To say this is an off year for the Red River Rivalry game between Oklahoma and Texas would be an understatement.
The Sooners play Texas Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Kickoff is for 11 a.m. on FOX.
Consider these factors:
- The Texas State Fair, which surrounds the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, has been canceled due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. No corn dogs, no turkey legs, no Big Tex.
- OU gets half of the tickets and Texas gets half of the tickets but the Big 12 is limited seating to 25% of capacity. No giant bands, limited fan noise, unreal ticket prices.
- No. 22 Texas (2-1, 1-1 in the Big 12) lost to TCU Saturday, 31-33, and is tied for fourth place in the conference.
- Oklahoma, which started ranked as high as No. 3, has lost two conference games in a row for the first time since 1999 (Bob Stoops’ first year.
OU blew a huge lead over Kansas State and then was upset by Iowa State, 30-27, Saturday in Ames. The Sooners have dropped out of the national rankings and are long shots to make the Big 12 Championship because of two conference losses.
OU lost in Ames for the first time since 1960. They had won 24 games in a row in Ames against Iowa State.
“A tough loss,” OU coach Lincoln Riley. “A very, very kind of a gut-wrenching loss.”
Before the game, OU’s .917 series winning percentage against Iowa State was the best in the nation. And it was only the second true road loss since Riley joined the Sooners as offensive coordinator in 2015.
“Obviously, our backs are against the wall here as a football team,” Riley said. “We know that. We understand that. We accept that … but it’s about how you respond and I believe I know how this group will.”
The Sooners are now 37-3-1 all-time in Ames.
“Despite the sickening feeling in my stomach right now and how disappointed we all are, we still know there are the makings of a good football team in there,” Riley said. “I’ll continue to ride with this team. We’ve got a lot of guys in there who are down, but certainly not out of the fight. And we’re going to keep taking steps to get better.”
The last time Oklahoma began a season with a 1-2 record was 2016. The Sooners won their final nine games that season, secured a Big 12 championship and won the Sugar Bowl.
OU freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler hit 25 of 36 passes for 300 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. It was his second career 300-yard passing game. OU tight end Austin Stogner had five receptions for 74 yards (14.8 average).
Turnovers doomed Texas against TCU. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger threw an interception and Keaontay Ingram fumbled on the TCU one yard line with 2:32 remaining and Texas trailing by four points.
“We can’t continue to beat ourselves the way that we have these last two weeks and expect to win many more ballgames,” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “That’s on me to get them ready and find a way to make sure that we don’t beat ourselves.”
Herman is hopeful the Longhorns can rebound.
“They made more plays than we did,” Herman said of TCU.
“Really sloppy game in all phases. We had a chance to win at the end and couldn’t do it. We’ll lick our wounds tonight and go back to the drawing board. I told our guys that the cool thing about the Big 12 is that the teams with the two best records at the end of the season are going to play for the Championship.”