39 days until Texas Football: During 49-0, Oklahoma passed for only 39 yards
Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on.
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We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best.
Today is 39 days until kickoff. No. 39 for the Longhorns this season will be worn by Ja’Faar Johnson Jr., a sophomore walk-on defensive back, and Hamilton McMartin, a sophomore walk-on wide receiver. We’ll also look at when the Longhorn defense limited the Oklahoma Sooners to 39 passing yards in the 2022 Red River Shootout.
Quarterback issues plagued OU, but the UT defense was ready for the assignment
Heading into the 2022 Red River Shootout, Sooner quarterback Dillon Gabriel‘s status wasn’t quite clear. During Oklahoma’s loss to TCU the week prior, Gabriel suffered a concussion and it wasn’t certain if he’d be ready to go for the rivalry contest.
The 2022 Sooners’ quarterback room didn’t look anything like position groups of old that featured multiple Heisman winners. Behind Gabriel was Pitt transfer Davis Beville, freshman Nick Evers, and JUCO transfer General Booty.
Gabriel suited up for portions of warmups but was ruled out prior to kickoff, meaning Beville was the next man up. But considering his previous status as a backup behind Kenny Pickett, he wasn’t much of a threat to the Texas defense.
That became evident early, as Sooner offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby decided to throw a gameplan centered around a wrinkle at the Longhorns. Rather than utilize Beville’s arm, OU hoped the Wildcat operated by running back Eric Gray would be effective.
Thanks to the efforts of Pete Kwiatkowski‘s defense, it rarely was. Once Oklahoma fell behind, things got even worse. Beville was 6-of-12 for 38 yards with an interception thrown to D’Shawn Jamison on a late first half heave. Gray, who ran the Wildcat along with Jalil Farooq, threw an interception to Jahdae Barron with one of his two passes. OU running back Marcus Major managed to complete a pass. It went for a loss of 2.
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The 39-yard total came to be thanks to punter Michael Turk‘s three-yard completion early in the contest on a fake punt. That drive, however, stalled out a few plays later, a common theme for the Sooner offense against the Longhorn defense last October.
On the other side of the ledger, Quinn Ewers was 21-of-31 for 289 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception his only blemish.
It’s unreasonable to expect the 2023 Sooner offense, especially one that has a healthy Gabriel at the helm, to turn in another 39-yard performance this season versus any opponent. But on that’s all they could manage versus Texas on October 8, 2022 in a dominant performance by the Longhorns that won’t be soon forgotten by UT fans.
Recent player to wear No. 39: Brian Robison
Robison, a member of the Longhorns’ Hall of Honor, lettered four times and helped the Longhorns post 10 wins every year, a 44-8 overall record (28-4 in the Big 12) and three bowl wins that included a pair of historic Rose Bowl victories.
Robison started 36 games in his career, totaling 181 tackles, 42 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. He was named honorable mention All-Big 12 by the Associated Press in 2005, one of three times (2004-06) he garnered that distinction in his career.
Robison garnered All-America recognition in track & field during both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2006. He was a three-time Big 12 champion, winning the 2005 and 2006 shot put titles outdoors and also the 2006 discus crown.
Joe Cook co-authored this article.
