Lincoln Riley: Red River Showdown 'good as I've ever seen'

Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma Sooners survived a true Red River Shootout with the Texas Longhorns. Riley and the Sooners overcame an early deficit of 21 points as they trailed the Longhorns 28-7 in the second quarter to win in thrilling fashion 55-48.

After the game, the Sooners’ headman took to the podium and let out so of his feelings on his team’s victory.

“Oh, man. Epic. That second half run, the energy in that stadium. That’s one of the best things in our sport. I give our crowd credit, our crowd was great. They stayed into even as we started to make the run. I think we both really fed off each other, us off the crowd, the crowd off of us. That’s why it’s the best rivalry in college football. It’s the best setting, it was awesome, man. It was as good as I’ve ever seen,” said Riley.

Sooners saved by a freshman

The Sooners came out flat in the game and needed a spark to jump-start their offense. And they found it in true freshman quarterback  Caleb Williams. He replaced once-Heisman-hopeful Spencer Rattler after Rattler fumbled late in the second quarter. Williams who scored the Sooners’ first touchdown on a 66-yard scamper to convert a fourth down, lead the team to a 38-20 deficit at the half.

In the second half behind the freshman quarterback and running back Kennedy Brooks Oklahoma outscored Texas 35-10. Brooks had a monster of a game on the ground. The junior from Mansfield, Tx rushed for 217 yards on 25 carries. Brooks averaged 8.7 yards per carry and added two touchdowns. This was his first 100-yard performance of the season.

Williams went 16-25 for 212 yards through the air and two passing touchdowns. He also added in 88 yards on the ground and one touchdown. Most of that was on the aforementioned 66-yard touchdown run in the first half.

For Rattler, it was another game to forget. He was 8-15 on the game with 111 yards passing. And on the ground, he was credited with five carries for negative nine yards, and one touchdown. But worst of all for the sophomore is that he is responsible for both Oklahoma turnovers on the game.

Riley and the Sooners just delivered an all-time great come from behind victory in this rivalry. But as epic as this victory is, they will have to set their focus on continuing to run the table in the Big12 and securing a spot in the College Football Playoffs in January.