Red River Shootout
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The Red River Shootout or, more recently, the Red River Rivalry, is a common name for the annual college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Texas Longhorns. The series is considered one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.[1] The name is derived from the Red River that forms part of the boundary between the U.S. states of Oklahoma and Texas. The game originated in 1900, while Oklahoma was still a United States territory.[2] Until the 2005 meeting, the 100th meeting between the schools, the game was called the Red River Shootout. In 2005 it was sponsored by SBC Communications, and the game was officially renamed the SBC Red River Rivalry. Since 2006, with SBC's renaming as AT&T, the game is referred to as the AT&T Red River Rivalry. The term Red River Shootout or Red River Rivalry is also sometimes applied to meetings between the two schools in sports other than football.
The game typically has conference or even national significance. Since 1945, one or both of the two teams has been ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation coming into 60 out of 65 games. Texas leads the all-time series 57-39-5, with a 45-35-4 edge in Dallas, and currently has a two-year win streak. Four of the last six showings featured one of the participants in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game (2000, 2003-2005), including national titles won by Oklahoma in 2000 and by Texas in 2005. Four times during 2000-2004, a loss to Oklahoma was what kept Texas from playing in the Big 12 Championship Game.[1] In 2005, the Dallas Morning News did an opinion poll of the 119 Division 1A football coaches as to the nations top rivalry game in college football. The Texas-OU game was ranked third.[3]
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[edit] Atmosphere
There are three Red River Shootout trophies exchanged based on the outcome of the game. The best known of these is the Golden Hat, which is, appropriately, a gold ten-gallon hat, formerly of bronze. The trophy is kept by the winning school's athletic department until the next year.[4] A newer trophy, the Red River Rivalry trophy, has been exchanged between the two student governments since 2003. The governors of Texas and Oklahoma also exchange the Governors' trophy and often place a bet on the game such as the losing governor having to present a side of beef to the winning state governor, who then typically donate the winnings to charity.
Another annual tradition is the running of game balls by the schools' Reserve Officer Training Corps programs.[5] Each school's ROTC program uses a relay running system to run one game ball all the way from their respective campus to Dallas. Once there, they participate against each other in a football scrimmage, with the winner taking home a rivalry trophy and bragging rights.[5]
OU fans generally refer to the game as 'OU-Texas';[6][7] conversely, Texas fans refer to the game as 'Texas-OU'.[8][9][10]
The Red River Rivalry has given rise to a great deal of negative stereotyping on the part of both fanbases: Texans often portray Sooners as country yokels envious of the state of Texas while Oklahomans portray Longhorns as fake, self-glorifying pretend cowboys. [original research?] For both teams, the rivalry is bitterly emotional and territorial in nature, relating to the two states' close proximity, past border disputes and economic and cultural differences. Also, due to the fact that many players on the Oklahoma football team are from the state of Texas, Texans refer to OU as "The University of Texas at Norman."[11][12][13]
[edit] Venue
The series began in 1900 and has been played in Dallas since 1912. Dallas was chosen as a "neutral" site since it is situated approximately halfway between Austin, Texas and Norman, Oklahoma — the locations of UT and OU, respectively. This also provides both teams an opportunity to showcase themselves for Dallas based alumni and potential high-school recruits of both teams.
Since 1929 the game has been held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, typically in mid-October during the State Fair of Texas. The designated "home" team alternates from year to year, and ticket sales for the game are split 50-50 between the two schools, with the stadium divided along the 50 yard line. Historically, the Oklahoma fans have occupied the south end zone, which contains the tunnel where both teams enter and exit the field. Beginning in 2007, the teams will alternate North and South ends of the field, thereby giving the home team fans the seats adjacent to the tunnel leading to both teams' locker rooms.[14]
Officials at both universities had indicated that soon the game may be rotated between each campus because they prefer a venue with more seats, which would mean more revenue — the Cotton Bowl seats about 79,000; the Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium seats 85,123 [15] and will soon be expanded further, and the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium also holds approximately 85,000. Additionally, the Cotton Bowl has no luxury suites, is cramped, has narrow seats and its plumbing can be faulty.
To ensure that the game — which produces about $17 million annually for local businesses — stays in Dallas, Dallas mayor Laura Miller has said she would support a bond referendum to pay for more expansion and renovation at the Cotton Bowl. Additionally, the governing board of the State Fair has engaged a consultant to prepare plans for a complete renovation.
In October 2006, the schools agreed to keep the game at the Cotton Bowl through 2010. The future of the game past 2010 could result in the game being moved to Arlington, Texas, as part of the new stadium being built for the Dallas Cowboys, which is also the new site for the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.
[edit] Meetings
[edit] Game results
Rankings based on the Associated Press Poll released prior to the game.
