Red River Rivalry - The History
THE SERIES
The first game was played in 1900, with Texas defeating Oklahoma 28-2. The rivalry has been renewed annually and uninterrupted since 1929. This year marks the 119th meeting between the two schools, with Texas leading the all-time series 63-50 with 5 ties. The largest margin of victory was in 2003 by Oklahoma 65-13. The longest winning streak is held by Texas, winning 8 in a row two different times (1940-1947 and 1958-1965). 70 different times has at least one school been ranked in the AP Poll for the matchup.
This rivalry matchup holds the record for both teams being unbeaten entering the game and having both teams being ranked inside the top 12 in the AP Poll. Most Meetings All-Time with such circumstances:
Texas v. OU – 17 (including this year)
Florida v. Tennessee – 8
Florida State v. Miami – 7
Texas v. Arkansas -7
Coaching Records
Darrell Royal of Texas has the most wins of any coach in the series history with a 12-7-1 record. Other notable coaching records are: Texas Dana X. Bible 7-2-1, Oklahoma Bob Stoops 11-7, Oklahoma Barry Switzer 9-5-2, Oklahoma Bud Wilkinson 9-8, Texas Fred Akers 5-4-1, Texas Mack Brown 7-9.
Texas quarterback Peter Gardere is the only quarterback to start 4 games in the series and go undefeated with a 4-0 record from 1989-1992. What’s even more fascinating about Gardere’s feat is that in all four games, Texas was unranked and heavy underdogs against highly ranked Oklahoma teams. After Gardere’s final game in the series in 1992, a 34-24 Longhorns victory, the Sooner crowd started chanting “Graduate, Graduate!”
THE TROPHIES
Golden Hat
The Golden Hat is awarded on the field at the end of the game. The trophy is a gold cowboy hat mounted on a large block of wood. According to The Daily Texan, "... [B]oth teams signed a contract to play in Dallas during the Texas State Fair, beginning with the 1929 season. The deal was for 10 years, but the tradition has carried on [for almost a century]. To show its gratitude, the fair donated the Golden Hat trophy, a golden replica of a ten-gallon cowboy hat, which the two teams play for every year. The Longhorns won the first Shootout, but since then the Golden Hat has crossed the Red River many times." The trophy was created in 1941. When it was created it was known as the "Bronze Hat" or "Brass Hat", and it was bronze in color. However, when the hat was reworked in the 1970s it came out gold, and is now known as the Golden Hat. The Golden Hat trophy is kept each year by the winning team's athletic department. With the teams meeting twice in 2018 (once in the regular season and once in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game) it was determined that the Golden Hat would not be on the line in the 2nd game as it was in the regular season game. Therefore, the trophy remained in Austin, Texas, after Texas' 48–45 regular season win over Oklahoma in 2018. Oklahoma won the rematch, 39–27 in the Big 12 Title Game.
Red River Rivalry Trophy
Since 2003, the Red River Rivalry trophy has been exchanged between the student bodies of the two schools. This trophy was developed by Alex Yaffe, former OU Student Body President, and Katie King, UT's former student body president. The trophy bears the image of the two states as well as miniature football helmets to represent both teams.
Governors’ Trophy
There is also a governors' trophy exchanged between the governors of the two states. The governors of Texas and Oklahoma often place a bet on the game such as the losing governor having to present a side of beef to the winning state governor, who then donates the beef to charity.
NROTC Trophy
Another annual tradition is the running of game balls by the schools' Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps programs. Each school's ROTC program uses a relay running system to run one game ball all the way from their respective campus to Dallas. Once there, they participate against each other in a football scrimmage, with the winner taking home the Red River Rivalry Flag Football Trophy. This trophy is awarded without regard to who wins the main football game.
THE VENUE
The Red River Rivalry game has been played in six locations. They have played in Norman and Oklahoma City in Oklahoma; Arlington, Austin, Dallas and Houston in Texas. The series began in 1900 and has been played in Dallas since 1912, except for 1913 (Houston), 1922 (Norman), and 1923 (Austin). Dallas was chosen as a "neutral" site since it is situated approximately halfway between Austin, Texas and Norman, Oklahoma – the locations of Texas and Oklahoma, respectively.
