Red alert: Why this Texas-Oklahoma game could be just as chaotic as every other installment

You might think after 119 games, a rivalry loses a bit of steam.

You would be wrong — especially if you're talking about the Red River Rivalry, which will have its 120th installment on Saturday when the top-ranked Longhorns and the 18th-ranked Sooners meet at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

Somehow, after 95 years, the 2024 edition of this rivalry will still feature multiple "firsts," one of which could swing the game one way or the other. How can a rivalry that started more than two decades before the invention of color TV feel fresh nearly a century later? Here's how!

Sooners QB Michael Hawkins Jr will make history on Saturday

When the game kicks off Saturday afternoon, Michael Hawkins Jr. will become the first true freshman QB ever to start the Red River Rivalry for Oklahoma.

A four-star recruit from Dallas, Hawkins Jr. went to high school just 30 miles from the Cotton Bowl, where he will play the biggest game of his life (so far) on Saturday. Hawkins started his first college game ever against Auburn in Week 5, a game that looked like it would end both unceremoniously and painfully for Oklahoma, until the Sooners rattled off 17 points en route to a stunning 27-21 comeback win. Now, after a bye week, Hawkins is thrust into one of the fiercest rivalries in sports.

If you're unfamiliar with Hawkins Jr, he can do things like this:

Hawkins was one of the top-rated duel-threat QB recruits in the country this season, and he's flashed both his arm strength and ability to make things happen on the ground.

Doing that against Auburn and doing it against a Texas defense that has allowed 35 points all season long is a different challenge, however. Texas gives up just 3.75 yards per play, second in the FBS behind Ohio State.

Texas enters the rivalry ranked number one for the first time in a long time

Forty years, to be exact! Texas is ranked number one heading into its game against Oklahoma for the first time since 1984, when they tied — seriously — 15 to 15. The teams combined to go 13-36 passing the ball for 131 yards and the game featured 16 punts. That's real football. That's what we want to see on Saturday.

Texas hasn't been tested yet, as its one ranked win — versus Michigan in Week 2 — doesn't look quite as impressive anymore as Michigan has struggled to its current 4-2 record. Even so, the Longhorns enter Saturday's showdown with Oklahoma as 14.5-point favorites, according to BetMGM.

This is the first SEC edition of the rivalry

The motto of the SEC is "It just means more." Can the Red River Rivalry actually mean any more than it has for the past 95 years? Probably not. These teams thoroughly dislike each other no matter what conference they're playing it. Still, there's some extra juice around this game considering it will be the first edition of the rivalry to be played in the SECanda loss for Texas would plummet them to the middle of the SEC table.

Plus, with this being the first version of the rivalry in a 12-team playoff college football, a one-loss Oklahoma team still feels like there's a route to the playoffs; a treacherous route that includes four top-25 matchups after this weekend, but a route nonetheless. In years past, OU's early-season loss to Tennessee might have booted them from CFP contention, but that's no longer the case.

Texas has two star quarterbacks

Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers appears to be trending towards starting on Saturday against Oklahoma after an abdominal strain caused him to leave the Longhorns game against UTSA on September 14th. If, for some reason, Ewers doesn't end up playing, Texas fans will still feel good about their prospects in the game. How many schools in the country can say that? Not many; because none have Arch Manning waiting in the wings like Texas does.

In his first meaningful playing time, Manning was splendid. He dominated Mississippi State before Texas' bye week, going 26/31 for 325 and two touchdowns, a bounce back after struggling a bit versus ULM, albeit in a game Texas won 51-3.