punt in the end zone and Dakoda Fields recovered to score Oklahoma’s first touchdown and tie up the game.
Oklahoma relied upon stellar defense, the kicking game and turnovers in the second half. Two interceptions of Manning’s passes, one of which Peyton Bowen turned into a “pick six” and another by Courtland Guillory that dashed any Longhorn hopes of winning the game at the end made the difference.
Owen Heinecke lead Oklahoma defenders with nine tackles, including 2.5 tackles for a loss. Bowen and Trystan Haynes (making his first start at cornerback) had seven tackles.
The Oklahoma defense forced seven three-and-outs on Texas possessions, a season high.
Tate Sandell’s game winning field goal
But if you thought the defense won this game by itself, hold on.
Oklahoma scored touchdowns on offense, defense and and the kicking game.
When the Sooners needed it, it came down to two last-minute passes — both on the mark sideline tosses by much maligned QB John Matter — that put Oklahoma in the position to trot out Sandell to boot a 47-yard field goal to win the game 27-24. It was the first time the Sooners had beaten a No. 1 ranked Longhorns team since this rivalry began 122 years ago.
Mateer got the monkey off his back, completing 18 of 26 passes for 155 yards. A first series fumble was recovered by a teammate. After that, his play was absent the turnovers which had plagued his season.
The Sooners even had some success running the ball in the second half. Lloyd Avant finished with 72 yards on 10 carries. His 42-yard burst in the third quarter helped set up that 53-yard three pointer by Sandell.
In the last minute of the game, tied up at 24-all, Guillory’s interception ended Texas’ last chance. The game then fell on the shoulders of Mateer. And he delivered, beginning with a 13-yard completion to Isaiah Sategna for 13 yards along the Texas sideline. Then he threw a 20-yard back shoulder pass to Sategna tip-toeing along the Oklahoma sideline. Both catches were reviewed and upheld by officials.
Sandell then stepped in to close the deal — to win the game in the last three seconds. But not before Texas coach Steve Sarkisian called a time out to “ice” the OU kicker. Sandell had missed a 52-yarder in the first half (the third miss in a row this season).
But, Sandell later told play-by-play announcer Toby Rowland he wasn’t dwelling on that — instead, he spent the time out thinking about his late grandfathers who never missed his games.
“I think about those times when it was much, much simpler. Three points is still three points. Forty-seven yards in high school is still 47 yards in college. It doesn’t really matter how many fans are here. Just get in the zone and do what you do. At the end of the day it’s a kids game. Make it that way,” Sandell said.
And so he did. Making the field goal as the seconds rolled of the clock and the crimson half of the 92,000 in attendance erupted in pandemonium.
Since the start of the 2000 season, Oklahoma is 13-10 in regular season games vs. AP Top 5 opponents. OU’s .565 winning
percentage leads the nation.
It’s always good for the Sooners to win over Texas. But, perhaps more importantly this year, this win delivered the antidote to the malaise Oklahoma fans were experiencing after two early season losses, especially given the daunting SEC schedule ahead.
Now we have to see where the Sooners take it from here.
Oklahoma next plays Kentucky at 6:30 pm in Norman.
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