Norman, Okla. ? It used to be that Oklahoma would come up with all the momentum-changing plays in their annual rivalry game with Texas.
Now it seems all those plays – and the wins that go along with them – are going the Longhorns’ way.
For the second straight year, Oklahoma came up short in the Red River Rivalry. The most notable stat: The Sooners had five turnovers, while Texas had none.
It’s a complete turnaround from Oklahoma’s five-year winning streak, when the Sooners forced 19 Texas turnovers. In losses the past two years, the Sooners have only one takeaway against the Longhorns.
“It’s hard to put your finger on it in that we’re doing a lot of things that we’ve done traditionally here for eight years and haven’t been able to come up with that big play – whether it be a deflection, an interception, a sack, rip the ball out, whatever,” coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday as the No. 23 Sooners (3-2, 0-1 Big 12) prepared to play Iowa State (3-3, 0-2).
“It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why, other than we’ve just got to keep pushing for more – more aggressiveness, more discipline in what we’re doing. All of it. We’ve just got to keep pushing for that kind of play.”
That was what Oklahoma had become known for under Stoops. Roy Williams’ Superman-style leap over a Texas blocker to cause Chris Simms interception for a touchdown was the most memorable one, but plenty of other Sooners created turnovers too.
On Saturday, Oklahoma had some success stifling Texas. Of the Longhorns’ first nine drives, they went three-and-out six times. The problem was that the other three drives went for touchdowns, and none of Oklahoma’s stops created enough momentum or field position to help the Sooners’ offense.
“We do want and expect big plays. We always want turnovers and push for them, and we’re going to keep doing it,” Stoops said. “That’s what’s frustrating I guess as a coach is so many parts of that game were pretty darn good, but they weren’t good enough obviously.”
Stoops pointed out that Oklahoma held Texas to a season-low 232 total yards and held the Longhorns to three-and-outs on five of their six first-half drives.
“It isn’t like they’re not playing well,” Stoops said. “We just haven’t come up with the big play. We’re not playing in that way where we creating a lot of big plays.”