How the Red River Rivalry Lost Its Luster
The Red River Showdown—still known as the Red River Shootout to anyone who actually cares about the game—still means something. The pageantry of the annual rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas, played in front of a split crowd in the old-school Cotton Bowl nestled in the heart of the bustling Texas State Fair in Dallas, is there. It's always been there, and it will always be there.
"It's unlike any other game I've ever been in," said J.D. Runnels, a former Sooners fullback from 2002-05. "I've been at Chicago against Green Bay—it doesn't compare. The fans split down the middle, coming into the fair, there's nothing like it."
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
The event remains unlike any other. The game itself, though, used to mean something more.
Oklahoma-Texas used to be the top game in the Big 12 South, back when the conference actually had 12 teams and two divisions.
(Ironically, though Oklahoma and Texas won the South 13 out of 15 years before the Big 12 dropped to 10 teams in 2011, the winner of the Red River Shootout only went on to represent the division in the conference championship game nine times.)
The Red River Shootout used to be one of the top games in college football as well, with as many future NFL players in the stadium as corn dogs outside of it. Its most recent peak, which also marked the beginning of the downfall, was 2008's brilliant 45-35 quarterback battle between Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. A meeting between Top Five teams that would later result in a tiebreaker controversy? Who could ask for more?
Now? It's just another game in the Big 12 and national landscapes. Baylor-TCU has surpassed the Red River Shootout in terms of relevancy. The Nov. 27 meeting between the Bears and Horned Frogs in Fort Worth has been circled in red ever since the 2015 schedule was announced. The Red River Shootout barely moves the meter—and not just for national interest but local as well.
"Last year was emblematic of what this game has become," said David Ubben of Sports on Earth. "It was played in the morning, and it was the third-biggest game in the state behind Ole Miss at Texas A&M and TCU at Baylor."
The decline of one of college football's most spirited rivalries is nothing short of astonishing and raises a simple question with a difficult answer.
What happened?
Where's the Star Power?
The Cotton Bowl and Texas State Fair made the Red River Shootout unique. The Texas bond between blue-chip players on both sides made it personal. Former Oklahoma quarterback and wide receiver Paul Thompson, who grew up in the Austin suburb of Leander, knows that as well as anyone.
"As long as I've been here, Texas has been a bigger rival than Oklahoma State because of that," Thompson said of the Texas connection Oklahoma had in recruiting. "I grew up in Austin. Most of my friends back home are Longhorn fans. I have relatives who are Longhorn fans.
"Growing up, playing against a lot of those guys [on Texas] who played at Westwood High School, Round Rock High School and Pflugerville High School. Re-competing against those guys, it was far more personal."
"We didn't prepare for anybody like we prepared for Texas," Runnels added.
There was good reason to prepare. Texas had a legitimate claim to be "Defensive Back U." The Horns had players such as safeties Michael Griffin and Michael Huff, and cornerback Aaron Ross—genuine studs in the secondary and future first-round draft picks.
And then there was linebacker Derrick Johnson, now with the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Johnson was another guy, coming out of Waco, I played against in high school at Leander," Thompson said. "One year, I ran an option play, and he lit me up. It was one of the hardest, most solid tackles I've ever been involved in.
"We popped up, and he looked right at me and said, 'Should have pitched it.'"
The question now is, where's the next Derrick Johnson? Where's the next Jordan Shipley? How about the next Adrian Peterson or Jermaine Gresham? Where's the next Vince Young, Bradford and McCoy?
"When you had guys like [Oklahoma defensive back] Roy Williams going against [Texas running back] Cedric Benson, these were guys who went on to play in the NFL—and some for a lengthy amount of time," said Runnels. "These were guys who were the top recruits in the country at the time."
"You're watching the game now, and you don't know a whole bunch of the names," Thompson added.
The biggest star in Saturday's Red River Shootout is Sooners linebacker Eric Striker—and he could be a man without a position at the next level. In fact, the feared pass-rusher is responsible for the biggest play that stands out over the past several years in this game:
Where did all the star power go? Regardless of whichever event came first, the end of Texas and Oklahoma's Big 12 monopoly has coincided with the rise of other programs such as Baylor, TCU and Texas A&M in the SEC. "The Big 12's recruiting has slid in general," said Ubben.
Thompson describes the ascent of other programs as a "rich getting richer" philosophy. Quarterback Robert Griffin III was a program-changer for Baylor. Once RG3 took over, Baylor coach Art Briles no longer needed to enter the living room of major in-state high school recruits and pitch hope. He could sell results. Texas could not.
Similarly, TCU can now sell fun, high-flying offenses that get results to prospects who ran the same system in high school. Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin can recruit the Houston area better than anyone. "He knows Houston," said Runnels of Sumlin, who was OU's tight ends coach from 2003-05. "I don't think that's an area anyone's going to be able to conquer like he has."
It used to be that Texas and Oklahoma swept up 4- and 5-star prospects by the truckload. Now, Texas' best prospects have more choices than ever. And they're taking advantage.
Meanwhile, at Texas...
In true rivalry fashion, fingers are being pointed. "It's Texas' fault," said Ubben. "It really is that simple."
The Longhorns' implosion is truly remarkable. Things may be getting worse before they get better, but it's almost unimaginable how much worse it's actually been.
Against Notre Dame and TCU this season, Texas has been outscored, 88-10. If Texas loses to Oklahoma on Saturday, it will be off to its worst start since 1956, according to Jeff Howe of 247Sports. National outlets are already wondering whether second-year head coach Charlie Strong, who is 7-11 through 18 games, is the long-term answer.