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[edit] Notable games
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[edit] 1900
The first meeting between Texas and Oklahoma's football teams occurred in 1900, before either team had acquired their current nickname. At that time, the Texas team was typically called "Varsity". The write-up in the Austin American-Statesman article referred to the game as a "practice game".[16] The paper reported:
The game of football yesterday afternoon at the Varsity athletic field was an interesting contrast, notwithstanding the rather one-sided score of 28-2 in favor of the Varsity.
The Oklahoma men played a very good game, but they had weak points and the Varsity men found this out, and proceeded to take advantage of them. For instance, the visitors' tackles and ends were weak, and the Varsity men made most of their gains through these men. Their guards and center, though, were stiff enough, and the Varsity's attack at these points never netted large gains, and were frequently futile.
While Oklahoma should be given credit for the stiffness of her center trio, the fact that the Varsity backs made but small headway at these points is partly due to the Varsity backs themselves. They had not the life and dash that is necessary to successful line plunging, and they failed to heed Coach Thompson's oft repeated admonition to hit the line low and with speed, and the consequence was that when they got to the line they did not have the necessary momentum to plunge on through.
This was the case, notwithstanding the fact that the men are coached to play a good distance behind the line, so that they can get up speed by the time they reach it.[16]
[edit] 1994
Texas 17 - Oklahoma 10
Stoney Clark Stops James Allen at the 1
[edit] 1995
Oklahoma 24 - Texas 24
Nobody Wins
[edit] 1996
Oklahoma 30 - Texas 27
Oklahoma Wins in Overtime
One of only two Sooner Red River wins in the 1990s, the 1996 game featured a John Blake squad under the direction of freshman quarterback Justin Fuente. The game saw an amazing come from behind victory in the final seven minutes. Jarrail Jackson returned a punt 51 yards for a Touchdown, then Fuente completed a 2-point conversion pass to Stephen Alexander to cut the lead to 24-21. The Sooners forced the Longhorns to punt, and drove to the Texas 28. Jeremy Alexander kicked a 44-yard field goal to tie the game at 24.[17]
In overtime, Texas was forced to settle for a 43-yard Phil Dawson field goal, after losing 1 yard on three plays.[17] Lining up at the Texas 25, James Allen broke a ten-yard run, carried for two and three yards, then caught an 8-yard screen pass from Fuente on 3rd and 5 from the 10. On the next play, Allen took a pitch from Fuente two yards into the endzone, doing what he was unable to do two years before, and ending an 8-year Sooner losing streak in the series.[17]
[edit] 2000
Oklahoma 63 - Texas 14
Griffin Sets Oklahoma Record for TDs in a Game
The 2000 game was marked by rain and 49-degree weather, but it ended up being noted for bringing the most lopsided margin of victory in the history of the match-up. Oklahoma came into the game ranked 10th, with Texas ranked 11th. This was the highest combined rankings of the teams since 1984.[18] The Sooners got up to a 42 point lead before Texas was able to prevent the shut-out, and Oklahoma won the game 63-14. OU also held Texas to minus-7 yards rushing, an all-time regular-season low for the Longhorns.
Longhorn coach Mack Brown said "It wasn't even a game because we did not play in the first half."[18] Sooner coach Bob Stoops said, "This was a total team victory, everybody made plays. ...We had a little bit of everything." Stoops improved his record vs the Longhorns to 1 win, 1 loss as a result of the game.[18]
Sooner running back Quentin Griffin scored six touchdowns, an all-time Oklahoma record for rushing touchdowns in a game. Oklahoma went on to win the National Championship.
[edit] 2001
Oklahoma 14 - Texas 3
Roy Williams and The Play
The 2001 game was a classic defensive struggle that will be forever remembered for one incredible play late in the 4th quarter.
Both the Sooners' and the Longhorns' defenses were outstanding, holding their counterparts to less than 100 yards rushing for the entire game. When either offense could muster any momentum, they were often let down by their kicker-OU's Tim Duncan missed two field goals and UT's Dusty Mangum had one blocked.
OU led 7-3 at the half on a Quentin Griffin 2-yard touchdown in the second quarter. That score held until late in the fourth quarter.
The Sooners got the ball with just over eight minutes to play on their own 20-yard line, and put together a 12-play, 53-yard drive that took them all the way to the Texas 27-yard line. Facing a 4th & 16, OU sent out Tim Duncan for what appeared to be a 44-yard FG attempt. Instead, Duncan sent a pooch punt deep into the Texas zone, which caught UT's Nathan Vasher off guard. Confused, Vasher caught the ball at his own 3-yard line and was immediately downed.
Down 7-3, Texas had 2:06 to drive 97 yards on the stiff Sooner defense. On first down, Texas quarterback Chris Simms' pass was deflected by OU safety Roy Williams, who had blitzed and literally lept over a blocker to collide with Simms at the moment he released the ball. The ball landed right in OU linebacker Teddy Lehman's hands, who walked into the endzone for a touchdown. The play happened so fast, many fans did not know exactly what had happened. Duncan's extra point sealed the 14-3 OU victory.
