Talking Texas and Oklahoma with a Sooners legend

This Saturday will mark the 120th meeting of these two storied programs, which have won a total of 11 National Championships and have featured 9 different Heisman Winners. This game is a spectacle unto itself and doesn't require any additional hype.

Recently, Oklahoma has held the upper hand the start of this decade winning three of the first four contests, including a 34-30 thriller a year ago on a last second td pass to Nic Anderson. It was just four years ago when the Sooners required four OT sessions to pull out another dramatic win, that result 53-45. Their 2021 clash resulted in the highest scoring affair in the series history, which was also a Sooners victory, 55-48. The only blemish in this window was the 49-0 drubbing from 24 months ago.

Danny Stutsman carried the burden of that specific loss for a whole year, admitting, "every single day when I went to bed, I'd think about it.”

I spoke today to a fellow Sooners great from the defensive side of the ball, J.T. Thatcher from the 2000 Championship Team. He echoed Stutsman's sentiments, "I played those guys four times, and I only won once. However, the one that we won was 63-14, and the best part of that game was being on the sidelines when the backups were in the game playing and just knowing that we had finally done it. That was an amazing moment. I always hated Texas more than even Oklahoma State, not even close. I have a feeling that if we can keep it close in the fourth quarter this Saturday, we have a chance of pulling the upset. That's what you dream about."

There have been other periods in which the Sooners have held the upper hand in this iconic series. From 1985-88, Barry Switzer and company won 4 straight. That would be surpassed at the turn of the century with 5 straight victories from 2000-2004. J.T. Thatcher’s team began that particular streak in 2000. If the Sooners hope to continue momentum in Red River Rivalry, they'll need to recreate the formula of a year ago, especially from an offensive standpoint. The question will be if true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr can make the volume of plays necessary to keep things competitive.

In 2023, Dillon Gabriel attributed the combination of positive yards on the ground and through the air to their success (398 in total)

Gabriel also distributed the ball to 8 different receivers. Let's hope the wide receiver room gets healthy and J.J. Hester keeps making big plays. If that happens, along with an opportunistic defense, anything is possible.