Does the rushing battle determine the Red River Shootout?
One of the storylines that has made the rounds among both fanbases in the days leading up to the Red River Shootout has revolved around the rushing battle. It’s been labeled as a key factor in determining who wins the rivalry matchup between Texas and Oklahoma.
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Inside Texas looks at every game in the Cotton Bowl between Texas and Oklahoma since 2011 to see how much the rushing battle really matters.
2011: Oklahoma 55-17
Rushing battle winner: Oklahoma, 86-36
The rushing battle wasn’t the main determinant in this game, as Oklahoma managed 86 yards and a score on 19 carries. However, OU’s defense made the ground game a no-go for Texas.
Texas rushed 45 times for 36 yards, a number created both by stifling defense and several sacks of Case McCoy and David Ash. Malcolm Brown had 17 carries for 54 yards and Fozzy Whittaker added six totes for 43 yards. Zero total rushing yards between Joe Bergeron and Cody Johnson, plus a 14-yard loss by Jaxon Shipley, made this one of the most lopsided games of a series that featured a number of lopsided results during that timespan.
On the other side, 367 of Oklahoma’s 453 total yards came via the arm of Landry Jones, who was 31-for-50 with three touchdowns. Oklahoma won the battle but didn’t need it in order to win the game.
2012: Oklahoma 63-21
Rushing battle winner: Oklahoma, 343-74
The Bell-dozer Blake Bell had 11 carries for 31 yards with four first-half touchdown runs (three were one yard in length) that made the game 36-2 at the half. Oklahoma had six total touchdowns as part of a 677-yard humiliation of Texas.
Damien Williams led Oklahoma with 22 carries for 167 yards. Daje Johnson was the leading rusher for Texas with four carries for 41 yards. Joe Bergeron had four attempts for one yard.
2013: Texas 36-20
Rushing battle winner: Texas, 255-130
The Longhorns ran the ball 60 times, with Johnathan Gray hitting 123 yards on 29 carries. Malcolm Brown was right behind him, with 23 carries for 120 yards. Texas took it to the Sooner defense, while the Longhorns were able to hold up and then some versus an offense with Bell at quarterback. Bell rushed seven times for -27 yards. No Sooner running back had over 35 yards.
2014: Oklahoma 31-26
Rushing battle winner: Texas, 148-103
One of the two instances in recent years when the winner of the rushing battle didn’t end up winning the game. Texas outgained Oklahoma, but a kick returned for a touchdown and a pick-six, both in favor of the Sooners, flipped the fortunes of the game.
Brown had 19 carries for 78 yards, while Tyrone Swoopes added 11 carries for 50 yards and a score. Texas limited Samaje Perine to 18 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown.
2015: Texas 24-17
Rushing battle winner: Texas, 313-67
One of the most surprising results in the history of the rivalry, the Longhorns bowled over the Sooners in the trenches both ways. Texas completed only nine passes, with two completions scoring touchdowns, on 12 attempts. The other 58 offensive plays were on the ground, tallying 313 yards and a score.
Jerrod Heard had 21 carries for 115 yards. Gray rushed for 76 yards on 22 carries. D’Onta Foreman added 117 yards on nine carries. Swoopes scored the only rushing touchdown for the Longhorns with a three-yard run in the first quarter.
The lone Sooner rushing touchdown came with eight minutes left and made it a one-possession game, but Texas would hold on to win a game it controlled for most of the 60 minutes.
2016: Oklahoma 45-40
Rushing battle winner: Oklahoma, 282-180
Both teams scored multiple touchdowns on the ground, with Baker Mayfield adding one and Perine adding two on a 214-yard day. Foreman scored twice on 25 carries for 159 yards, and Shane Buechele even had some successful scrambles.
By this point, then-offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley had things humming on offense. The Sooners overcame four turnovers by accumulating 672 yards. Mayfield earned his first win in the Cotton Bowl with a 22-for-31 day for 390 yards and three touchdowns over two interceptions.
This game featured six different scoring plays of 20-or-more yards. This would also drop Charlie Strong’s record against Oklahoma to its final 1-2 tally.
2017: Oklahoma 29-24
Rushing battle winner: Oklahoma, 174-139
Each team carried the ball 39 times, but Oklahoma had the benefit of two passing touchdowns and 344 yards from Mayfield while Sam Ehlinger could only manage 278 and one scoring toss through the air.
