Not since 1996 has the Red River Rivalry gone into overtime. On Saturday, it went into four overtimes in arguably one of the best games of this series of all time. It was also the highest scoring game between these two teams between Oklahoma football and the Texas Longhorns, as the Sooners won 53-45.
The Oklahoma Sooners needed this win very badly before their bye week. Following two tough losses, the Sooners played their best game this year, and it is not even close.
Oklahoma has been missing key guys all season offensively and defensively but every veteran and young player stepped up to make huge plays and win this incredible game. The Longhorns were predicted to finally get their revenge on a young and depleted Sooners, who rose to the occasion.
Offense comes through
The beginning of the game started out going Oklahoma’s way finishing the first quarter up 10-0. In the second quarter Spencer Rattler got benched after an interception and fumble. Head coach Lincoln Riley said he believed this gave Rattler some time to settle down and see the whole thing. Rattler came back in and threw for over 200 yards and three touchdowns, two of them being in overtime.
With the offense being somewhat young and missing many key players, it played great Saturday. The offensive line had its best game of the season dominating up front giving the Oklahoma quarterbacks time and opening holes for the running backs. Oklahoma only allowed two sacks against the Longhorn defense.
T.J. Pledger and Marcus Major combined for 174 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the only two healthy and active Sooner running backs Saturday. This Oklahoma offense will be extremely dangerous when everyone is healthy. This offense was missing three running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, a defensive end, a defensive tackle and a defensive back. A majority of these players are starters as well and yet, they still beat Texas.
Defense made stops
Now, there is a lot of credit due to defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and this Oklahoma defense. Although Texas scored 45 points, it took it four overtimes to get there. This was a big step for the Sooners defense especially up front and in the secondary. The Sooners recorded six sacks Saturday along with two interceptions. Up front, all three of Oklahoma’s defensive front line played as well as you could against a usually stacked Texas offensive line. In the secondary, young and veteran defensive backs all made extremely huge plays to seal this Sooner win. Jaden Davis, Woodi Washington, Tre Brown and nearly all of OU’s secondary stepped up when it was needed most.
What hurt the Sooners all day was when Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger was forced out of the pocket, he was able to make huge plays on his feet. Ehlinger had a career-high four rushing touchdowns in the Longhorns comeback. When Ehlinger rolled out of the pocket, no one was ever there to stop him from making big plays when the secondary had done so well on coverage.
Nevertheless, that win may have been what this Oklahoma football team needed going forward. With a bye week coming up, this gives the Sooners time to rest and hopefully get some of their starters back before going to Fort Worth and playing Gary Patterson and the TCU Horned Frogs.
Oklahoma football still has a chance to win its sixth straight Big 12 title.
Hi there! My name is John Barry. I am a sports journalist at the University of Oklahoma and will be giving you updates and inside scoops on all things Sooners. Have a question or story? Email me @john.f.barry-1@ou.edu