With Oklahoma and Texas thriving, Red River Rivalry grabs college football's spotlight

It’s seven o’clock on the dot …

Ask R&B fans of a certain age to complete that sentence. They'll do so by telling us that Usher was in his drop top cruisin' the streets. Now ask a Texas fan. The burnt-orange believer will argue that time just serves as another reminder of Oklahoma.

Of course, Texas fans would say the same thing about 6:38 a.m. or 11:10 p.m. Especially this week.

Yes, it's Texas-Oklahoma Week. On Saturday at 11 a.m., Oklahoma and Texas will meet at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for their annual rivalry game. Whether fans choose to refer to this as the Red River Shootout, Red River Showdown or Red River Rivalry, this will be the 119th installment of the series.

"We know it's going to be a heck of an environment for college football, and it should be," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said after Saturday's 40-14 win over Kansas. "Should be a spotlight on that game and all of college football next Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. We're looking forward to it."

The spotlight should shine a little brighter on this matchup. Texas was still No. 3 when The Associated Press released its newest poll Sunday, and Oklahoma was No. 12.

Texas and Oklahoma are both 5-0, and both have won twice in their Big 12 farewell tours. The Longhorns and Sooners last met as undefeated adversaries in 2011. This will be just the 13th time in the past 50 years that this game will be a battle of unbeatens.

The Sooners are 7-4-1 in those matchups:

∙ 2011: Oklahoma, 55-17

∙ 2008: Texas, 45-35

∙ 2004: Oklahoma, 12-0

∙ 2002: Oklahoma, 35-24

∙ 2001: Oklahoma, 14-3

∙ 1985: Oklahoma, 14-7

∙ 1984: Tied, 15-15

∙ 1983: Texas, 28-16

∙ 1979: Texas, 16-7

∙ 1978: Oklahoma 31-10

∙ 1977: Texas, 13-6

∙ 1975: Oklahoma, 24-17

That, of course, is history. Recent memory has the Longhorns earning a 49-0 win last year. That was just the 11th shutout for Texas in the series. Of UT's 63 wins over Oklahoma, it was the most lopsided.

"Obviously, last year happened," Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman told local reporters after the Sooners beat up on Iowa State this weekend. "We've been through the fire, been scarred up. But we’re ready to go, man. We’re excited. We’ve been looking forward to this since last year. I’m really excited for what we can do."

Will the sting of last year's loss be a motivating factor for Oklahoma? Jahdae Barron isn't buying it. The Texas defensive back believes that both teams will be just as motivated for a win.

"If they had us marked (on the schedule), we had them marked," Barron said. "It's all a common thing. They're going to give us their best shot. We've got to make sure we give them our best shot."

Oklahoma is 5-0 after beating up on the likes of Arkansas State, SMU, Tulsa, Cincinnati and Iowa State. Those teams have combined for a 13-12 record, and none of them was ranked when it faced Oklahoma. In fact, the Sooners last faced a ranked team in their 2022 bowl game.

Still, Oklahoma can only play the teams on its schedule. The Sooners have scored at least 50 points in three of their five games, and only two FBS-level teams are averaging more points than OU's 47.4. Oklahoma leads the country with the 10 passes it has intercepted, and it ranks fourth in scoring defense (10.8 points per game).

Meanwhile, Texas has played two ranked teams and has posted 34-24 and 40-14 wins over Alabama and Kansas teams that were No. 3 and No. 24 at the time. Texas boasts a top-25 passing offense (286.6 yards per game) and a top-35 rushing offense (191.8 yards per game), and the Longhorns are No. 12 nationally in scoring defense.

"We're hungry," Barron said. "We want more. We're not settled right now. We're not taking anything for granted. There's going to be outside noise that congratulates us, and there's going to be outside noise that thinks we should be here or we should lose. We're just focused on every game. We treat every game like a championship game."

Texas holds a 63-50-5 lead in the all-time series with Oklahoma. The Longhorns did record that 49-point win last year, but the Sooners have earned a win in six of their last eight meetings with Texas. This will be the fifth time in the past seven games that Texas and Oklahoma have battled as ranked Red River rivals.

"I feel like it's going to be a great game," UT offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. said. "The atmosphere is always crazy. ... It's definitely a game that you want to play in as a kid, and as any college football player, you definitely want to play in it."

Saturday's game

No. 3 Texas vs. No. 12 Oklahoma, 11 a.m., Cotton Bowl in Dallas, ABC, 1300

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Ranked Texas, Oklahoma football teams ready for Red River Rivalry game