Mississippi State football hasn’t faced Texas on the field in more than 20 years, but its coach has recent experience against the Longhorns.
First-year Bulldogs coach Jeff Levy spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, playing against Texas both seasons in the annual Red Rivalry Game. And those two games had very different outcomes for Levy and the Sooners.
Here’s how Levy’s offense fared against Texas in his two seasons as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator.
In a battle of undefeated teams, 12th-ranked Oklahoma University earned a last-minute victory over the third-ranked Longhorns, 34-30, putting a damper on the slogan “Texas is back.”
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw a 3-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left, securing the victory for Red River Rivalry. Gabriel, who previously played as a rev at UCF, completed 23 of 38 passes for 285 yards and one touchdown. He also led the Sooners in rushing with 115 yards (8.1 yards per carry) and a touchdown.
Perhaps Gabriel’s most important performance that Mississippi State freshman Michael Van Buren would like to emulate is his zero turnovers.
However, Levy’s first time playing against the Longhorns was not as successful.
Levy’s first game at Red River Rivalry is not the kind of game he would put on his highlight reel. Here are some of the key stats for the Sooners offense on the day:
Total Yards: 195 (156 rushing, 39 passing)
Average yards per play: 3.3
First downs: 11
It wasn’t the ideal offensive performance for Levy in his first season in Norman, Oklahoma, but to his credit, the Sooners’ starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel was injured in the previous game. , could not play.
Still, the 49-0 loss was the most lopsided loss an Oklahoma team has ever suffered against Texas.
The Sooners completed just nine passes for 39 yards and had only two interceptions. They’ve had more success on the ground, but it’s not enough to avoid a shutout against their biggest rivals.
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