Top 10 memories from 27 trips to the Red River Shootout

The Texas-Oklahoma game is a gridiron battle like no other, and not just because the winner of the game through the years has usually had a say in college football’s national championship and, at the very least, has been the front-runner for a Big 12 Conference title.

[Join Inside Texas today and get 50 PERCENT off an annual subscription!]

There’s also the fact that the game is played in a “neutral” site in Dallas in the venerable Cotton Bowl, which is set on the grounds of the State Fair of Texas. Each year more than 94,000 fans pack into the old stadium, with rooting sections split on the 50-yard line between Texas burnt orange and white and those in OU crimson and cream.

This time around, both No. 3 Texas and No. 12 Oklahoma venture to Big D carrying 5-0 overall records, 2-0 marks in Big 12 play and are ranked, making this year the first time that’s happened since 2008. On the heels of stirring games, for completely different reasons, the past two seasons, these two teams and programs don’t like each other one bit and both will be out for blood.

I’ve been going to the game since 1977, first as a fan, then as a student and player, and since 1994 as a reporter. 

There are a lot of good memories from the games in Big D – here I’ll take a look at my top 10 remembrances from the 27 years I have been covering the Red River Shootout, with the list below in chronological order.

1994

Texas 17, Oklahoma 10

The Longhorns’ massive defensive tackle Stonie Clark stonewalled OU running back James Allen at the goal line on fourth down with 45 seconds to play to preserve the win. I was on the sidelines maybe 20 yards from the play and you could feel the impact of Clark’s tackle.

1997

Texas 27, Oklahoma 24

For the first time ever, neither one of the teams came into the Red River Shootout ranked. The running backs would rule the stats, as Ricky Williams racked up 223 yards and two touchdowns and the Sooners’ DeMond Parker bested the statistical dual with 291 yards rushing and three touchdowns. John Mackovic’s final Texas-OU game as Longhorns coach.

1998

Texas 34, Oklahoma 3

Williams was again the focal point in the Big 12, rushing for 139 yards and two scores in the runaway Texas victory. Oklahoma scored the game’s first three points but was swamped the rest of the way by a stifling Longhorns defense, gaining just 197 total yards. My real memory from this game was not Williams’ running – he carried 31 times – but Major Applewhite’s 97-yard TD pass to Wane McGarity that had the stadium shaking on its foundation.

2005

Texas 45, Oklahoma 12

Vince Young passed for 241 yards and three touchdowns, Jamaal Charles had 116 yards that included an 80-yard TD run and defensive tackle Rodrique Wright scooped up a fumble and rambled 68 yards for score as the Longhorns snapped a five-game losing streak to the Sooners. Weeks before I had interviewed Wright for a magazine story and told him my son, Christopher, wouldn’t play him in his video game because Wright didn’t make enough plays. After the game, Wright asked me to get Christopher on the phone, and asked him “How you like me now, Chris?” An all-time great memory.

2006

Texas 28, Oklahoma 10

Colt McCoy’s coming out party in the Red River Shootout, as the freshman QB threw two touchdown passes and handled the game expertly in an easy win over Adrian Peterson and the Sooners. Safety Aaron Ross pounced on a lateral fumbled by Peterson and returned the mistake four yards in the fourth quarter for the clinching score. 

2008

Texas 45, Oklahoma 35

McCoy outdueled OU quarterback Sam Bradford as the No. 5 Longhorns upset the top-ranked Sooners in a slugfest that coach Mack Brown called “one of the greatest games” he’d ever seen. Quan Cosby caught nine passes for 122 yards, and Jordan Shipley caught 11 passes for 112 yards and a score but his biggest contribution was a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first half.  People outside the stadium said the noise was so loud during Shipley’s return that the stadium seemed to elevate – it’s the loudest noise I’ve ever heard at any sporting event.

2009

Texas 16, Oklahoma 13

The Longhorns kept their run to the national championship game alive with a gritty win by McCoy, Shipley, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin and kicker Hunter Lawrence over Bradford and the Sooners. McCoy, playing with his right thumbnail ready to fall off and a nagging cold, threw an interception that could’ve turned into a go-ahead touchdown for Oklahoma late in the contest, but salvaged it all by his game-saving tackle on the pickoff return. The gutsiest performance of many by McCoy, who went 3-1 against OU, and never blinked.

2013

Texas 36, Oklahoma 20

Case McCoy (Colt’s brother) threw two touchdowns, 295-pound defensive tackle Chris Whaley returned an interception 31 yards for a score, and speedster Daje Johnson ripped off an 85-yard punt return TD as the Longhorns ended Oklahoma’s three-game winning streak in the rivalry. Texas had two 100-yard rushers in Johnathan Gray (29 carries for 123 yards) and Malcolm Brown (23 carries for 120 yards). It was the final win for Mack Brown over the Sooners in his tenure at Texas.

2015

Texas 24, Oklahoma 17

The Longhorns stumbled into the game with a loss in four of their first five games but stunned the 10th-ranked Sooners behind a punishing rushing attack spurred by workhorse D’Onta Foreman. Quarterback Jerrod Heard led a scaled-down offense that threw only 12 passes. Texas finished with 55 passing yards, its fewest in a win over Oklahoma since 1970 and fewest in any win since 1983. Afterward, coach Charlie Strong donned the famous Golden Hat trophy, which was way too small for his bald pate, and flashed a million-dollar smile.

[Sign up NOW for the Inside Texas newsletter for Texas Longhorns daily updates and breaking news in your inbox!]

2018

Texas 48, Oklahoma 45

Sam Ehlinger and the 19th-ranked Longhorns outlasted mercurial OU quarterback Kyler Murray and the No. 7 Sooners in one of the best games in the storied series. Ehlinger had Texas ahead by three touchdowns going into the fourth quarter before Murray rallied he Sooners with three TDs in a six-minute span to tie the game. Ehlinger then helped build his still-growing legacy on the 40 Acres with a drive to set up freshman kicker Cameron Dicker’s game-winning 40-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining. Afterward. Murray dissed Ehlinger during a post-game handshake, prompting the Texas signal-caller to leave Murray with classic and lasting choice words.