Chris Williams Analyzes OU's Struggles In Red River Rivalry & OSU's Prep For Tough BYU Matchup

Oklahoma State is heading out of a bye week while the Sooners choked in the Red River Rivalry over the weekend.

Chris Williams joined News 9 at 9 to discuss the college football weekend, highlighting the challenging performance by the University of Oklahoma against Texas.

The Longhorns beat OU 34-3 in coach Brent Venables' third rivalry game leading the Sooners.

Despite the disappointing outcome for Oklahoma, Williams said the atmosphere at the Cotton Bowl is still unbelievable.

“It is so cool every year,” Williams said. "You remember it, and then you go back, and it blows your mind again."

He said that by the end of the game, the packed crowd turned critical, with both sides directing harsh words at OU.

Williams said Michael Hawkins Jr. faced significant challenges as the first true freshman quarterback to start the game.

Williams described Hawkins as having “happy feet,” struggling to remain in the pocket and frequently holding onto the ball too long, leading to turnovers and losses.

“It was a very rough game for Michael Hawkins, and he was supposed to be the fix,” he said.

Williams criticized the coaching staff for their handling of the quarterbacks, recalling how they benched Jackson Arnold after a poor performance against Tennessee.

“Now they're in a situation where they have two young quarterbacks who both need development, Williams said. "Jackson Arnold already has a year on campus practicing, and frankly, he has a much higher upside than Michael Hawkins Jr.”

Williams said the quarterback situation is a disaster and could have long-term ramifications.

"Do they have too much pride to go back and give him another chance and pull him out from under the bus that they happily threw him under, dust him off and give him another chance?"

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State is preparing for a challenging matchup against BYU, with potential changes at quarterback as Alan Bowman has struggled in recent games.

Williams said that Provo, Utah, is a difficult environment in college football and BYU's team will be hard to beat.

“This is gonna be a tough task for the Cowboys, no doubt,” he said. "They reset last year with the bye, and it really helped their season. So hopefully, they can do that again this year."

As both teams navigate quarterback dilemmas, Williams said upcoming games will be critical for their seasons.