Since 1932 the game has been held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, during the State Fair of Texas. The designated "home" team alternates from year to year: Oklahoma in even-numbered years and Texas in odd-numbered years. Ticket sales for the game are split 50–50 between the two schools, with the stadium divided along the 50-yard line. Historically, the Oklahoma fans have occupied the south end zone, which contains the tunnel where both teams enter and exit the field. Beginning in 2007, the teams have option to alternate North and South ends of the field, thereby giving the home team fans the seats adjacent to the tunnel leading to both teams' locker rooms. However, Texas has declined to exercise its option to move to the south end each year in which they have been the designated home team. Currently, the two schools and the city of Dallas are under contract to host the football game between Oklahoma and Texas at the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park through 2025.
NOTABLE GAMES
1958 – Darrell Royal Switches Sides
In 1958, Texas defeated Oklahoma by one point, breaking Oklahoma’s series dominance of the 1950’s. The game was notable in that Texas Longhorns head coach Darrell Royal had 10 years earlier been the quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. Royal defeated his former coach and mentor Bud Wilkinson in the game. Wilkinson would lose to Texas the next five years before retiring in 1963.
1963 - #1 vs. #2
The 1963 game featured #1 Oklahoma vs. #2 Texas. Texas won the game, took the No. 1 ranking and kept it for the rest of the season, winning its first national championship.
1972 – The Original “Spy-Gate”
In 1972, Oklahoma spied on Texas' practices, allowing them to block a quick kick the Longhorns had secretly been working on en-route to a victory.
1976 – “Spy-Gate 2.0”
The 1976 rivalry game was overshadowed by allegations by Texas coach Darrell Royal that Oklahoma had been spying on his practices. The claim was later confirmed in OU Coach Barry Switzer's book, Bootlegger's Boy. Royal and Switzer (who was 3–0 against Texas as a head coach coming into this game) were involved in a serious feud at the time. The 1976 game was attended by U.S. President Gerald Ford. Ford made an appearance with Royal and Switzer before the game. Switzer and Royal both spoke to Ford but not to each other. The game ended in a 6–6 tie. It was Royal's final Red River Shootout.
1977 – Just Hand It Off to Earl
In the 1977 game, Texas lost both their starting and backup quarterbacks in the first half. Yet, behind the power running of eventual Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell, a strong defense, and the unheralded composure of third-string-quarterback Randy McEachern, the Horns prevailed 13–6.
1984 – The Interception that Wasn’t
https://youtu.be/A-Ick20I5n0?si=YPNE3TByfRncLHpJ
In a rain-soaked 1984 game, Texas entered the game ranked #1 and Oklahoma ranked #3. Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer wore a hat during the game that read "Beat Texas." This game also marked the only time that future Texas head coach Mack Brown participated in the Red River Shootout not as a Texas Longhorn (Brown was OU's offensive coordinator). Texas jumped to a 10–0 halftime lead but OU rallied to lead 15–12 in the game's closing seconds. With 10 seconds remaining, trailing by 3, Texas was driving and was within field goal range but decided to take one more shot at the end zone. Texas quarterback Todd Dodge appeared (in replays) to be intercepted in the end zone by OU's Keith Stanberry, but the officials ruled it incomplete. Texas's Jeff Ward subsequently kicked a field goal and the game ended in a 15–15 tie. Barry Switzer was not happy.
1994 – Stoney Clark
https://youtu.be/Tf7JaWiJG7s?si=_F0rDcF7WT0qeptC
#13 Oklahoma and #15 Texas went into this game with a lot on the line. Texas stayed ahead, and Oklahoma drove down the field with minutes remaining. The Sooners looked like they were going to score. With the seconds ticking down, it was fourth down on the one yard line. Quarterback Garrik McGee handed James Allen the ball on a reverse and Allen appeared to have an open lane to the end zone, but Texas defensive lineman Stoney Clark came out of nowhere to blast Allen backwards at the one-foot line and saved the game for Texas as time expired.
