TIMELINE: Texas-Oklahoma
by Trey Luerssen, FOXSports.com
1947: A controversial call turned into a near-riotous postgame scene. On the last play of the first half, Texas quarterback Bobby Layne handed off to Jim Canady, who fumbled near the goal line. Layne picked up the ball and pitched it to Randall Clay, who scored around the end to give Texas a 13-7 lead.
Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson thought Layne's knee touched the ground as he picked up the ball. At halftime, he charged through the UT band to confront referee Jack Sisco and accidentally knocked over a piccolo player. After the 34-14 Texas win, OU fans threw soda and whiskey bottles onto the field. A police car was brought to midfield to take Sisco and the other referees through the tunnel.
Future Texas coach Darrell Royal, who was a player on the Sooners though he didn't play in the game because of an injury, ended up ducking behind the police car with his future wife, Edith. "He put his helmet on my head, grabbed my hand and we ran off the field behind that police car," Edith told the Dallas Morning News in 1991. Future Cowboys coach Tom Landry was a fullback for the Longhorns at the time. He said, "A lot of us were war veterans, but I guarantee you we were scared."
1950 - Oklahoma was 2-0 and ranked third. Texas was 2-0 and ranked fourth. The Longhorns led 13-7 late in the fourth quarter but their punter, Billy Porter, got tackled deep in Texas territory. Billy Vessels scored on the next play and Jim Weatherall kicked the extra point to give Oklahoma a 14-13 victory. It was the only loss of the year for Texas. The Sooners finished 10-1 and won the first of Bud Wilkinson's three national championships.
1956 - It seemed as though the sooners stopped taking Texas seriously after four straight wins over the Longhorns.
Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson walked into the locker room minutes before kickoff at the Cotton Bowl and said, "Gentlemen, I think that you know that you didn't practice well this week. But it is no disgrace to lose to a team such as Texas. Even so, when they beat you, just remember that you are still Oklahoma and keep your head held high."
The fired up Sooners stormed out of the locker room and routed Texas 45-0.
1958: Thirteen-point underdog Texas went into the Oklahoma game having lost six in a row and nine of the last 10 to its hated neighbors to the north. The Longhorns struck first on a 10-yard TD pass from Bobby Lackey to Rene Ramirez and surprised the Sooners by converting a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. Bud Wilkinson's Sooners cut the lead to 8-6 with a third-quarter TD, and Oklahoma's Jim Davis picked up a Texas fumble and raced 24 yards for a touchdown to put OU up 14-8 with 12:52 to play.
Texas, without a first down in the second half, then marched 69 yards to the Sooners' seven behind backup QB Vince Matthews. Darrel Royal then put Lackey back in on third down. Lackey hit Bobby Bryant with a jump pass to tie the game with 3:10 to go. Lackey's extra point put Texas up for good as the 'Horns shocked No. 2 Oklahoma 15-14.
1963: No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Texas met in what at the time was called the "Game of the Century." Tommy Ford led the Texas ground attack, spurring the Longhorns to a 14-0 halftime lead. Texas picked up where it left off in the second half and cruised to a 28-7 win.
A large crowd of fans greeted the Longhorns in Austin following the win. Darrell Royal had high praise for his sophomore guard/linebacker Tommy Nobis. "I knew Tommy was a good one, but I had no idea a sophomore could come up and play as well as he has." Texas took over the No. 1 ranking and went on to win its first National Championship.
