Texas vs. Oklahoma: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 Red River Showdown

Despite some sloppy play on both sides of the ball, No. 11 Oklahoma defeated rival Texas 31-26 in Saturday's Red River Showdown at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

The Sooners were outgained 482 yards to just 232 offensively, but they were able to bounce back from last week's upset loss to TCU and improve to 5-1 due largely to scoring contributions from the defense and special teams.

According to CBS Sports' Eye on College Football, the win continued Oklahoma's recent dominance over the Longhorns:

The game was certainly a statistical oddity, which prompted Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News to put it in a category all its own:

Texas entered the game as a big underdog with a record of 2-3 against the 4-1 Sooners, but Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong felt confident that his players would be up to the task, according to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.

"

The Texas-Oklahoma rivalry is a special rivalry. We know how big it is. Don't have to say much to the players this week. Don't have to worry about them being down. They know what's at stake here. Last year going into this game everyone was kind of throwing dirt on them, and they were able to bounce back and go win it.

"

Strong's feeling was confirmed early in Saturday's game as Texas outplayed its chief rival in the first half. Oklahoma widened the margin during the second half, but the Longhorns refused to go quietly. In the end, though, their comeback bid fell just short.

The Sooners very nearly took the lead early with a defensive score off what was called a fumble by Longhorns running back Malcolm Brown. Although it was an extremely close call, the officials overturned it, which Jason Kersey of The Oklahoman agreed with:

Texas rebounded to drive down the field and hit a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. That advantage was extremely short-lived, however, as Oklahoma sophomore running back Alex Ross returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.

According to Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle, Texas' coverage unit was no match for Ross' blazing speed:

Following a Michael Hunnicutt field goal early in the second quarter to extend the lead to 10-3, the Sooners found pay dirt once again.

Despite Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes making some impressive plays in the passing game, he put his team in a very difficult position by throwing a 43-yard pick-six to Sooners cornerback Zack Sanchez, as seen in this video courtesy of ESPN College Football:

Swoopes appeared to stare his receiver down on the play, and Sanchez was able to recognize it. As pointed out by Alex Brown of Optimum Scouting, it was extension of the excellent form that Sanchez has displayed all season long:

With the Longhorns trailing 17-3 despite playing spectacular defense against quarterback Trevor Knight and Oklahoma, Swoopes finally went to work on lessening the deficit. He did precisely that with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the half as he found senior receiver John Harris for a 38-yard touchdown.

The throw was a perfect one into a tight window by Swoopes, and it drew praise from David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest:

Texas would then tack on another field goal with 48 seconds left as Nick Rose connected from 20 yards out. The Longhorns headed into the locker room trailing 17-13 despite the fact that they outgained Oklahoma 278-29 in total offense.

According to ESPN College GameDay, the Sooners offense did little to help the cause during the opening half:

Knight completed just four of his six passes for 21 yards, while the running game sputtered to the tune of eight yards on eight carries. With that in mind, Oklahoma supporters had to be thrilled to hold a lead at the half.

On Oklahoma's first play from scrimmage in the second half, junior wide receiver Sterling Shepard took a jet sweep 31 yards, which topped the Sooners' offensive production for the entire first half, per Bob Przybylo of Scout.com:

OK was still forced to punt the ball away, though, as consistency continued to elude it. That was true for Texas for much of the third quarter as well, with both teams struggling to sustain drives.

That finally changed for the Sooners late in the frame as Knight orchestrated a quick-strike, five-play drive that culminated in a 24-yard touchdown pass to Shepard. According to John E. Hoover of the Tulsa World, Oklahoma's signal-caller was finally able to get in a groove with a perfect drive:

The Sooners extended their previously tenuous lead to 24-13, which put pressure on Swoopes and the Texas offense to recapture some of the magic it had late in the first half.

That score seemed to galvanize the Oklahoma offense, and it resulted in another touchdown just two minutes into the fourth quarter. Freshman running back Samaje Perine scampered for 13 yards, and the Sooners finally managed to regain some of their scoring potency, according to Ryan Aber of The Oklahoman:

Texas managed to keep the game from getting too far out of hand by answering on the next drive. Swoopes found Harris for their second touchdown link-up of the day from six yards out, and the score tightened to 31-20 in favor of Oklahoma.

After an Oklahoma three-and-out, Texas managed to make things even more interesting. Jaxon Shipley's 31-yard punt return set the Longhorns up nicely, and Swoopes put an exclamation point on the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run.

Per Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman, it seemed like the sophomore signal-caller was starting to come of age:

Swoopes couldn't repeat the feat on a two-point conversion attempt, though, which meant that Texas trailed 31-26 with just under five minutes left.

Oklahoma then engineered an eight-play drive that chewed up four minutes and 39 seconds off the clock. Texas got the ball back with 18 seconds left, but there wasn't enough time to march all the way down the field.

While Oklahoma wasn't overly impressive in the victory, a win was absolutely necessary in order to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive. It seems likely that one or more one-loss teams will be in contention at the end of the season, and the Sooners are still among that group.

With that said, Oklahoma has to get much better in short order, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Two of the Sooners' next three games are against No. 17 Kansas State and No. 5 Baylor, which means that the level of competition is increasing in a big way.

Oklahoma can beat anyone if Knight plays like he did against Alabama last season, but it may not be able to top either Kansas State or Baylor if he repeats Saturday's performance.

As for the Longhorns, they are now 2-4 and find themselves in a battle to become bowl eligible. Texas showed some flashes that suggest it can get to that point, but it will have to improve its consistency and limit mistakes such as the pick-six thrown by Swoopes.

The Longhorns displayed signs of progress, but it is still quite clear that Strong's team has a long way to go before it is once again among college football's elites.

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