With an 8–1 conference record, the Sooners once again won a share of the Big 12 Championship; however, their loss to the Kansas State Wildcats prevented them from reaching the 2013 Fiesta Bowl spot.
Coming into the game, much of the buildup surrounded the matchup of two top-flight quarterbacks,[7] senior Landry Jones for Oklahoma and Heisman Trophy winner freshman Johnny Manziel for Texas A&M, both of whom ranked in the top-15 nationally in passing yards.
[10] Oklahoma compiled a 10 win, 2 loss record during the regular season and was left out of the BCS for the second consecutive year.
[11] Jones, a senior who was ranked by ESPN as the number five quarterback prospect for the 2013 NFL draft,[12] completed 66% of his 555 passes totaling 4267 yards, which was second-best in the country,[8] and 30 touchdowns.
[13] Jones threw primarily to a trio of upperclassmen wide receivers each of whom ended the season with more than 800 receiving yards, junior Kenny Stills, junior Jalen Saunders, who transferred in the offseason from Fresno State,[14] and senior Justin Brown, who transferred to the Sooners in the offseason amid sanctions from the NCAA in wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.
[26] The Aggies also had two projected first-round draft picks on their offensive line, junior tackles Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews.
[29] Their leading tackler was junior defensive lineman Damontre Moore,[30] who achieved first-team All-SEC accolades during the regular season[31] and declared early to enter the 2013 NFL draft, where he is considered one of the top prospects, and was the second overall pick in Todd McShay's initial mock draft.
[32][33] Texas A&M got the ball to start the game and marched down the field on an 8-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in the first of Manziel's two rushing touchdowns, the first of which went for 23 yards.
Once again, the Sooners stalled in the red zone and were again forced to settle for a field goal, this time a 24-yarder by Michael Hunnicutt.
A trick play to start the drive resulted in senior wide receiver Kenric McNeal throwing a 20-yard pass to Mike Evans.
Oklahoma's next drive lasted 13 plays and 83 yards that culminated in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Justin Brown.
Despite the poor field position, the Aggies put together a 7-play, 91-yard drive highlighted by a 35-yard pass from Manziel to Uzoma Nwachukwu and finished with a 7-yard touchdown run by Malena.
Texas A&M subsequently established a 7-play, 89-yard drive that featured three consecutive completed passes from Manziel to Malcome Kennedy and concluded with a 30-yard rushing touchdown by Trey Williams.