[edit] 2003
Oklahoma 65 - Texas 13
Oklahoma Sets new Record for Margin of Victory
[edit] 2004
Oklahoma 12 - Texas 0
Red River Shutout
[edit] 2005
Texas 45 - Oklahoma 12
Texas Crushes Oklahoma to Break 5-year Skid
The 2005 game was the 100th meeting in the series and a special logo (right) was created to commemorate the event. The game logo included both team logos as well as the logo of the sponsor for that game, SBC communications, as well as the number 100. Prior to the game, the Longhorns were ranked 2nd by the Associated Press, and the Sooners were unranked for the first time since 1999, which was also Texas's last victory over OU.
By breaking the string of five consecutive losses to Oklahoma, Longhorn coach Mack Brown preserved the Longhorns's National Championship hopes. With the win, Texas tied its largest margin of victory in the series. Freshman running back Jamaal Charles set a record for rushing yards by a Texas freshman in the series. With his 80-yard scamper, Charles also had the longest touchdown from scrimmage by a Texas running back in the series.
As had occurred the two seasons prior, the road to the National Championship game went through Dallas. Oklahoma left the game with a 1-1 conference record and a 2-3 record overall, finishing with a 6-2 conference and 8-4 overall record, including a victory in the Holiday Bowl. The Longhorns improved to 5-0 overall, 2-0 in the Big 12 on their way to an 8-0 conference, 13-0 overall record, including a victory in the Rose Bowl and the 2005 football National Championship. (See also 2005 Texas Longhorn football team.)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Smith, Erick. "Full plate of Big 12, SEC showdowns worth feasting on", USA Today, October 5, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
- ^ Column: Rivalries spark college football. The News Record. University of Cincinnati. Retrieved on 2006-06-15.
- ^ Davis, Brian. "UT-OU : Best Rivalry?", Dallas Morning News, 2005-10-07. Retrieved on 2006-07-11.
- ^ To the victor goes the trophy - OU and Texas will vie for the right to take the trophy home. OUDaily.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-15.
- ^ a b Furman, Evan. "ROTC members run game ball to Dallas for OU matchup", The Daily Texan, 6 October 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
- ^ OU-Texas Football Series on SoonerStats.com. SoonerStats.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. (See title of web page).
- ^ OU-Texas Student Tickets Sold Out. SoonerSports.com (2006-09-12). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. “The Oklahoma Athletics Department announced that student football tickets for the OU-Texas game sold out on Tuesday.” (emphasis added)
- ^ O'Keeffe, Kevin (2006-10-01). Royal: Texas-OU “about as good as you can get”. TexasSports.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. (Note title.)
- ^ Riggs, Randy (2007-02-28). Cotton Bowl moves; what about Texas-OU?: School officials say bowl game's decision won't affect future for Longhorns, Sooners — at least for now. (registration required). Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. (Note title.)
- ^ Yoram Globus, Menahem Golan (Producer), & Tobe Hooper (Director). (1986-08-22) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 [film]. Cannon Film Distributors. One part of the film’s plot involves several drunken UT students traveling to Dallas for Texas-OU.
- ^ Mike (2006-07-15). How they'll finish in the Big 12 South: 1. A&M 2. Oklahoma 3. Texas (comment on blog entry of Richard Justice). SportsJustice. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. “The only thing I disagree with you on in the standings is that the University of Texas at Norman will be 1st in the Big 12 South and A&M will be second.” (emphasis added)
- ^ Stuckinok (2006-07-31). Texas Tech sticks it to the Sooners again (comment on blog entry of Brian). Bevo Sports. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. “Over the course of this last decent run that OU has made, their roster has been over 60% Texas and California players. If they aren’t careful, OU will have to change it’s name to University of Texas at Norman!” (emphasis added)
- ^ Pat (2004-10-02). The Texas-Oklahoma Game (comment on blog entry by bloggard). The Adventures of Bloggard. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. “It is the University of Texas at Norman. Take away the Texas boys and you have nothing.” (emphasis added)
- ^ "Notebook: Reversal of fortunes", Austin American Statesman, 8 October 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.
- ^ Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. MackBrown-TexasFootball.com. University of Texas Athletic Department. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
- ^ a b "Texas 28, Oklahoma 2", Austin American-Statesman, 1900.
- ^ a b c Nichols, Bill. "Sooners win later - OU ends Red River drought in OT", Dallas Morning News, 1996-10-13. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
- ^ a b c Whitmire, Keith. "Crimson cream - Oklahoma scores early, often in rout", Dallas Morning News, 2000-10-8. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.
[edit] Other sources
| Rivalries of the Big 12 Conference |
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| Battle of the Brazos (Baylor - Texas A&M) • Bedlam Series (Oklahoma - Oklahoma State) • Border Showdown (Kansas - Missouri) • Lone Star Showdown (Texas - Texas A&M) • Red River Rivalry (Oklahoma - Texas) • Sunflower Showdown (Kansas - Kansas State) |