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Texas-Oklahoma series
(Longhorns lead 56-39-5) |
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Year
|
Result
|
Year
|
Result
|
| 1900 | 1956 | ||
| 1901 | 1957 | ||
| 1901 | 1958 | ||
| 1902 | 1959 | ||
| 1903 | Tie 6-6 | 1960 | |
| 1903 | 1961 | ||
| 1904 | 1962 | ||
| 1905 | 1963 | ||
| 1906 | 1964 | ||
| 1907 | 1965 | ||
| 1908 | 1966 | ||
| 1909 | 1967 | ||
| 1910 | 1968 | ||
| 1911 | 1969 | ||
| 1912 | 1970 | ||
| 1913 | 1971 | ||
| 1914 | 1972 | ||
| 1915 | 1973 | ||
| 1916 | 1974 | ||
| 1917 | 1975 | ||
| 1919 | 1976 | Tie 6-6 | |
| 1922 | 1977 | ||
| 1923 | 1978 | ||
| 1929 | 1979 | ||
| 1930 | 1980 | ||
| 1931 | 1981 | ||
| 1932 | 1982 | ||
| 1933 | 1983 | ||
| 1934 | 1984 | Tie 15-15 | |
| 1935 | 1985 | ||
| 1936 | 1986 | ||
| 1937 | Tie 7-7 | 1987 | |
| 1938 | 1988 | ||
| 1939 | 1989 | ||
| 1940 | 1990 | ||
| 1941 | 1991 | ||
| 1942 | 1992 | ||
| 1943 | 1993 | ||
| 1944 | 1994 | ||
| 1945 | 1995 | Tie 24-24 | |
| 1946 | 1996 | ||
| 1947 | 1997 | ||
| 1948 | 1998 | ||
| 1949 | 1999 | ||
| 1950 | 2000 | ||
| 1951 | 2001 | ||
| 1952 | 2002 | ||
| 1953 | 2003 | ||
| 1954 | 2004 | ||
| 1955 | 2005 | ||
1968: Texas' vaunted wishbone offense helped the Longhorns beat the Sooners 26-20. With the Longhorns trailing 20-19 at their own 15 and with 2:37 left in the game, quarterback James Street ignited UT's sputtering offense with four big pass completions that put the Longhorns at the OU 21.
With 55 seconds to play, Texas took to the ground. Fullback Steve Worster carried for 14 yards and on the next play rumbled seven yards for the winning score with 39 seconds left in the game. The drive was the turning point for the wishbone formation, as other teams -- including Oklahoma began -- would feature it in the coming decade.
1971 - Oklahoma had unveiled its wishbone against Texas a year earlier and lost, 41-9, to the second-ranked Longhorns. The Sooners gained revenge in 1971, winning, 48-27. Greg Pruitt ran for 216 yards and Oklahoma finished with 435, the most by any Texas opponent during the Darrell Royal era. "I've never seen such speed," Royal said afterward. "Their backs look like they are running downhill."
1976: The game is now known as the "Spy Bowl." Two days before kickoff, Texas coach Darrell Royal accused Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma staff of spying on Longhorns workouts. Royal was also quoted as calling Switzer and his staff "sorry bastards." Royal said he thought it was an off-the-record comment and didn't know it had been printed until Friday night, when Sooners fans stood outside Texas' hotel in Dallas chanting, "Sorry bastards." Royal, an Oklahoma native who played for the Sooners from 1946-49, was in his final year of coaching.
The insults were hurled even louder and more intensely during the game. Royal emerged from the tunnel with Switzer and President Gerald Ford, who was scheduled to conduct the coin toss. When Royal met Ford's limo, he warned the president that there would be booing. "Well, I'm big enough to handle it," Ford said with a smile. Switzer said the walk through the tunnel was awkward because the two coaches spoke to Ford but refused to speak to each other in the wake of the spying charges.
"Hell, Darrell was right," Switzer told the Dallas Morning News. "We were spying, but it happened several years earlier when I was an assistant coach. But that was so damn long ago, I can't remember the details."
Switzer clearly remembers what happened when Royal, Switzer and Ford emerged from the tunnel. An Oklahoma fan stood and bellowed, "Who are those two [so-and-sos] with Switzer?"
Switzer said, "I was so embarrassed by the actions of that redneck." The game ended in a 6-6 tie.
1977: No. 5 Texas ended six years of frustration by defeating Oklahoma for the first time since 1970 in storybook style. Starting quarterback Mark McBath and backup John Aune both went down in the first quarter with season-ending injuries, setting the stage for little-used junior Randy McEachern.
McEachern, who wasn't even listed in the Texas media guide at the beginning of the season, proceeded to lead the Longhorns on an 80-yard touchdown drive just before the half to give UT a 10-3 lead at intermission. Russell Erxleben, who hit a 64-yard field goal in the first half, kicked a 58-yarder to put the 'Horns up 13-6 in the fourth quarter. That's all Texas needed, as the 'Horns made a key defensive stand on their own 4-yard line and Earl Campbell rushed for 124 yards.
