Oklahoma stuns No. 1 Texas at the gun as Week 6 chaos spreads across the SEC

Oklahoma's offense has struggled all season, but the Sooners still knocked off No. 1 Texas in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday. Tate Sandell made a 47-yard field goal as time ran out at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and the Sooners won 27-24.

USA TODAY Sports columnist Matt Hayes made Oklahoma the centerpiece of his Week 6 column, which argues that college football's week-to-week unpredictability is something the NFL can't match. By his account, the Sooners came into the game with one of the nation's worst offenses by the numbers, an offensive line in disarray and a quarterback, John Mateer, whose confidence was shot. Hayes also wrote that coach Brent Venables was close to making major personnel decisions.

Oklahoma won it with defense and special teams. The Sooners scored on a blocked punt and on an interception return. Another interception stopped a late Texas drive that could have produced points. Yahoo Sports reported that Arch Manning threw two late interceptions. Mateer then made what Hayes called the two biggest throws of Oklahoma's season, both to Isaiah Satenga. Those completions put Sandell in range for the winning kick.

After the game, Venables credited his team's resolve. "Our guys refuse to break," he said, according to USA TODAY.

Why it matters

Texas came in as the top-ranked team in the country, so a loss in its biggest rivalry game shakes up the top of the SEC and the national Playoff race. Oklahoma had been struggling. Now it has the kind of win that can change a season, though the issues Hayes described on offense haven't gone away. The defense and special teams carried the Sooners in Dallas, and that's a hard formula to repeat every week in this league.

Texas wasn't the only conference team to be upset. Hayes pointed to South Carolina, which had lost eight straight SEC games, going into Gainesville and beating Florida decisively. Three weeks ago, Florida looked like a sure Playoff team after routing Ole Miss, and Ole Miss had beaten LSU the week before that. Hayes also noted that Texas A&M coach Mike Elko criticized his own fan base after a loss to Missouri.

The upsets weren't limited to the SEC. UCLA forced six turnovers and won at Oregon with a backup quarterback. Former James Madison tailback Wayne Knight ran for 103 yards and a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass. Hayes cautioned against counting the Bruins as a Playoff team yet. Defending national champion Indiana also nearly lost, rallying with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to win 20-17 at Nebraska.

Hayes summed up the day as one in which every confident prediction can look foolish a week later. For Oklahoma, the coming weeks will show whether its first win over a No. 1 team this season becomes a turning point or stands as one memorable afternoon in a difficult year.