1996 – The First Big 12 Conference Red River Game
The first Big 12 Conference meeting between the two schools was also the first ever overtime game in the Big 12 Conference. Thankfully the NCAA had adopted overtime prior to the start of the season. The 1996 meeting featured a John Blake squad under the direction of freshman quarterback Justin Fuente. The game ended Oklahoma 30–Texas 27 after a come from behind victory in the final seven minutes. Jarrail Jackson returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown, then Fuente completed a 2-point conversion pass to Stephen Alexander to cut the lead to 24–21. The Sooners forced the Longhorns to punt, and drove to the Texas 28. Jeremy Alexander kicked a 44-yard field goal to tie the game at 24. In overtime, Texas was forced to settle for a 43-yard Phil Dawson field goal, after losing 1 yard on three plays. Lining up at the Texas 25, James Allen broke a ten-yard run, carried for two and three yards, then caught an 8-yard screen pass from Fuente on 3rd and 5 from the 10. On the next play, Allen took a pitch from Fuente two yards into the end zone.
1999 – Mike Leach Tricks Texas
Article by ESPN: The untold 1999 Texas-Oklahoma story of Mike Leach's fake play script - ESPN
College Game Day Feature: https://youtu.be/EUy1wFhIvWs?si=e-KQ4U2DvUUzm_Sx
The 1999 game featured the first matchup between Texas head coach Mack Brown and Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops. Brown was 1-0 against Oklahoma, winning the year prior 34-3, this was Stoops first game in the rivalry. Texas came into the game ranked #23 and were heavy favorites over the unranked Oklahoma Sooners. During pregame warm-ups of that year's Red River Showdown, an underhanded script outlining OU's opening offensive plays was spotted on the field by one of Texas' student assistants, who scooped it up and took it to Longhorns defensive coordinator Carl Reese. The Longhorns thought they had recovered gold, the only problem, it was a fake! This was actually the part of a carefully orchestrated plot hatched by Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mike Leach. The Longhorns fell for the rouse and quickly fell behind 17-0 before realizing they'd been duped. However the Longhorns would recover and go on to win the game 38-28 behind great performances by sophomore quarterback Major Applewhite and senior running back Hodges Mitchell.
2000 – The Beat Down in Big D (Oklahoma Version)
The 2000 game was marked by rain and 49-degree weather, but it ended up being noted for bringing the most lopsided margin of victory in the history of the match-up (at that time; Oklahoma would top its feat three years later in 2003). Oklahoma came into the game ranked 10th, with Texas ranked 11th. This was the highest combined rankings of the teams since 1984. The Sooners got up to a 42-point lead before Texas scored. Oklahoma won the game 63–14. OU also held Texas to minus-7 yards rushing, an all-time regular-season low for the Longhorns.
Longhorn coach Mack Brown said "It wasn't even a game because we did not play in the first half." Sooner Coach Bob Stoops said, "This was a total team victory, everybody made plays. ...We had a little bit of everything." Stoops improved his record vs the Longhorns to 1 win, 1 loss as a result of the game. OU President David Boren cancelled classes the following Monday on account of inclement weather: "It was snowing touchdowns in Dallas."
Sooner running back Quentin Griffin scored six touchdowns, tying the all-time NCAA record for most rushing touchdowns in a game. Oklahoma went on to an undefeated season, and won the 2000 National Championship.
2001 – Roy Williams is “Superman”
https://youtu.be/Z1MpHG5x6q0?si=E8om37uzRGSkhaz0
The 2001 game, which ended Oklahoma 14–Texas 3, was a classic defensive struggle that was notable for a play made late in the 4th quarter.
Both the Sooners' and the Longhorns' defenses were outstanding, holding their counterparts to less than 100 yards rushing for the entire game. When either offense could muster any momentum, they were often let down by their kicker-OU's Tim Duncan missed two field goals and UT's Dusty Mangum had one blocked.
OU led 7–3 at the half on a Quentin Griffin 2-yard touchdown in the second quarter. That score held until late in the fourth quarter.
The Sooners got the ball with just over eight minutes to play on their own 20-yard line, and put together a 12-play, 53-yard drive that took them all the way to the Texas 27-yard line. Facing a 4th & 16, OU sent out Tim Duncan for what appeared to be a 44-yard FG attempt. Instead, Duncan sent a pooch punt deep into the Texas zone, which caught UT's Nathan Vasher off guard. Confused, Vasher caught the ball at his own 3-yard line and was immediately downed.
