Rece Davis praises Oklahoma, Dillon Gabriel, says Texas is still the better team

Oklahoma continued its perfect season after escaping past Texas with a 34-30 victory during the 2023 Red River Rivalry.

ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis made an apperance on the Paul Finebaum Show on Monday to discuss his thoughts of the Week 6 slate — and his comments about the Sooners’ victory may raise some eyebrows.

While he praised the Sooners for their hard-fought victory, he’s still high on the Longhorns as the back stretch of the regular season begins.

“So well coached, so ultra-prepared for that game,” Davis told Finebaum. “… They played their tails off. It compels me to say that Texas is the better team and will likely win the rematch — assuming that’s what we get in the [Big 12] Championship game. But Oklahoma acquitted itself beautifully. They played their guts out and Dillon Gabriel was the consummate leader.”

Gabriel combined 398 total yards of Oklahoma’s offense on Saturday and was the team’s leading rusher on the afternoon. He went 4 of 4 passing for 56 yards and threw the game-winning touchdown to Nic Anderson with 15 seconds to go.

“I think Dillon Gabriel can play better than that,” Davis continued. “I have been a big fan of his ever since he was at UCF — but he had an out-of-body experience on Saturday and still was still so productive and sensational on that final drive that they were able to win the game.

“That’s a really good team. I don’t think they are better than Texas, they were just better enough to win the game on Saturday.”

Texas’ undoing can be tied to a number of instances and statistics, but two uncharacteristic interceptions thrown by Longhorns star Quinn Ewers during Texas’ first two drives — which led to only one touchdown — ended up being the difference in the final point score.

He went on to pass for more yards than Gabriel with 346 but two picks and a fumble during Texas’ first drive of the second half allowed Oklahoma the opportunities to keep their offense on the field and ultimately win the rivalry game.

Coincidentely, both teams will be on their bye week for Week 7 for a chance to regroup before diving back into conference action in Week 8 against two new Big 12 foes. Gabriel has a unique task on his hands, as his Sooners are set to face his former team at home. For Texas, they’re hitting the road for a matchup against Houston.