OU's two-year series slide
Sooners lucky to go 1-1 after struggling in 2013-14 meetings.
— Oklahoma produced two straight historically great performances in the Cotton Bowl in 2011 and 2012. The Sooners beat Texas 63-21 in 2012 (the game was not as close as the score indicated) and 55-17 in 2011.
That’s the good news. The bad news is the Sooners have followed those games with two poor performances. Not historically poor, but poor.
Back to the good news. OU split those two decisions. The Sooners were drubbed 36-20 in 2013 but somehow won 31-26 last season, even though Texas was the better team on the field that day.
Even if Sooners coach Bob Stoops won’t admit it.
“I thought we played well last year,” Stoops said. “I disagree with you there.”
Don’t get mad at Stoops. He’s just being stubborn. It’s not really up for debate. The Sooners stunk last year against Texas.
Don’t remember? Let’s review.
First downs: Texas 24, OU 11.
Total yards: Texas 482, OU 232.
Rushing yards: Texas 148, OU 103.
Passing: Tyrone Swoopes 27 of 44 for 334 yards; Trevor Knight 12 of 20 for 129 yards.
But the Sooners made two huge plays that put them in early control. Alex Ross returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, wiping out UT’s 3-0 lead. Then Zack Sanchez returned an interception — the game’s only turnover — 43 yards for a touchdown, giving OU a 17-3 second-quarter lead.
The Sooners sleepwalked through most of the game. The offense came alive for a couple of decent drives in the second half, and the defense let Swoopes march up and down the field but held Texas to three touchdowns, so in the end all was good for OU. But not because the Sooners played well.
Give credit to playmakers. Ross and Sanchez made game-deciding plays. But that doesn’t mean a team plays well.
“We had a hard time clicking on offense,” cen- ter Ty Darlington admitted. “They put a lot of guys in the box. Lot of times, an extra guy made it hard for us to move the ball. But we were saved by our defense and our special teams down the stretch.”
And the Sooners were even worse the year before, when they entered the game as heavy favorites but were dominated by the Longhorns, trailing 23-10 at halftime and 36-13 after three quarters.
First downs: Texas 24, OU 13.
Total yards: Texas 445, OU 263.
Rushing yards: Texas 255, OU 130.
Passing: Blake Bell 12-26-2, 133 yards; Case McCoy 13-22-1, 190 yards.
Those are some ghastly two-year numbers. Combine the stats:
First downs: Texas 48, OU 24.
Total yards: Texas 927, OU 495.
Rushing yards: Texas 403, OU 233.
Passing: Texas 40 of 66, two interceptions, 524 yards; OU 24 of 46, two interceptions, 262 yards.
Offensive plays: Texas 166, OU 109.
The Longhorns have dominated two straight State Fairs. That’s with two different head coaches and two different quarterbacks. Yet to the Sooners’ credit, Texas came away with only one victory.
No one expects Texas to dominate Saturday. OU is ranked 10th.Texas is lucky not to be ranked 10th in the Big 12. The 1-4 Longhorns were beaten 50-7 at TCU last Saturday.
But Texas can draw from the fact that it has reversed Cotton Bowl course recently. It has played well in Dallas.