To be blunt, UT is better

By Jenni Carlson

Published: October 6, 2006

Oklahoma-Texas is a no-holds-barred, no-punches-pulled sort of rivalry.

In keeping with that spirit, here’s a blunt prediction.

Texas is a touchdown and a half better than OU.

Not exactly music to the ears of Sooner fans, but the Longhorns will be the superior squad Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl. That’s not to say the Sooners are sorry — in fact, they’re better than yours truly imagined they’d be after losing Rhett Bomar — but these Longhorns are just that stout.

Texas might be the best team in the 49 states that doesn’t start and end with ‘O.’

So, Ohio State manhandled Texas a few weeks back in Austin. There’s a reason for that. The Buckeyes are the best team in all the land, and there’s no one else who even compares right now. They stand alone on the top tier.

Everyone else is second-tier at best.

In a group that includes Southern Cal, Auburn, West Virginia, Florida and Michigan, Texas is as good as any.

The Longhorns hung with the Buckeyes for nearly a half, which looks all the more difficult after Ohio State’s throttling of Iowa last week. If not for a late first-half touchdown that knocked the life right out of everyone in burnt orange — remember, the score was on a reserve filling in for suspended starter Tarell Brown — Texas just might have beat Ohio State.

No way Texas is as good as it was a year ago. That, though, was a team for the ages.

This is still a stout squad.

“You look at us, on paper ... we’re probably the better team,” Texas defensive end Brian Robison told reporters in Austin earlier this week.

Yet the Longhorns don’t have the best player in the game. No one in burnt orange is as good as Adrian Peterson. Then again, no one in college football is as good.

Have you seen some of the holes Peterson has run through?

No? That’s because some have been invisible to the naked eye. Peterson is finding a way when there is none, and he is running over defenders, pummeling and punishing as he goes.

Heck, the Sooners even have the best quarterback in the game, too. Paul Thompson was supposed to be the caretaker, the stop-gap after Rhett Bomar’s dismissal. Instead, Thompson has been as good as any quarterback in the conference. Go figure. Always good to head south of the Red River with the best player and the better quarterback, but those advantages are not enough to overcome the ones the Longhorns have. Everywhere else, they are equal or superior to the Sooners. OU receivers vs. UT defensive backs: even.

OU offensive line vs. UT defensive line: edge to Texas.

UT receivers vs. OU defensive backs: edge to Texas.

UT offensive line vs. OU defensive line: edge to Texas.

The most glaring advantages for the Longhorns are the least sexy. Talk about the offensive and defensive lines, and you’ll put most people to sleep. But the fact is, Texas has serious talent up front. Three on offense and three on defense return from lines that were as good as any in the country a year ago.

It’s not crazy to say every one of Texas’ starting linemen will play in the NFL eventually.

That will create problems for OU. The Sooners have an offensive line that is still developing and a defensive line that has struggled, which has reduced the plays linebackers have made and put more pressure on an already shaky secondary.

Listen, I understand that Vince Young no longer wears orange. But to think this team is like Texas B.V. — Before Vince — is to underestimate the impact of last season.

Winning a national championship creates a surge of confidence, a well of experience that can be drawn on in big games.

So, what will happen Saturday? Even Robison, who proclaimed the Longhorns the better team, was quick to point out this rivalry breeds the unexpected.

“Anything can happen,” Sooner linebacker Rufus Alexander acknowledged.

“You have the blowouts. You have the shutouts. You have the second-half comebacks.”

Another blunt prediction: None of that will happen this year. Texas 31-21.

Jenni Carlson: 475-4125, jcarlson@oklahoman.com