Ten years ago, the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns met at the Cotton Bowl for their annual Red River Shootout. The point total in that game closed at 45.5 and Oklahoma won 28-20 behind two rushing touchdowns from DeMarco Murray.
My how things have changed in a decade.
The very next season, the point total jumped up 10.5 points to 56. OU walloped the Horns 55-17. Offense has reigned supreme ever since and bookmakers have been very hands-on with the point total in this series.[[ad:athena]]
Here are the last 11 Oklahoma-Texas totals in chronological order:
45.5, 56, 56, 57, 45, 59.5, 73, 62, 59.5, 79.5, 77.
Offense, offense and more offense.
And while Overs are just 6-and-5 in those 11 meetings, that’s against the closing number. I remember working in Las Vegas in 2018 when the total hit the betting boards for that year’s Red River meeting. Bookmakers opened it at 54.5 and it got bet all the way up to 59.5 by the weekend.
“You have one team in Oklahoma that doesn’t play a lick of defense,” Stadium college football analyst Michael Felder told NBC Sports. “Their pass defense isn’t working and the run defense hasn’t worked in years. Then you look at Texas. Their defensive issue is not being able to get to the quarterback and not tackling. If you don’t get to the quarterback and you don’t tackle – but you’re blitzing – you’re going to give up massive plays down the field.”
These totals historically climb higher by Saturday. My advice would be that if you like the Over, bet it now. PointsBet Sportsbook is currently dealing O/U 72 and this could hit 74 or 75 by the time we get to kickoff. You think public bettors are going to line up to bet the Under? Yeah right. Over bettors should strike now and Under bettors should definitely wait it out.
Every point matters in the Red River.
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