Texas was itching for an upset in Saturday’s Red River Rivalry game with No. 11 Oklahoma, but the Sooners withstood a late rally from the Longhorns to hold on for a 31-26 win.
Texas dominated much of the game statistically, but an Oklahoma pick six and a 91-yard kick return for a score allowed the Sooners to overcome just 29 yards of total offense in the first half and go into the break with a 17-13 lead.
The Sooners defense tightened early in the second half and the offense overcame its early struggles against the Texas D to put two touchdowns on the board. The lead, 31-13 with 12:50 to go in the fourth, looked comfortable, but the Longhorns, led by an impressive performance from quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, stormed back to make things interesting.
Swoopes, making his fifth career start, played by far his best game, throwing for 334 yards and two scores while running for 50 yards and another score. After he hit John Harris for a 6-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-goal to cut the deficit to 31-20, the sophomore used his running ability on the Longhorns’ next drive.
The 48-yard drive took just 1:41 and six plays as Swoopes ran for 33 yards and capped it off with a 12-yard score to cut the lead to 31-26 (UT failed on a two-point conversion and burned a timeout in the process) with five minutes left in the game.
Texas had a chance to get the ball back on Oklahoma’s ensuing possession, but the Sooners picked a good time to convert their first third down of the game. From the OU 31-yard line, Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight (12-of-20, 129 yards, 1 TD) found freshman running back Semaje Perine (18 carries, 62 yards, 1 TD) out of the backfield for nine yards on a 3rd-and-4. From there, Texas was out of timeouts and the Sooners were able to run down far enough that a final few plays by the Longhorns stood no chance, and Oklahoma improved to 5-1.
The Longhorns exhibited an inspired effort on the afternoon, and their fans gave Charlie Strong’s team a nice ovation as it exited the field. Strong’s squad dropped to 2-4, but showed marked improvement putting up 482 yards of offense while limiting the Sooners to only 232 yards. The Longhorns hope to rebound when they return to Austin next weekend to host Iowa State.
It wasn't pretty, but for an Oklahoma team coming off a tough loss to TCU, Bob Stoops’ squad should be happy to get back in the win column. The Sooners still have a great shot to come out on top in a crowded Big 12. That journey will continue next Saturday home against Kansas State.
For more Oklahoma news, visit SoonerScoop.com.
For more Texas news, visit Orangebloods.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Oklahoma withstands late Texas rally to win in Red River Rivalry
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