The Overweight Armchair Sooner: OU-TX - PART 3

OKLAHOMA 53 TEXAS 45

4OT

The 114^th version of the Red River Shoot-Out was one that you had to see to believe. Because explaining the game to someone who didn't ... might be awkward and go something like this:

Guy who lives under a rock: Hey, Buddy - what happened in the OU-Texas game?

Me: Well ...

On the Sooners first possession they went three and out with two false start penalties.
Lincoln Riley benched Spencer Rattler midway through the first half after the red-shirt freshman lost a fumble and threw an interception.
The Sooners were penalized 11-times for 121 yards, but at least only six of those penalties gave Texas a new set of downs
Sam Ehlinger ran for 146 yards and threw for 286 more – personally accounting for 6-touchdowns.
The Sooners turned the ball over 3-times, 2-of which occurred deep in their own territory
OU missed a field goal
Lincoln Riley completely gave up on the running game, even though it had just started to click ...
I drank a lot of tequila
Once again, #44 - Brendan "Bookie" Radley-Hiles started and pretended to play defense for the Sooners ...
... after the final play of the game a proud, young, female Texas fan held up one finger ... a proclamation for all those watching on TV around the country.

Under a rock Guy: Oh, I'm sorry. I know your an OU fan, so I'm sorry to hear you got beat. While Texas may not be #1 like the girl indicated, maybe they are finally 'back' ....

Me: No, I don't think so. With the finger she was using, the only way her message included the word back - was if it was the position she'd be in in order to carry out her specific message. I deemed her single digit salute as more of non-gracious gesture to the Sooner Nation ... or Tom Hermann ...or both - because the Sooners won the game by 8

Or maybe the conversation went something like this ...

Guy who likes to spend Saturday's at the library: Hey, Buddy - what happened in the OU-Texas game?

Me: Well ...

The Longhorns committed 3-turnovers, including a fumble on their second play from scrimmage
Texas was penalized 10-times for 86-yards
Texas special teams gave up a blocked punt, a blocked field goal, and a 36-yard punt return ... which, when you tack on the personal foul penalty becomes 51-yards and a trip to an anger management class for the Horn punter.
Sam Ehlinger was sacked 6-times
The Longhorns leading rusher not named Sam - had 17-yards
I drank a lot of tequila
Texas also allowed OU running back T.J. Pledger to rush for a career high 131 yards and ...
Once again, the Longhorns had Tom Hermann on their sideline pretending to be a head coach

Library Guy: Well, congrats - obviously you guys ran away with it. Probably another 63-14 type game. Must have been nice to get such an easy win over your big rival.

Me: If you say so.

The game was played in a surreal atmosphere. While you could find a few signs of normalcy: Bevo taking up residence in the North end zone, and the Sooner Schooner doing the same in the South ... those paled in comparison to the reality of seeing only 24,000 people in attendance, or listening to Boomer Sooners or The Eyes of Texas, not from each schools band inside the stadium, but instead from the big screen - recorded renditions from OU-TX games of the past.

The game required 4-quarters, 4-coin flips, and 4-overtimes ... and took 4-hours, 43-minutes, 36-mystery seconds and ¾ of a bottle of Don Julio Reposado to complete.

In addition to being brutally long, it was horrendously played ... as the two teams combined for 21-penalties for 209-yards, 6-turnovers, 8-sacks, two-blocked kicks, another field goal missed, and both head coaches making questionable decisions at critical times.

Even Fox Sports made mistakes - posting this little nugget as both teams went to the locker room at half: "The team leading at half has won the last 11-games." While that's good to know, I'm not sure it was very relevant considering the fact the game was tied 17-17.

The game, while a train-wreck, was also wildly entertaining. In usual OU-TX fashion, it was a slugfest, played with high emotion with the game coming down to the wire. The OU defense, relative to their last two performances, played well.

With about two-minutes to go in the game, and the Horns out of timeouts - the Sooners were facing 3rd and 9, from their own 47. Get a first down - you win, but to get it, you'd have to throw the football and risk stopping the clock, or worse. Riley, despite benching Rattler in the first half, and watching him cough up the football like a cat would a hairball only two plays earlier, trusted his red-shirt freshman QB enough to take a shot at winning the game. While the play didn't work - I loved the call - and to me, it spoke volumes about his belief in his QB.

Like Riley, Tom Hermann, had the opportunity to take a chance to win the game ... twice ... only his chance would be with a senior QB who had accounted for 6-TD's on the day. But he didn't take the chance. He didn't have the same faith or the courage, or balls to do it. Like him or not, Ehlinger deserved better from his coach.

That said, I can't tell you how relieved I was to see Hermann decide to kick the extra point at the end of regulation and again in the first overtime. There wasn't a chance in hell of OU stopping the red-hot Ehlinger from scoring on a two-point conversion with 15 guys, much less the 11-tired and reeling defenders who would be asked to try.

But the game will go down, much like the year in which it was played, as one of the most memorable of all time. Only in 2020 can the team who benched their QB in the first half win the game, while the team whose QB accounted for over 400-yards and 6-touchdowns lose it.

With two rosters loaded with 4 and 5 star recruits that hail from all over the country - it was only fitting that the winning touchdown would be caught by a 5'-11" walk-on from Norman. But I guess it wasn't just any walk-on ... when your name is Drake Stoops, chances are decent that you know a little bit about what it takes to beat Texas. Say it with me now .... STOOOOOOOOOPS!