OU Postgame analysis - Texas

Oklahoma Sooners 20


Texas Longhorns   36




The 108th Red River Rivalry goes to the Texas Longhorns. Texas, a 14 point underdog, beat Oklahoma 36-20 in Dallas. The game was never close.

Texas started the game with a long drive that resulted in a field goal. The Sooners answered but Brennan Clay dropped a potential touchdown and the Sooners settled for a field goal of their own. On the Sooners next drive, Blake Bell threw his first interception of the season and Texas returned it for a touchdown to lead 10-3. The Sooners never recovered.

For the first time this season every aspect of the Sooner game was bad. The offense could never get started. When Bell missed with a pass, he missed bad. When he was on target, the receivers couldn't catch the pass. The running game was good in spots but the lack of an effective passing game and the fact that the Sooners were playing from behind all day made it easier to defend. The OU defense was horrid from the start. Texas was running up the middle like there was no one on the line. When Case McCoy needed a pass completion, he got it.  McCoy found receivers behind the OU defense on several occasions, scoring on one. If he had been a little more accurate, it could have been worse. On special teams, the Sooner kicking game was good as usual. Hunnicutt was perfect again on field goals and PAT's and Barnett averaged 46.3 yards on 6 punts,  but the Longhorns did score on a punt return.

Texas moved the ball at will gaining a total of 445 yards. McCoy had 190 through the air and they gained 255 on the ground. The Sooners only managed a total of 263 yards, 133 passing and 130 rushing. Blake Bell looked like a rookie. He was on the run all game and his passing numbers were horrendous. When Bell ran the ball, he was ineffective. On the other side, Case McCoy looked a lot more like older brother Colt.

The biggest difference on the field was third down conversions. The Sooners couldn't convert, Texas couldn't miss. The biggest difference in the game was emotion. I have often said that emotion is the equalizer in this series. The team that wants the game bad enough, despite records, will often win it. Texas clearly came to play. The Sooners didn't. Texas had nothing to lose. The press and general public had written them and head coach Mack Brown off. Oklahoma might well have been a victim of their own ego and perhaps put to much emphasis on the press. Either way, this was not the same OU team that won their first 5 games, at least not emotionally.

Is Texas better than OU? probably not. Is OU a top ten team? Probably not. The fact of the matter today is that Texas wanted the game more and had something to prove. The Sooners probably believed that they could come in, go through the motions and walk away winners. I stated in the pregame that Texas had talent and could win the game. Well, they do and they did. Texas outplayed Oklahoma on both sides of the ball, and frankly, they out coached the Sooners as well. Josh Heupel and Major Applewhite were 1-1 against each other as players in this series. Today, Applewhite is 1-0 as a coordinator against Heupel.


On a positive note, Bob Stoops is still 9-6 versus Mack and Brown still has a losing record against Oklahoma. This win might save Macks job for another year and that's not a bad thing either. Oklahoma has two seniors starting on defense and they will only get better. The offense couldn't get much worse, and Stoops history says it won't. The other Positive, OU plays KU next week in Lawrence. I wouldn't want to be a Jayhawk right now.