• Stock Up
• Shane Buechele

Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele was thrown into the fire with his first Red River Showdown on Saturday, and he came out of it looking consistent and strong. 

Despite some mistakes, including an interception and a near pick-six that slipped through a defensive back’s hands, Buechele provided much of Texas’ offense and kept his team in the game in the third quarter with three passing touchdowns, including two deep bombs down the field. 

Buechele does need some polishing as he develops, but his showing against the Sooners showed that his role as a pocket passer will help Texas this season and in the future.

• Stock Down
• Defensive line

Texas’ defensive line had an awful game against the Sooners, to the point where it seemed like there was significant regression from the previous games. 

Oklahoma rushed for 282 yards, including 214 by running back Samaje Perine. In addition, the defensive line couldn’t seem to get to quarterback Baker Mayfield, only sacking him once in the game. 

The line’s poor performance in the Red River Showdown was surprising given that they’ve had some success in limiting the yards on the ground in more recent games. 

The defensive line will need to increase pressure and stuff the run in future Big 12 matchups.

• Stock Up
• Dylan Haines

While Texas’ secondary struggled mightily against Oklahoma, Haines stood out in the game when he nabbed the Longhorns’ first interception of the season off of a tipped pass from Sooner quarterback Baker Mayfield. 

Later in the first half, Haines once again intercepted a pass from Mayfield, this time snatching it while wide open and returning it for 38 yards all the way to Oklahoma’s 13-yard line. 

While he hasn’t exactly been a stand out figure in the secondary this season, Haines undoubtedly helped get the monkey off of Texas’ back with his first interception and then provided Texas with excellent field position with his second.

• Stock Down
• Charlie Strong

After the demotion of Vance Bedford, it looked like head coach Charlie Strong taking over the defensive play calling made little difference. Texas’ defense allowed a whopping 672 yards in Dallas, and many of the same problems that plagued the Longhorns in previous games persisted against Oklahoma. 

While the defense certainly wasn’t expected to get exponentially better in a week, Strong’s first week as the makeshift defensive coordinator didn’t inspire confidence about the rest of the season.  

As a head coach, Strong has struggled with playing while trailing the opposition. Strong needs to quickly improve the defense and his play-calling in order to salvage the season.