The Reheat: Texas builds up to a dominant finish in Red River

We needed to exhale. It was as if the entire Texas contingent inside the Cotton Bowl had decided to hold their breath for the entire first quarter of yesterday’s Red River.

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As for me, I’m not sure I ever went through a full doomsday scenario thinking we were going to lose, but superstition ran wild inside my mind. I tightened my belt and watch, loosened my hat. I wondered if there had been a full crimson moon the night before. Had I ignored some warning signs of a Sooner uprising? I saw a guy before the game whom I’d seen before last year’s loss—was he the proverbial black cat of Texas/OU? Maybe I’ll have him killed. My daughter getting sick on Friday morning meant my wife (the real MVP of our family) couldn’t go, but in all her awesomeness, she told me to make the drive up on Saturday morning.

I took my mom (class of ‘73) to her first Red River since 1976. Insanity, in the form of fanaticism, is hereditary; I don’t think she breathed the entire first quarter.* The only time she spoke was after the Sooners took a 3-0 lead. She acted as if the three-point deficit in football was as insurmountable as a three-goal lead in the kind of football they play across the pond, saying she was the jinx and had ruined everything. Even after the game, as I partook in a celebratory smoked turkey leg, she still didn’t have an appetite. The held breath of the first quarter had stolen it from her.

The similarities to the 2023 game were eerie at first, from Quinn Ewers being sacked by a Sooner on the opening play to him sailing a ball that led to an interception on the first drive. On the second drive, Ewers had Isaiah Bond for an easy touchdown on a deep slant in the middle of the field, but Bond tripped while Ewers’ pass skidded on the grass—a cluster as big as trying to buy a warm Dasani from a stadium concession stand. I wrote last week that an Oklahoma upset would require a performance from Ewers as rusty as the Titanic decaying on the ocean floor, and that’s what it looked like we were going to get.

The reason I never went full doomsday was because of the Texas defense. Unlike last year, the Longhorns stifled the Oklahoma offense at every turn. Michael Taaffe’s early sack of Michael Hawkins woke the crowd up, showing that Brent Venables’ team was going to have to toil for every inch all day. The few openings the Sooners had, they didn’t take advantage of. Texas had no first downs, but for it to be just 3-0 after the first quarter—given the way Texas had played—seemed to signal to Oklahoma and their fans that it was going to be a day without much “Boomer Sooner” being played. Still, the Longhorn side held its breath.

Then finally, an exhale.

Ewers rolled out to the right and found DeAndre Moore Jr. on the sideline for a big gain.

DEANDRE MOORE WHAT A CATCH🔥

🎥: ABC pic.twitter.com/MFXaKXV7QM

— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) October 12, 2024

The entire Texas body in the stands let out the air that seemed to be suffocating us in the first quarter, and the onslaught was on. It might not have been the play of the game, but it allowed the game to play out as it did. Ewers went wild; a Gunner Helm hurdle and flip followed, and then the two connected on a short touchdown. Exhale, breathe. It’s Red River; I’m reminded of when Gregg Popovich once told the Spurs in the NBA Finals: “It’s the Finals, it’s supposed to be hard!”

The plays of the game came later in the second quarter in quick succession. First, Silas Bolden out-hustled the God-fearing and lollygagging Danny Stutsman to jump on a fumble in the end zone. Second, Anthony Hill did a Derrick Johnson impression to force a fumble on Hawkins and give the ball back to Texas. Third, Quintrevion Wisner did his best Bijan Robinson impression, rumbling to the corner of the end zone. In a flash, it was all but guaranteed The Golden Hat would be returning to Austin, and Texas wouldn’t be on the other end of an improbable upset like the ones they’ve delivered to Oklahoma in the past.

Ewers’ legacy was cemented with his second Red River win in three years. Texas has now rewritten the narrative against Oklahoma in the first season of their cohabitation in the SEC and the Longhorns and Steve Sarkisian have two blowout victories over the Sooners in three years, where the Longhorns haven’t allowed Oklahoma into the end zone in either of those wins. As for me, I’m liking Venables’ extension until 2029. It’s as satisfying as the postgame Lemonade Shakeup at The Fair after hydrating off lukewarm Michelob Ultras for four hours. As for my mom, she went from jinx to good luck charm.

But it was all thanks to that exhale.

Fire The Cannon for: Silas Bolden. The sprint to jump on Wisner’s fumble in the end zone and score was legendary. It was the type of moment we will remember forever in Red River. Those are the types of plays that have gone against the Longhorns many times inside the Cotton Bowl. Not yesterday. It was a winning play, reminiscent of Jordan Whittington chasing down the TCU defender last year to force a fumble after a Ewers interception. As Sark has said, “culture” isn’t something you put on a t-shirt (sorry, Chris Beard); it’s plays like that.

Horns Up on Offense for: Quintrevion Wisner—118 yards and a touchdown. But it does come at somewhat of a cost as I’m officially worried about Jaydon Blue, who seemed to be running not to fumble yesterday on every carry except a swing pass he took inside the ten. What did Wisner do after fumbling? He ran harder. He’s the type of Roschon Johnson starter kit (but with even harder cuts) who grinds defenses down as games go on. Sark might have found his bell-cow running back for the meat of SEC play.

Horns Up on Defense for: Anthony Hill Jr.

Ship Stutsman’s shirts from last year off to a third-world country where they’d be useful. Hill responded to Stutsman’s t-shirts after the game yesterday when he said, “Texas fears no one.” Hill was fearless yesterday with 11 tackles, 2 sacks, 3.5 TFLs, and the forced fumble that opened the floodgates.

Bevo’s Bucket for: The first quarter, specifically Ewers’ performance in it. The Longhorns need him to be better against Georgia in six days. His big-game history shows that he will be.

A second Bevo’s Bucket goes to any fans pissed off after yesterday. Texas has beaten Oklahoma just nine times this century, and they just did so by 31, almost doubling the spread in margin of victory. Do you think Oklahoma fans are feeling good today? That beautifully empty side of the stadium in the fourth quarter will tell you how they’re feeling. So, if you, disgruntled and never-satisfied Texas fan who tweets at Chris Del Conte about wanting the Longhorns to wear black jerseys and then asks him for free tickets, want every game, especially the hard-fought rivalry ones, to be 84-0 bloodlettings, you need to get another hobby. Please do, actually.

Schadenfreude of the week: Casey Thompson and Brenen Thompson—not brothers in real life, but brothers in the sense they did the unthinkable and crossed the Red River to play for Oklahoma, only to watch Texas take the Golden Hat back to Austin.

This piping Hot Take burned the roof of my mouth: Speaking of brothers, let’s shift gears on our rivals. Texas and A&M haven’t played in 13 years. We’ll make up for lost time by playing them in back-to-back weeks this season, first at Kyle Field, then in Atlanta for the SEC Championship.

Hype Train Level (0 being 38-3 to Notre Dame, 10 being 34-3 against Oklahoma): Well I guess I’m at a 10. It’s high. Texas welcomes College GameDay on Saturday morning and Georgia that night. These are unforgettable times in Austin, Texas.

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*My mom and I took a picture with Vince Young earlier in the day. We’re saying it’s the Young family Christmas Card for 2024. How my mom thought the day would go wrong after that, I’m not sure. It’s the family curse. We’ll just Photoshop my wife, kids, dad, and my sister and her kids in.