The Red River Shootout
The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns are two of the most storied programs in college football. Prior to 2008 each school had participated in college football for more than 100 years. They are home to nationally-known traditions from the Sooner Schooner and the RUF/NEKS at Oklahoma to Bevo and the Hook 'em Horns of Texas.
The annual OU/UT football game is called the Red River Shootout, and it is considered to be one of the greatest rivalry games in all of college sports. It is the second longest running rivalry for the Longhorns, behind the one with Texas A&M. Since 1929 the game has been held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas typically in mid-October with the State Fair of Texas occurring adjacent to the stadium. Prior to 2008, Texas led the series 57–40–5.
In the week prior to facing the Oklahoma Sooners, UT fans conduct their traditional Torchlight Parade and Rally. The rally first took place in 1916 prior to a game versus Texas A&M, but since 1986 it has been an annual event held exclusively during the week prior to the Texas–OU game. Another annual tradition is the running of game balls by the schools' Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs. Each school's ROTC program uses a relay running system to run one game ball all the way from their respective campus to Dallas. Once there, they participate against each other in a football scrimmage, with the winner taking home a rivalry trophy and bragging rights.
The 2008 matchup was officially called the Red River Rivalry, but the game is better known by its traditional name, the Red River Shootout. The game was played at a neutral site, the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, Texas, amid the atmosphere of the Texas State Fair which was being held adjacent to the Cotton Bowl. Dallas is approximately half the distance between the two school campuses, and the stadium is divided down the 50-yard line, with half of the stadium clad in the "crimson and cream" colors of Oklahoma, and the other half wearing the burnt orange and white of Texas. Three rivalry trophies are presented to the winning of each year's contest. The anticipation for the 2005 meeting was especially keen since it marked the 100th Red River Shootout.
The game typically has conference or even national significance. From 1945 through 2004, one or both of the two teams has been ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation coming into 60 out of 65 games. Prior to the 2005 game, Texas held an advantage in the all-time series 55-39-5, which included a 43-35-4 edge in Dallas, but Oklahoma had won 5 consecutive games, including the worst loss ever for a Texas team in the series. That was the longest losing streak for the Longhorns going back to the 1950s and during those five years the Sooners 189 points to 59 points by UT. Those five straight losses had helped build a reputation for Mack Brown that he was not capable of winning in so-called "Big Games". Four times during those five years, Texas' loss to Oklahoma was what prevented them from playing in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Texas Vs. Oklahoma Football Game
Famous quotes containing the words red and/or river:
“Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.”
—Ogden Nash (1902–1971)
“My favorite figure of the American author is that of a man who breeds a favorite dog, which he throws into the Mississippi River for the pleasure of making a splash. The river does not splash, but it drowns the dog.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)