Sooners Dominate Texas In Red River Rivalry

Corey DeMoss, News9.com

DALLAS – Oklahoma and Texas entered Saturday's Red River Rivalry ranked as two of the top 11 teams in the nation, but you would not know it from watching the game. The Sooners dominated from the opening snap and rolled to a 55-17 blowout.

The Sooners started the day with two drives that made it deep into Texas territory before stalling in the red zone. Both of those drives ended in field goals, and OU only led 6-3 at the end of the first quarter. But it was all Sooners after that.

Oklahoma scored three consecutive touchdowns – the last of which came on defense – in the second quarter to jump out to a 27-3 lead. Texas responded with a 100-yard kickoff return that seemed to give the Longhorns some momentum going into halftime. But instead, OU mounted an 83-yard drive in only 2:13 to take a 34-10 lead into halftime.

Landry Jones had 305 passing yards in the first half, while Texas' offense only mustered 98 total yards. The Sooners' defense continued its dominance after the break.

The Sooners forced more turnovers in the second half, and returned two of them for touchdowns. That gave the defense three scores in the same game for the first time in school history, and OU forced a total of five turnovers in the game.

OU brought in its backups midway through the fourth quarter and did not score after that. The Longhorns managed to add one score with time winding down in the fourth quarter to record their only offensive touchdown of the game.

Jones finished with 367 yards and three touchdowns, and had zero interceptions for the first time since OU's season opener. Ryan Broyles led the team with 122 yards and a score, while Jaz Reynolds added 92 yards and Kenny Stills caught two touchdowns.

Texas shut down running back Dominique Whaley for most of the game, but he managed to break a 64-yard touchdown in the second half that gave him 83 yards on the day.

The OU defense set a total of three single-game school records, for touchdowns, sack yardage and total lost yardage in a game. The Sooners recorded six sacks and had tackles for loss that amounted to minus-100 yards.

OU's 38-point blowout is the biggest win in the Red River Rivalry since 2003, when the Sooners won 65-13. They also have scored at least 55 points in consecutive games for the first time since 2008, the last year they went to the BCS Championship Game.