The Red River Showdown: OU vs Texas and the Battle for Supremacy

Oklahoma broke free with a 50-0 win in 1908. The Sooners won seven of the 10 games in the 1950s. However, Texas leads the all-time series 64-51-5. The most recent meeting was over not long after it started when the Longhorns, then sitting atop the national polls, rolled to a 34-3 victory in the first meeting in the Red River Rivalry as SEC teams. Now that Oklahoma and Texas are in the SEC, their fans might check in and figure out what can be seen in the Egg Bowl.

Texas is coming off a 13-win season and a second straight appearance in the College Football Playoffs, while Oklahoma limped its way to a 6-7 record and just two SEC victories. The teams will meet on Oct. 11 in the next game between OU and Texas.

Keep reading to learn more about the Oklahoma vs. Texas rivalry and see how it can be compared to the Iron Bowl.

The Red River Rivalry Still Going Strong

A Look At The Rivalry

The first OU vs. Texas meeting came in 1900 when host Texas topped the Sooners 28-2. Little transpired that day to indicate that this would become one of the best college football rivalries.

Nine years later, a sign of things to come was Oklahoma’s 21-6 victory over Texas in a game played in Dallas. The Red River Rivalry has seen 102 of the 120 games played in Dallas. While most of the top college football rivalries see the games alternating at the home-field of the two teams, that is not the case in the Oklahoma vs. Texas matchups.

The Cotton Bowl has hosted the Red River Rivalry since 1932, with the Sooners and Longhorns alternating as the home team. Ticket sales are split equally between the two teams.

Plenty Of Top 5 Showdowns

The 1950 meeting was the first time that Texas and Oklahoma were in the top 5 in the national polls, with No. 3 Oklahoma edging No. 4 Texas 14-13.

There have been two Texas-Oklahoma games when the teams were ranked first and second in the national polls. No. 2 Texas defeated top-ranked Oklahoma 28-7 in 1963. In 1984, No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Oklahoma played to a 15-15 tie.

The last time both teams were in the top five at the time of the Oklahoma vs. Texas game was in 2008, with No. 5 Texas taking down No. 1 Oklahoma 45-35.

Fans Turn Out For The Red Rivalry Showdown

The Red River Rivalry attendance record was broken in the 2008 games when 92,500 fans headed to the Cotton Bowl. The record didn’t last very long, however, with 96,009 fans in the stands as Texas beat Oklahoma 16-13 in 2009. The 2010 and 2011 games also had a crowd of 96,009.

The most recent Oklahoma vs. Texas matchup had 92,100 spectators at the Cotton Bowl.

What was the biggest blowout in the Red River Rivalry?

Back in 2003, top-ranked Oklahoma was expected to be tested by a Texas team ranked 11th. It played out that way early on, with each team scoring early in the first quarter.

Oklahoma scored on six drives in a row to turn this game into a blowout.

Jason White had four touchdown passes, and Mark Clayton set the Oklahoma program record with 190 receiving yards in the 65-13 victory.

What Was The Best Red River Rivalry Game?

Picking the best Oklahoma vs Texas game is no easy task. Half of the last 46 games in the series ended up as one-score games with a pair of overtime games.

One of those OT games came in 2020. The global pandemic kept the game from topping 90,000 in attendance. That was unfortunate as Texas erased a 14-point deficit in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter before Oklahoma won in four overtimes.

The teams combined for 103 points in the 2021 game, with true freshman and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams getting the call in place of starting quarterback Spencer Rattler during the game. He helped Oklahoma to the 55-48 win.

The 2008 Red River Rivalry game was also a classic, with Texas winning 45-35 over the top-ranked Sooners.

From 2014 to 2018, there were five consecutive one-score games, and the games pitting Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer against a Texas team coached by Fred Akers were pretty special as well.

How Many National Champions Have Oklahoma and Texas Won?

Plenty was on the line when the Longhorns and Sooners met in many Red River Rivalry games. Oklahoma won five national titles from 1950 to 1975, while Texas finished on top of at least one of the major national polls three times during that stretch.

Texas’s last national title came in 2005 when Vince Young and the Longhorns topped Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and USC in the national title game. This contest will go down as one of the best in college football history.

The most recent national championship for Oklahoma came in 2000.