Ehlinger carried the ball 22 times for 106 yards and a score, taking a hard hit late in the game that rattled his performance. Chris Warren could manage just four yards on six carries but one of those was a one-yard score.
Trey Sermon and Rodney Anderson combined for 30 carries for 144 yards, with Anderson scoring the only touchdown on the ground for the Sooners.
2018: Texas 48-45
Rushing battle winner: Oklahoma, 222-177
The final straw for Riley when it came to former OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops as the Kyler Murray-led Sooner offense posted 532 yards in a furious comeback effort but could not do enough to stop the Longhorns when it mattered most and in spite of winning the rushing battle.
Murray led the Sooners in rushing, with 67 of his 92 yards on a fourth-quarter touchdown that sparked the comeback.
Ehlinger once again carried the load for the Longhorns, with 19 carries for 72 yards and three scores. While the Sooners won the rushing battle, Texas didn’t turn the ball over while the Sooners surrendered possession three times in one of the most exciting Shootouts in recent memory.
2019: Oklahoma 34-27
Rushing battle winner: Oklahoma, 276-100
Ehlinger carried the ball 23 times, but nine Oklahoma sacks gave him minus-nine rushing yards despite two touchdowns. Texas’ rushing total was buoyed by an eight-carry, 95-yard, one-touchdown day by QB-turned-RB Roschon Johnson.
At this juncture in Herman’s tenure, defensive coordinator Todd Orlando was on thin ice and this game went a long way toward making that ice melt. Jalen Hurts had 17 carries for 131 yards and a score, while Kennedy Brooks rushed for 105 yards on 10 rushes. Hurts was also efficient through the air with 235 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-28 passing.
Oklahoma had 511 yards to Texas’ 310, a win for then-Sooner defensive coordinator Alex Grinch over Herman, who would surrender play-calling duties following the 2019 season.
2020: Oklahoma 53-45 (4 OT)
Rushing battle winner: Oklahoma, 208-141
A game that went into four overtimes, featured six total turnovers, and saw Texas mount a 14-point fourth quarter comeback ended in heartbreak for the Longhorns as Oklahoma stopped Texas in quadruple overtime to win a game 53-45 after it ended 31-31 in regulation.
Oklahoma outrushed Texas 208 to 141 but both teams scored on the ground four times. TJ Pledger had 22 carries for 131 yards and two scores for OU, while Marcus Major and Spencer Rattler each added touchdowns on the ground.
Ehlinger scored on the ground four times, accumulating 112 yards on 23 attempts. Johnson, Bijan Robinson, and Keaontay Ingram combined for 11 carries.
Herman’s future became extremely bleak in the aftermath of this loss.
2021: Oklahoma 55-48
Rushing battle winner: Oklahoma 339-128
In a game Texas fans will want to pretend never happened, Oklahoma rushed for 339 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries. Brooks carried the ball 25 times for 217 yards and two scores. Rattler and Caleb Williams each added rushing scores, with Williams scoring on a 66-yard run in the second quarter in Rattler’s stead.
However, the dagger was Brooks’ 33-yard run with 0:03 seconds remaining that put the score at its final tally and saw Sooner fans storm the field after triple zeroes were on the clock.
Robinson ran 20 times for 137 yards and a score, but Xavier Worthy was the star of the show for the Texas offense in the passing game.
2022: Texas 49-0
Rushing battle winner: Texas 296-156
The Sooners’ 156 would be respectable if it weren’t for the fact that it made up most of their 195 total yards of offense. With an extremely limited offense that featured more Wildcat than conventional quarterback play, Texas dominated a team without a rudder.
Equally as dominant was the Texas rushing attack. The Sooners simply could not stop the Horns on the ground, with UT rushing 50 times for 296 yards and three scores. Robinson tallied 130 yards and two touchdowns, while Jonathon Brooks scored during his seven-carry, 39-yard performance.
Where does that leave the ledger? Except for two occasions in the past 12 Red River Shootouts — 2011 and 2018 — the team that won the rushing battle has won the game.
Texas is currently No. 34 in rushing offense at 191.8 yards per game. Oklahoma is at No. 64 in the same metric, averaging 157.6 yards per contest.
And in rushing defense? Texas is No. 17, allowing 94.6 yards per game. Oklahoma isn’t far behind at No. 28, surrendering 105.2 yards a game.
As it has often over the past 12 years, winning the rushing battle on Saturday will go a long way toward determining the victor.
