2009: The Texas - 16 vs. Oklahoma - 13 Red River Rivalry

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"Shoot, what time is the game again !?!"

Mike and Bone are huge fan's not only of College Football, but Classic College Football Rivalries, and the Red River Rivalry (formally called the Red River Shootout) is certainly one of them. The Red River Rivalry, also known as the Red River Shootout is derived from the Red River that forms part of the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma that has in the past caused conflict between the two states, most notably the 1931 Red River Bridge War. The game originated in 1900 (two years after the start of the Michigan Ohio State game), while Oklahoma was still a United States territory and the Oklahoma campus was still in Oklahoma Territory. Until the 2005 meeting, the 100th meeting between the schools, the game was called the Red River Shootout. In 2005 the game was officially renamed the SBC Red River Rivalry, with the word "Rivalry" replacing "Shootout" out of a desire not to convey an attitude of condoning gun violence. Showing the importance of this game in a interview with DeLoss Dodds (the Athletic Director of UT) he stated "The rivalry game for us has always been Oklahoma. The A&M game's been a great game and all of that. And we may play 'em. But it's not something that we have to do. I think the Oklahoma game is something we have to do." This further serves to emphasize what an important game the Red River Rivalry is to both Oklahoma and Texas. Since 1948, one or both of the two teams has been ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation coming into 61 out of 66 games. Texas leads the all-time series 60–43–5, with a 47–39–4 edge in Dallas. Since 1948, the series is very close with Oklahoma holding a one-win lead, 32–31–3. Six of the last ten showings featured one of the participants in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game (2000, 2003–05, and 2008–09), including national titles won by Oklahoma in 2000 and by Texas in 2005. In 2005, the Dallas Morning News asked the 119 Division 1A football coaches to identify the top rivalry game in college football. The Red River Rivalry ranked third, behind only Michigan-Ohio State and Army–Navy.

The Day of the Game Mike and Bone rose late due to a night of excess with Sooners and Cowboys around 9:00AM when Bone's buddy called him and asked, "Are you at the Stadium?."  "Errr whattya talkin' about?" stammered Bone. It was then that the Boys realized that the game started at 12:00 EASTERN or 11:00 CENTRAL !! They didn't have much time to get to the game, so heavily hung the Boys high-tailed it down the Dallas Parkway to I-35 attempting to get to the Cotton Bowl when 2 miles a way they hit a parking lot which unfortunately was the freeway !!!

Briskly walking to the State Fair Grounds, the Boys got in, navigated the crowds into the Cotton Bowl and made it to their seats with just 5 minutes before the Oklahoma Band took the field !

One of the cool things about this Game is that it is not only held smack dab in the middle of the State Fair of Texas and even cooler, in the Classic Cotton Bowl!

In 2009 Texas led the all-time series with a mark of 57-4-5. But under Coach Bob Stoops, the Sooners have dominated, winning six of the last eight.   An interesting fact about the Game is that tickets for the game are equally divided between the two schools, and the Sooner and Longhorn fans are split on the 50-yard line (check out the pictures below !). This creates extraordinary game dynamics, because half of the stadium crowd is simultaneously happy and unhappy depending on the circumstances.   For both teams, the rivalry is bitterly emotional and territorial in nature relating to the two states' close proximity, past border disputes and economic and cultural differences. Also, due to the fact that many players on the Oklahoma football team are from the state of Texas, some Texans refer to OU as "The University of Texas at Norman." Oklahomans frequently counter by referring to Texas as "Baja Oklahoma"   Since 1932 the game has been held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, during the second weekend of October during the State Fair of Texas.

The Cotton Bowl opened in 1932 and became known as "The House That Doak Built" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s. Originally known as Fair Park Stadium, it is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair in Dallas, Texas, USA.   Construction began on Fair Park Stadium in 1930 in Fair Park, Dallas on the same site as a wooden football stadium. Completed that year, the first game in the stadium was between Dallas-area high schools in October 1930. Built for a cost of $328,000, the stadium held 46,200 spectators. In 1936, the name officially changed to the Cotton Bowl.   In the late 1940s, the stadium was decked on both the west and east sides, increasing capacity to 75,504. These decks were added to respond to the demand for fans to watch SMU halfback Doak Walker, lending the Cotton Bowl to be known as "the house that Doak built." The superstructure was also built at this time, creating the distinctive facade for the stadium. In 1968, chairbacks were installed, reducing capacity to 72,032. In 1970, the Cotton Bowl installed an AstroTurf surface, which remained until 1993. In the 2000s, the renewed dominance of both the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns created a new interest in their rivalry, and the stadium. Temporary stands were erected in each end zone to increase seating for these games. In November 2006, the city of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas finally agreed on funding for a long-planned $50 million renovation, with $30 million of this amount from a city bond.   The 2008 renovations include the expansion of the seating capacity of the stadium from 76,000 to 92,100, mostly through the complete encircling of the second deck, new media and VIP facilities, a new scoreboard and video screen, updated restrooms and concession areas, lighting, utility and sound upgrades and the replacement of all the stadium's seats.

A point of pride for Mike and Bone is that they participated in a new Cotton Bowl Stadium record for attendance of 96,009 for the game!

By aiming for seats in the End Zone, the Boys inadvertently became Sooner Fans (it hadda happen Sooner or later!) and were regaled for most of the day with the Boomer Sooner Chant!

The Texas Marching Band !

Phantom Menaces!

While both Marching Bands were good, the Texas Marching Bands Fight Song, sung to "I been working on the Railroad", was just plain strange !

Here come the Sooners !!

And here are the Longhorns !!

The weather was simply perfect, a bright cloudless day, 68 degrees with a moderate to brisk breeze and zero humidity !. The Boys fully enjoyed the pomp and pageantry of both the Oklahoma and Texas Marching Bands, then it was GAME ON !!

Heisman winner Sam Bradford for whom the Boys were keen to see looked great at first, but unfortunately only lasted till Oklahoma's second series, when a blitzing Texas cornerback, Aaron Williams sent him to the turf and the sidelines with another injury to his bad right shoulder.   From there the momentum of the Game started to shift to the Longhorns.

Landry Ain't no Bradford !

By half time the score reflected a mistake filled first half for both Teams with no clear momentum for either school.

Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy survived the game despite a bum thumb on his throwing hand and a nagging head cold. He was simply terrible in the first half and his biggest contribution of the Game was a touchdown-saving tackle after throwing an interception to Oklahoma's Brian Jackson in the fourth quarter.   "I told him he hit like a safety on that play," said Thomas, who contributed a win-clinching interception.  

In the end, the Mack Brown's 3rd-Ranked Texas' win over No. 20 Oklahoma was defined by hard lessons and harder hits, the kind that led to eight turnovers and just two touchdowns. Hunter Lawrence's 32-yard field goal, his third with 12:08 remaining, stood as the difference. Late interceptions by Aaron Williams and Earl Thomas against Oklahoma backup quarterback Landry Jones preserved the win.

As dogged and inventive as the Sooners were, unveiling blitzes that confounded McCoy and Texas offensive line in the first half, the Longhorns were just a bit better. The Longhorns limited Oklahoma, which featured 1,000-yard rushers DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown, to minus-16 yards rushing on 22 attempts.  

Jammin' on the Moment !

After the Game, the Boys sat in the stands watching Texas celebrate and enjoy the ambience of the Post-Game Pageantry, the Cotton Bowl the surrounding Party that was the State Fair of Texas Fairground !!!