1984: The most famous of the five ties in the series. Texas was ranked No. 1, Oklahoma No. 5. "The Boz" was born that week, when Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth talked openly of his hate for the Longhorns and their "puke orange" colors. On the final Texas drive, safety Keith Stanberry appeared to intercept a pass intended for Bill Boy Bryant in the end zone, but he was ruled out of bounds. It was one of what Oklahoma fans considered three questionable calls in that drive. As time ran out, Jeff Ward kicked a 32-yard field goal in the pouring rain to give Texas a 15-15 tie.
1989: Texas hadn't beaten No. 15 Oklahoma since 1983, and it looked as though that streak would stay intact when freshman quarterback Peter Gardere broke the Texas huddle at the UT 34 with 3:42 left. Texas' halftime lead of 21-7 had turned into a 24-21 Sooner advantage by the fourth quarter as the Longhorns set up for one last drive.
Four Gardere completions later, Texas was at the Oklahoma 25 with just over two minutes left in the game. Then, on second-and-10, Gardere rifled a strike to an outstretched Johnny Walker at the goal line for the winning score. Gardere would go on to defeat OU three more times, making him the first quarterback in Texas history to lead the Longhorns to four wins over the Sooners.
1990: For the second consecutive year, Texas mounted a late fourth-quarter drive and beat No. 4 Oklahoma. This time, Texas took over at its own 9-yard line with 7:12 left, having gained just over 100 yards of total offense to that point.
Twelve plays later, sparked by the runs of freshman Butch Hadnot, Texas faced fourth-and-seven at the Oklahoma 16. After a Texas timeout, quarterback Peter Gardere dropped back and found Keith Cash in the end zone. Wayne Clements' extra point gave the Longhorns a 14-13 lead with two minutes to go. OU managed a valiant drive to the Texas 29, but with time running out, the Sooners' R.D. Lashar watched his 46-yard field goal attempt sail wide left.
1993: OU coach Gary Gibbs was 0-4 against the rival Longhorns. To make matters worse, the Sooners starting quarterback Cale Gundy had an injured hip. But Gundy shook off the pain and rushed for three touchdowns and 111 yards as Oklahoma controlled the game from start to finish. After the game, Gibbs said, "I'm surely relieved as much as anything. I'm happy, but also relieved."
1996: Going into the game, there was actually talk about OU going winless on the season. Their first win would come at the hands of the Longhorns. Coach John Blake's Sooners shocked 22-point favorite Texas 30-27. OU QB James Allen accounted for 210 yards of total offense, including 159 yards on the ground.
1999: Usually mild-mannered Longhorns quarterback Major Applewhite had a few run-ins with Oklahoma fans in 1997, and the previous week, Applewhite was goaded by "Apple Turnover" and "Major Screwup" headlines in Oklahoma newspapers. As he left the field at halftime, he taunted OU fans, and after Texas' 38-28 victory, Applewhite's freckled face became redder than usual during a shouting match with the Sooner Schooner drivers.
2000: The Texas-OU game marked the coming-out party of the eventual national champion Sooners. Oklahoma dismantled Texas 63-14 in second-biggest victory by the Sooners in the 95-year history of the "Red River Shootout". Josh Heupel picked Texas apart, hitting 17 of 27 passes for 275 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. Sooners running back Quentin Griffin dominated on the ground, rushing for 87 yards and six touchdowns, which set an Oklahoma record.
2001: The most memorable image from the 2001 college football campaign was Oklahoma safety Roy Williams leaping over the Texas offensive line to knock the football out of Chris Simms' hand, leading to a touchdown and preserving the victory for OU.
2004: Oklahoma beat Texas and Vince Young 12-0, his only loss as a starter. Young completed just 8 of 23 passes for 86 yards and rushed for only 54 yards. He fumbled twice and in the end presided over the Longhorns' first shutout loss in almost 24 years. It was also OU's 5th straight victory in the series.
2005: The game was over, "The Eyes of Texas" had been sung and Vince Young was still on the run. The Texas Longhorns had finally beaten the Oklahoma Sooners -- stuck it to 'em, 45-12 -- and more than 30,000 people wearing burnt orange were on their feet turning five years of frustration into sheer joy. Young showed the Sooners how much he'd developed since their last meeting, throwing three touchdown passes and guiding the No. 2 Longhorns to a victory with meaningful implications. The Sooners looked nothing like the clubs that drummed the Longhorns by a combined scored of 189-54 the previous five years. The victory propelled Texas to the Rose Bowl and a National Championship.


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