Romp. Rout. Shellacking. Drubbing. Whooping.
No matter what superlative you choose to describe Oklahoma’s evisceration of Texas in front of 92,500 fans at the Cotton Bowl Saturday afternoon, the Sooners’ performance speaks for itself: a 63-21 victory over the Longhorns, OU’s third straight win in the series.
“It certainly ranks up there with the 63-14 and 65-13 (games),” coach Bob Stoops said. “It’s in the same ballpark.”
OU held Texas to only two first downs in the first half and kept the Longhorns from scoring an offensive touchdown until 4:43 left in the fourth quarter.
“If we left our [starting] defense out there, I don’t think the end would have been like it was,” Stoops said. “So it would’ve been right there with those (2000 and 2003 games). Those are pretty special ones. And this definitely is right there with them.”
After the 55-17 beatdown the Sooners put on the ‘Horns last season, this year’s game was expected to be much more competitive. But Saturday afternoon, it was much of the same.
“I thought we did a really good job of just coming out ready to play,” senior quarterback Landry Jones said. “I think we were all excited, ready to have fun. And that’s what this thing’s all about: You play loose; you play excited; you play tough.”
OU looked like a team ready to play, dominating the Longhorns on both ends of the football in as lopsided a win as the Sooners have seen in the Cotton Bowl.
“We did a good job of coming out, from start to finish, and controlling the line of scrimmage,” senior defensive end David King said. “You win the game upfront, and if you don’t control that, then you lose the game.”
The play of the game, or at least the one that sparked the Sooners run, came with 4:09 left in the first quarter, as junior running back Damien Williams scored on a 95-yard run.
Williams made two quick cuts, juked out the safety and, with some help from junior receiver Kenny Stills, outran the Texas defense to the sideline for the third-longest run in OU history.
“Well, he’s not in the end zone without (Stills’ block),” Stoops said. “I saw Kenny coming, and I was hoping he’d get there, and sure enough — he’s got great speed — he got there in the nick of time, and that was it. I knew no one was catching him after that. It energizes the team when you can take something to the house like that, 95 yards.”
The Sooners put up a Red River Rivalry record 677 total yards, but the defense’s stout play stole the show. OU allowed 289 yards — 174 came in a garbage-time fourth quarter — and gave up just 74 on the ground, tying a season-high with three turnovers.
“They played very disciplined, and they have been through the year,” Stoops said. “If you take away points that aren’t from the defense, we’re probably leading the league in scoring defense. They’re playing great. We’re playing physical; we’re tackling; we’re not giving up big plays.”