Down 7–3, Texas had 2:06 to drive 97 yards on the stiff Sooner defense. On first down, Texas quarterback Chris Simms’ pass was deflected by OU safety Roy Williams, who had blitzed and literally leapt over the blocker, Brett Robin, to collide with Simms at the moment he released the ball. The ball floated helplessly in the air and landed right in Oklahoma linebacker Teddy Lehman’s hands, who walked into the end zone for a touchdown. The play happened so fast, many fans did not know exactly what had happened. The play by Roy Williams is often called "The Superman Play" because of the way that Williams resembled Superman flying through the air with his arms stretched out at Chris Simms when he hit him. Duncan's extra point sealed the 14–3 OU victory.
2003 - The Beat Down in Big D (Oklahoma Version 2.0)
#1 Oklahoma beat #11 Texas 65-13 in what is the biggest margin of victory in the history of the rivalry.
2005 – Texas Breaks the Streak
The 2005 game, which ended Texas 45–Oklahoma 12, was the 100th meeting in the series and a special logo was created to commemorate the event. The game logo included both team logos, the logo of the sponsor for that game, SBC communications, the number 100, a football, and a star. Prior to the game, the Longhorns were ranked 2nd by the AP Poll, and the Sooners were unranked for the first time since 1999, which was also Texas's last victory over OU.
By breaking the string of five consecutive losses to Oklahoma, Longhorn coach Mack Brown preserved the Longhorn’s National Championship hopes. Freshman running back Jamaal Charles set a record for rushing yards by a Texas freshman in the series. With his 80-yard scamper, Charles also had the longest touchdown from scrimmage by a Texas running back in the series.
The game also featured one of the most violent hits in the series history, when Texas DE, Brian Robison, blindsided Oklahoma quarterback, Rhett Bomar, in the 4th quarter, causing a fumble and ensuing touchdown by Longhorn tackle, Rodrique Wright.
As had occurred the two seasons prior, the road to the National Championship game went through Dallas. Oklahoma left the game with a 1–1 conference record and a 2–3 record overall, finishing with a 6–2 conference and 8–4 overall record, including a victory in the Holiday Bowl. The Longhorns improved to 5–0 overall, 2–0 in the Big 12 on their way to an 8–0 conference, 13–0 overall record, including a victory in the Rose Bowl over USC and the 2005 football National Championship.
2008 – The Upset and The B(C)S
The 2008 Meeting of the Red River Rivalry ended with #5 Texas upsetting #1 Oklahoma 45 to 35. Both teams were 5–0 coming into the game. In the first quarter, OU quarterback Sam Bradford completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Manuel Johnson. The Sooners led 7–0. With 6:41 left in the first quarter, Texas answered with a Hunter Lawrence 26-yard field goal. OU scored 2 touchdowns in the second quarter and Texas scored two touchdowns and a field goal including a 96-yard kickoff return by Jordan Shipley. The score at the half was 21–20 OU.
Texas ended up winning this 103rd meeting, 45–35. At the time, it was the highest scoring event in the history of rivalry (the 2021 game now holds that record, with Oklahoma beating Texas, 55-48), and it was seen by the most fans, a record 92,182. At the end of the regular season, Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech were all tied in the Big XII standings at 7-1, having taken turns beating each other. As a result of the Big XII tie-breaker rules, Oklahoma was selected to play in the Big XII championship against the North Champion Missouri, because the BCS had Oklahoma rated .003 higher than Texas in their rankings, even though Texas had beaten OU earlier on a neutral field 45-35. Oklahoma went on to defeat Missouri and win the Big XII Championship and was ranked #2 in the BCS. Oklahoma played Florida for the National Championship and lost. (The BCS was the worst!!!)
2009 – The Rematch (Take That BCS and Shove It!)
In 2009, Texas won a low scoring game, 16–13. Texas scored one touchdown and three field goals, while OU scored one touchdown and only two field goals. Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford had injured his shoulder earlier in the year when playing the BYU Cougars. Despite this injury, Bradford started in the 2009 Red River Rivalry confident that his shoulder was healed. There was so much hype around this game because of what happened the year before with the BCS and Sam Bradford winning the Heisman Trophy over Texas quarterback Colt McCoy. This game was dubbed “The Rematch” to settle the score that the BCS computers somehow couldn’t calculate that 45 was more than 35. However, early in the first quarter a sack by Texas cornerback Aaron Williams re-aggravated Bradford’s injury and forced him out of the game, ending his season and making the Texas game his final college game. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy threw for 127 yards, while the team combined for 142 rushing yards. OU's replacement quarterback, Landry Jones, replaced Bradford and threw for 250 yards of passing with 2 interceptions. The most notable statistic of the game was that the Sooners were held to minus 16 yards of rushing by the Longhorn defense.