This isn't entirely Strong's problem, however. Texas' decline began in the final years of the Mack Brown era from 2010-13. But identifying a 30-21 record in four seasons is much like the Titanic's lookouts identifying the tip of an iceberg, which means the Longhorns were destined for a drop-off years before.
It started along the offensive line, where zero players have been drafted since 2008. As far as player-development gaffes go, there's no excuse for Texas to be as poor at cultivating players in the trenches as it has been.
The struggles continued with recruiting misfires, the most infamous of which were at quarterback. Texas put all its stock into blue-chip prospect Garrett Gilbert for 2010 and beyond, but it turned out to be a pairing that never took off as expected (Gilbert eventually transferred to SMU). David Ash's career was injury-riddled, and Tyrone Swoopes was replaced by Jerrod Heard as the starter.
Now, with the 2016 NFL draft approaching next spring, it's entirely possible Texas gets shut out for the second time in three years. (In 2014, the Longhorns didn't produce an NFL draft pick for the first time since 1937.)
Strong has recruited well on defense, which is what one would expect from a coach with a defensive background. This year's impact freshman is linebacker Malik Jefferson, formerly the No. 1 player in Texas coming out of high school, according to 247Sports composite rankings. Through five games, Jefferson is second on the team with 31 tackles. What's missing, though, is a game-changer on offense.
"If you're Texas, you have to find your Vince Young," said Runnels. "You have to find the guy you're going to rally your team around.
"In this league, you need a quarterback and an offense that can score 40 points a game."
Texas currently ranks ninth in the Big 12 in scoring offense, ahead of only Kansas, at 24.6 points per game.
Blowouts and Disinterest
Texas' decline is more noticeable, but the reality is neither the Sooners nor the Longhorns are as dominant as they used to be. From 2002-08, the Sooners and Longhorns entered the Red River Shootout undefeated and ranked in the Associated Press Top Five three times. On three more occasions, both teams were ranked in the AP Top 20. Only once, in 2005, did one of the teams have multiple losses (Oklahoma was 2-2).
Since 2009, one team has entered the game with multiple losses four times (Oklahoma in 2009 and Texas in 2013, '14 and '15).
"When both of these teams are in the top 20, that's when the game kicks into another gear," Ubben said.
| Year | Texas | Oklahoma | Year | Texas | Oklahoma |
| 2002 | 5-0 | 5-0 | 2009 | 5-0 | 3-2 |
| 2003 | 4-1 | 5-0 | 2010 | 3-1 | 4-0 |
| 2004 | 4-0 | 4-0 | 2011 | 4-0 | 4-0 |
| 2005 | 4-0 | 2-2 | 2012 | 4-1 | 3-1 |
| 2006 | 4-1 | 3-1 | 2013 | 3-2 | 5-0 |
| 2007 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 2014 | 2-3 | 4-1 |
| 2008 | 5-0 | 5-0 | 2015 | 1-4 | 4-0 |
That hasn't happened since 2012, and Oklahoma won that game, 63-21. It was practically a mirror image of 2011 when the Horns and Sooners entered the Red River game ranked No. 11 and No. 3, respectively. Oklahoma won that game, too, 55-17.
More often over the past six meetings, the hype simply hasn't been there. In '09, Oklahoma suffered from major injuries to tight end Jermaine Gresham (knee) and Heisman-winning quarterback Sam Bradford (shoulder). Bradford originally suffered his injury in Week 1 against BYU and re-injured it against the Longhorns, knocking him out for the year.
2010 was the start of Texas' downturn. Oklahoma's 28-20 win gave Texas its second loss of the young season, and the Longhorns would win just two games the rest of the year to finish 5-7.
2013 was Brown's final year as an embattled head coach, but a 36-20 stunner over the Sooners wasn't enough to keep his job. He resigned at the end of the season.
But this year could very well be a low point for the rivalry. The Sooners are a 16.5-point favorite, according to OddsShark.com. There are reports of internal struggles in the Longhorns locker room, per the Dallas Morning News. Tickets on the Texas side are still available—so many so that the game's signature 50-50 divide is in jeopardy. "This is probably going to be as heavily weighted to OU for a fanbase as it's ever been," said Thompson.
A Return to Relevance?
When asked what needs to happen for the Red River Shootout to regain its relevancy on a national scale, Runnels was blunt.
"We need Texas back," he said.
Ideally, the Big 12 needs Texas and Oklahoma to play at the levels they were once accustomed to, back when they were competing and winning national championships in the 2000s. It'll happen in due time. That much seems to be the consensus. "Baylor and TCU—their success is spawned by Art Briles and Gary Patterson. They're special coaches," Ubben said. "But they're not going to be there in 25 years. Oklahoma and Texas will be."
Until then, the necessary formula for Texas, which has suffered the most, is as follows, according to Runnels: "Quarterback play and develop NFL talent, especially along the offensive line."
That may not be as simple as it sounds. Runnels recalled his own recruitment, in which he didn't have much initial interest in Oklahoma until the arrival of head coach Bob Stoops in 1999. The 1990s were a difficult time for the program, much like the present is a difficult time for the Longhorns.
Whether Strong will be that type of program-changer remains to be seen. Given the current state of affairs, Strong likely needs at least four years for a fair evaluation. In the meantime, Texas needs a big showing against Oklahoma. Win or lose, there has to be some sense of progress.
"It can be a step in the right direction. This can prolong some jobs for some coaches. This can give Texas a spark," Runnels said. "They've had a tough first five games. Pretty much everyone they've played is undefeated. This game can be a point where they can look back and say this is where it all changed."
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
