Red River Revival

DALLAS — Texas and Charlie Strong needed a big win in the worst way.

Mission accomplished.

Behind the legs of Jerrod Heard and D’Onta Foreman, and backed by a defense that was determined to bend and not break, the Texas Longhorns upset No. 10 Oklahoma, 24-17, in the annual Red River Shootout at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Saturday.

Texas (2-4, 1-2) was focused all week on running the football down OU’s throats and proving all the critics wrong. And it worked.

The Horns out-rushed their neighbors to the north, 313-67, as Foreman went back-to-back with 100-yard rushing games for the first time since Malcolm Brown in 2013. Foreman and Heard combined for 245 yards, none bigger than Foreman’s 81-yard scamper on a sprint draw right before the end of the 3rd quarter.

“I talked to the Governor before the game,” Strong said,” and told him that we were going to play well and that he would be proud of us. This today was the University of Texas. I told the team that they did it and now this is what we expect.”

Heard says all it took was getting mad.

“We were pissed off for greatness,” said Heard. “Being such an angry team really got us focused. We had no choice. We knew we had to win. Now, we just want to keep that momentum. We practiced it more this week (rushing plays and the Swoopes packages). We actually added extra periods for those packages. So that everything really clicked and for everyone to know their assignments and roles, that was a big win for us. The short yardage was big. We needed those extra yards.”

Texas play-caller Jay Norvell found the perfect running balance today. And it showed.

“We wanted to get our quarterback on the perimeter,” said Norvell. “We had several perimeter runs for Jerrod, and the sprint draw was a perfect compliment for that. We could get the defense running with the threat of Heard on the sprint. Then hand it off (to Foreman). Offensive football is about complimenting. We did a good job of that today.”

After last week’s horrific 1st quarter in Fort Worth – down 30-0 to TCU – the Longhorns flipped the script and jumped on OU early. Heard found Marcus Johnson on a toss, who then took it 24 yards to pay dirt and gave Texas the 7-0 advantage, midway through the first.

“This was huge,” said Johnson. “This should be the standard of how we play offense and defense. I feel like we can go back and watch film, we can learn from this and understand this is how we should play, week in and week out. I was in the training room during coach Strong’s press conference on Monday. Somebody asked Strong, ‘will you get a third year’. When I heard that, it hurt me. I don’t know how many teammates saw that, but it really made me want to go out there and practice harder. (Strong) works so hard for us. The whole staff works so hard, so we can’t let those guys down. We really went out and played with heart today. And it showed.”

On the ensuing kickoff, freshman DeShon Elliott forced an Alex Ross fumble, which was recovered by fellow frosh, Kirk Johnson. Six plays later, Tyrone Swoopes belldozed his way into the end zone for a 14-0 margin at the 5:37 mark. Swoopes actually fumbled on the play, but it was picked up by freshman WR Lorenzo Joe. Either way, Texas had the lead and all the momentum in the 1st half.

OU answered with a 12-play, 67-yard drive culminated by an Austin Seibert 21-yard field goal. It put the Sooners on the board, but even better was the goal line stand by the UT defense after Oklahoma had a 1st-and-goal from the 3. Holding the Sooners to a field goal was a small victory.

The Texas defense was the story of the opening half. They netted four tackles for loss and four sacks, harassing Mayfield at every turn. Strong and Vance Bedford dialed up blitz after blitz to an undermanned Sooners offensive line. The Horns outrushed OU, 138-40 in the 1st half.

Texas took the opening kick of the 2nd half and drove 75 yards on 15 plays, culminating in a Nick Rose 27-yard field goal. It gave UT the 17-3 lead midway through the third and every ounce of energy and momentum.

Then OU answered.

Mayfield led a 11-play drive, then hit Dimitri Flowers on a 3rd-and-goal from the 3 for the Sooners first touchdown of the day. It brought OU back within a possession, 17-10.

Then D’Onta happened.

On a 2nd down from their own 7, sophomore running back D’Onta Foreman took a sprint draw 81 yards down to the OU 10. It ended the 3rd period and ushered in a 4th quarter that Longhorn fans had wanted for years. After Heard carried it down to the 2, Swoopes hit TE Caleb Bluiett for the TD toss, Bluiett’s first career score. Not bad for a guy playing DE less than a month ago. Then the burnt orange section of Fair Park exploded. UT took the 24-10 lead, with 13:52 left in the final stanza.

Then OU answered again.

Samaje Perine plunged in from 1-yard out, and got OU back within a TD, 24-17, at the 8:00 minute mark. Plucky Sooners signal-caller Mayfield converted three 1st downs on the drive with 3rd down scrambles.

But when Texas needed to drain the clock, they went back to its bread and butter; running the dang ball.

Texas played without starters Kent Perkins and Daje Johnson. They also lost Hassan Ridgeway early in the 4th. But behind Paul Boyette, Poona Ford, and Chris Nelson, the defensive front stood up to the challenge. Strong was high-fiving Texas beat writers as he walked into the press conference. I can’t remember seeing Strong so happy.

“You’ve just got to pound ’em, pound ’em,” said Strong. “Believe in yourself. Believe in yourself. You’re good enough. And they have to hear that. And eventually, if they hear it enough, it’ll start to get to them. Today was one of those days.”