No. 1 Texas plays Oklahoma on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Cotton Bowl on ABC, and the injury report released this week is lopsided in a way that matters.
Oklahoma has four players ruled out. Texas has one, plus two doubtful.
Oklahoma’s List Is Long
Out: receiver Trell Harris, who misses his third straight game, cornerback Jacobe Johnson, who left the Georgia game on crutches, running back Xavier Robinson and linebacker Taylor Helm.
Doubtful: left tackle Michael Fasusi, who has not played since Week 1, tight end Trynae Washington and offensive lineman Fred Hinton.
Questionable: linebacker Cole Sullivan, safety Michael Boganowski, receiver Jer’Michael Carter, offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis and tight end Jack Van Dorselaer.
The one piece of good news is linebacker Owen Heinecke, the team’s leading tackler, listed as probable. Oklahoma needs him.
Texas Is in Better Shape
Offensive lineman Jordan Coleman is out and in a boot. Defensive tackle Justus Terry is doubtful and has not played since Week 1. Receiver Kaliq Lockett is doubtful. Tight end Nick Townsend is probable.
That is a manageable list for a No. 1 team. Texas is 4-0 and leads the nation in fewest passing touchdowns allowed, having given up exactly one all season.
One passing touchdown in four games. Against an Oklahoma offense missing its top receiver and possibly its left tackle, that number is the whole game.
Venables Needs This One
Oklahoma is 2-2, with wins over UTEP 51-0 and New Mexico 14-6, and losses at Michigan 17-10 and at Georgia 41-13. Fourteen points against New Mexico is not a résumé line anybody wants to defend.
Brent Venables is 1-3 against Texas since taking the job. John Mateer has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 883 yards and eight touchdowns, which is solid production on a team that cannot protect him or stay healthy around him.
Texas is a 7.5-point favorite with a total of 39.5, and that total tells you what the market expects. Two defenses, limited offense, and a Sooners team playing shorthanded.
Take Texas and the under. Oklahoma can keep this close with defense, but asking a banged-up offensive line to protect against the best pass defense in the country is how 2-2 becomes 2-3.
One more thing worth watching: the Cotton Bowl split-crowd atmosphere does not favor the team with fewer healthy bodies. Oklahoma will need its defense to keep this in the 20s, and that is a tall order against a Texas offense that has not had to play from behind all season.
If the Sooners lose this one, Venables drops to 1-4 against Texas and the questions about his future get considerably louder than they already are.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.