The Oklahoma Sooners were dealt a bitter pill on Saturday. The coach on the opposite sideline has their number, and he proved it again in the Cotton Bowl.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is the better coach in the Red River Rivalry with Oklahoma and current head coach Brent Venables. It is now indisputable after Saturday's results.

The Texas Longhorns won the game 23-6, but how they got there was telling. The Longhorns, with what many believed was a lesser team than the Sooners, overcame a 6-3 halftime deficit to win.

Sarkisian hasn't fared well in his career when trailing at half. He was 0-2 in 2025 in that scenario heading into the Oklahoma game. He answered with impressive adjustments and unleashed a second half performance that Texas faithful will remember for a long time.

Texas defeated Oklahoma 20-0 in the second half.

There are a few explanations for why Texas was so dominant, but perhaps the simplest one is that Texas play callers Pete Kwiatkowski and Steve Sarkisian were better than their Oklahoma counterparts, Ben Arbuckle and Brent Venables. It wasn't for lack of talent on the Oklahoma side.

Venables had the pieces to dominate Texas with defense, particularly on the line of scrimmage. The heralded Oklahoma defensive line wreaked havoc in the first half, consistently moving the Texas offense backward. Defensive linemen R Mason Thomas and David Stone starred for the Sooners early. The second half was quiet for the Oklahoma defense.

The Longhorns wrecked the Sooners' front seven with Outside Zone, punishing their over-aggressive defense approach. And while Venables had no answer there, his pass defense struggled to get off the field on third down.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning fared well on third down, helping Texas to a 10-for-17 third down conversion rate. When Oklahoma needed a stop, it was unable to get it. Sarkisian had all the answers and Venables did not.

Sarkisian has struggled to manage games against more experienced coaches like Ohio State's Ryan Day and Georgia's Kirby Smart. Smart and Day have simply been head coaches in more meaningful games. They have more experience in high-stakes matchups. But against Venables, Sarkisian's head coaching experience in both conference titles and College Football Playoff games gave him a decided edge over his opponent.

Texas out-coached its opponent because it out-adjusted them. In the process, the Longhorns made it abundantly clear that Sarkisian has the coaching edge in the rivalry. The Sooners will have to wait another year to rewrite their story against Sarkisian, who moves to 3-1 vs. Oklahoma during the Venables Era.