On a sweltering October day in Fair Park just east of downtown Dallas, where the temperature pushed into the low 90s, Mack Brown felt the intense heat that’s been on him all season long finally dissipate….for now. With a shocking 36-20 win over archrival Oklahoma, Brown and his Longhorns have quieted his critics, at least until their next game on October 26th when they meet the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth. In an ironic twist of fate where many Longhorn fans were thinking a loss might not be such a bad thing this year (so the final nail could be driven into in Mack’s proverbial coffin), the Burnt Orange Nation excited the Cotton Bowl some 3 plus hours after the 11:00 am kickoff in a mixture of joy and yes, for most, surprise.
The Longhorn’s suddenly much improved defense under new coordinator Greg Robinson held the Sooners (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) to just 130 yards on 33 carries, with RB Keith Bell leading all Sooner rushers with only 34 yards. QB Blake Bell actually had minus 27 yards on the ground for the game, a recipe for disaster for the Sooners play caller know mostly for his legs and not his arm (his quarterback rating for the day was an outrageously low 4.2). On the other side of the ball Texas senior QB Case McCoy looked at times like big brother Colt in his Austin days, and showed great touch on several long passes including touchdown throws of 38 and 59 yards.
The Longhorn’s two-headed ground attack combo of Johnathan Gray (123 yards on 29 carries) and Malcolm Brown (120 yards on 23 carries) pounded the ball often and effectively against the Sooners soft run defense as UT took control of the game early in the 1st quarter and never looked back. “We need to be a physical team with play-action pass that can run the ball downfield,” said Coach Brown.
In a game where Texas dominated in every offensive category including yards passing (190-133), yards rushing (255-130), and time of possession (35:15 to 24:45), the outcome never really seemed in doubt after half time to the end of the 3rd quarter when they stretched their lead from 23-10 to 36-13.
In a complete role reversal from last year’s 63-21 thumping Oklahoma laid on the Horns (4-2, 3-0 Big 12), very few of the 92,500 in attendance wearing Crimson made it to the end of the game, as Sooner Nation was on its way to better things, or at least a corny dog and another cocktail to soften the pain.
The Longhorns are now in position to do what every team no matter what the sports wants – to control its own destiny. “We’re not in the grave,” Brown said. “We’re crawling out.”