2013 – Mack Brown’s Farewell
In 2013, Texas came onto the field in Dallas with head coach Mack Brown on the hot seat. Former Longhorn great Earl Campbell had publicly stated two weeks earlier that Mack Brown was "too old" to continue coaching. Brown's players rallied behind their beleaguered coach, however, and Texas won the Red River Rivalry game for the first time since 2009. Texas walked in as major underdogs, in part due to a 1–2 start with an upset loss at BYU and a loss to No. 25 Ole Miss. The game was notable in part because a defensive lineman from each team scored a touchdown on an interception return. In addition, Colt McCoy's brother Case led the Longhorns to victory, becoming the first quarterback to lead the team to victory since his brother accomplished this feat in 2009.
2018 – Let’s Play Two
In 2018, Texas came into Dallas ranked #19 facing the undefeated #7 Oklahoma Sooners, the first time both teams were ranked since 2012. Heisman hopeful Kyler Murray got Oklahoma out to a fast start scoring on a 6-play, 65-yard drive that took only 2:40. On the ensuing possession, Texas, led by sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger, answered back with a 5-play 75-yard drive, in what was to be a common theme in the highest scoring game in series history. Texas appeared destined to regain the Golden Hat after taking a commanding 45–24 lead with just under a minute left in the third quarter but three unanswered touchdowns, including a 67-yard run by Kyler Murray that took only 11 seconds, tied the game at 45–45 with just 2:38 left to play. After driving the ball to the Oklahoma 23-yard line, Texas' freshman kicker, Cameron Dicker (commonly known as “Dicker the Kicker”), kicked in a 40-yard game-winning field goal with 14 seconds left to play. Sam Ehlinger set the Texas Red River Rivalry record for total offense with 394 yards.
On December 1, the two faced off again in AT&T Stadium in Arlington to determine the Big XII Conference Championship. It was the third time in history when they played again in the same season (1901 and 1903). #5 Oklahoma overcame a strong start by #14 Texas to win their fourth straight Big XII title.
2019 – Hurts to Lamb
On October 12, 2019, the sixth-ranked Sooners defeated the 11th-ranked Longhorns 34–27, getting 366 yards and four touchdowns from quarterback Jalen Hurts, a graduate transfer from Alabama. Though Oklahoma's lead was never larger than 14, Texas was playing from behind for almost the entire game, catching up midway through the third quarter before a 51-yard Hurts touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb that put the Sooners in front for good.
2020 – Four Overtimes
The October 10, 2020 meeting saw unranked Oklahoma outlasting #22 Texas 53–45 in four overtimes, in the third highest-scoring game in the history of the Red River Showdown. Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler was benched in the first half after throwing an interception and a fumble. Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley put his young signal caller back in to start the second half and was rewarded as the Sooners won in the fourth overtime after Rattler threw a touchdown to Drake Stoops (son of Bob) and then the Sooner defense picked off Sam Ehlinger to clinch the game.
2021 – The Caleb Williams Game
The 2021 matchup saw sixth-ranked Sooners rallying from a 21-point first quarter deficit to edge the 21st-ranked Longhorns 55–48 in the highest-scoring game in the rivalry. First year Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian had the Longhorns rolling on offense and the defense forcing 3 first half turnovers that led to OU head coach Lincoln Riley benching starting quarterback Spencer Rattler for the second year in a row. However, this time Rattler would not be coming back in as the Caleb Williams era in Norman was born as Williams led the Sooners all the way back from 21 points down to win the game for the Sooners.
2022 - The Beat Down in Big D (Texas Version)
This year snapped a 19-year streak where at least one of the two teams were ranked in the AP Poll. 3–2 Texas scored 28 points in the first half, and went on to record an embarrassing 49–0 shutout over the 3–2 Sooners. Steve Sarkisian evened his record against the Sooners at 1-1 and got his revenge after the Longhorns blew a 21-point first half lead the season before. First year OU head coach Brent Venables started his head coaching career 0-1 against Texas.