Texas appeared to get away with a penalty late in their win over Oklahoma on Saturday, and Sooners head coach Brent Venables says the SEC admitted to the mistake.
Texas was leading 13-6 early in the fourth quarter of the “Red River Rivalry” at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, when Longhorns cornerback Ryan Niblett returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown. Replays showed that the score, which essentially put the game out of reach, should have been called back.
Niblett was sprung free in part by an illegal block in the back. A Longhorns player shoved an Oklahoma player who looked like he was in position to make the tackle.
There should've been a block in the back penalty on Texas on Niblett's punt return TD 😬😬 pic.twitter.com/dJkX1klGsD
— Im not a fan of your favorite team (@fsh733) October 11, 2025
On Monday, Venables revealed that Oklahoma sent a written objection to the SEC office about the play. He said conference officials agreed that a block in the back should have been called.
Brent Venables said the OU staff sent the usual written objection to the SEC office about the lack of a block-in-the-back call on Texas' 75-yard punt return, and said the SEC office agreed that a penalty should have been called.
— John E. Hoover 🌮 (@johnehoover) October 14, 2025
Mistakes happen, and Oklahoma happens to have benefitted from a huge one that the SEC also admitted to earlier in the year. The missed block in the back was particularly costly, however, as the Sooners would have had a chance to come back had it been called.
Texas won the game mostly on defense, but Arch Manning still made sure to taunt Sooners fans following the biggest win of his college career. Manning was fortunate that his team was on the right end of the officiating mistake.
