For all of the mystique that surrounds college football’s best rivalry game, the Red River Shootout rarely produces what many would consider instant classics.
Of the last 20 meetings between Oklahoma and Texas, the final margin of victory has fallen within a touchdown just six times. In fact, there have been just as many games in that span where the winning squad has administered beatdowns of 20 points or more.
The games are rarely well-played. I can come up with just as many editions like the 10-7 clunker in 1991 as I can heavyweight showdowns like 2008. Frequently on those October Saturdays, the electricity of more than 90,000 crimson- and burnt orange-clad fans split right down the middle of the Cotton Bowl turns the game into a perverse contest of who makes fewer mistakes.
Yes, Oklahoma and Texas share mutual disdain and begrudging respect. Sure, the setting in the middle of the Texas State Fair is as unique as you’ll find in the sport. Of course, you can get a deep-fried Thanksgiving dinner to accompany your wax cup of lukewarm beer.
All go into making this annual grudge match a singular college football experience. But what really stand out are those times when the drama that seems to constantly surround these teams away from the field bleeds into the action on it.
*Take the story of James Allen, a touted prospect out of tiny Wynnedwood, Oklahoma. As a sophomore running back for OU in 1994, Allen got dropped a yard short of the end zone on the Sooners’ final play of the game. It fit with a college career that never quite lived up to the hype that accompanied his arrival in Norman. Two years later, however, it was Allen who found the end zone in overtime to give one of the worst OU teams in history a stunning upset of the eventual Big 12 champion Longhorns.
*In the early 2000s, Mack Brown and Bob Stoops waged a fierce recruiting battle for Adrian Peterson out of Palestine, Texas, one of the best high school prospects in history. Legend has it that OU’s 2003 blowout of the ‘Horns, which Peterson attended as a guest of UT, helped turned the tide in the Sooners’ favor. As a freshman the next season, Peterson’s first OU-Texas game turned into his coming-out party. The future NFL MVP rumbled for 225 yards on the ground in a 12-0 Sooner win, pouring enough salt in Texas fans’ wounds to fill Big Tex’s hat.
*Or what about just two short seasons ago? Everyone expected the undefeated Sooners to put the final nail in Brown’s coffin. The fact that Case McCoy was taking snaps for UT did little to inspire confidence among Longhorn Nation. Even worse, Brown made national laughingstock Greg Robinson his emergency defensive coordinator after canning Manny Diaz a couple games into the season. Naturally, the ‘Horns demolished OU, 36-20, and gave their embattled head coach one last moment in the Cotton Bowl sun.
This time around, it’s Brown’s replacement who’s feeling the heat.
At 1-4, Charlie Strong has UT off to one of the worst starts in program history. A 43-point shellacking from TCU last week erased whatever signs of life the ‘Horns showed in near upsets of California and Oklahoma State. Texas’ offense and defense are playing equally uninspiring football. Earlier this week, UT’s players put the fractures in their locker room on display for the prying eyes of Twitter.
Sounds like trouble. So if Red River history is any indication, don’t be shocked if Strong ends up walking off the field Saturday with the biggest win of his tenure in Austin.
