Dillon Gabriel threw for 285 yards and a touchdown, ran for 113 yards and another score, and led a last-minute touchdown drive to lift No. 12 Oklahoma to a 34-30 win over No. 3 Texas on Saturday in Dallas.
Texas took a 30-27 lead with 1:17 remaining on Bert Auburn’s 47-yard field goal.
Gabriel quickly engineered a drive to set up Oklahoma in Longhorns’ territory. As pressure closed in around him, Gabriel flipped the ball to Nic Anderson in the back of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown with 15 seconds remaining to lift the Sooners (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) into the lead.
Texas made it interesting in the final seconds, as Quinn Ewers launched a pass near the goal line as time ran out but the Sooners’ defense batted it down to preserve the victory.
Texas’ Jonathon Brooks ran for 129 yards and a touchdown, much of it late, and Ewers threw for 346 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions.
Last season, Gabriel missed the game against Texas, and Oklahoma lost 49-0.
The game could be the first of two meetings between the teams, with a matchup December’s Big 12 Championship Game a possibility.
The Longhorns (5-1, 2-1) trailed 27-20 early in the fourth quarter after the Sooners stopped Texas on four consecutive plays near the goal line.
Oklahoma quickly drove into Texas territory, but the drive stalled and Zach Schmit missed a 45-yard field goal to leave the door open.
Brooks capped Texas’ next drive with a 29-yard touchdown run to tie it 27-27 before the defense once again came up with a stop.
Auburn’s field goal put the Longhorns ahead, but then Gabriel went to work.
The game was a wild one from the start, kicked off with an interception by Oklahoma’s Gentry Williams on the second play of the game.
Five plays later, Gabriel ran it in from 9 yards out to get the scoring started.
The Sooners intercepted Ewers again on the Longhorns’ second drive, ending what had been a promising drive.
Texas’ defense then came up big, forcing Oklahoma to punt from their end zone. Kitan Crawford blocked the punt and it bounced off the ground right into the arms of Malik Muhammad for the touchdown.
Texas took its first lead early in the second quarter when Ewers found a wide open Gunnar Helm for a 22-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-1 to put the Longhorns up 14-10.
The Sooners answered right back with a quick touchdown drive to regain the lead.
The teams then traded field goals to end the half, with the Sooners narrowly missing out on a touchdown just before half after Tawee Walker’s drop near the goal line. But Schmit hit a 26-yard field goal to send Oklahoma into halftime with a 20-17 lead.
Oklahoma started the second half with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by Walker’s second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run.
–Field Level Media
