Dallas – At the final gun, as Texas quarterback Vince Young pranced and twirled around the field, the grand old Cotton Bowl looked like an orange sliced open. It was orange on one side and empty space on the other, a void left long ago by Oklahoma fans who rarely see their team squeezed as it had been Saturday afternoon.
The Texas fans refusing to leave screamed deliriously as Young high-fived fraternity men, assistants chest-bumped each other and 345-pound senior offensive tackle William Winston wildly waved the Longhorn flag. Even Bevo, Texas’ ton-of-fun longhorn mascot standing at midfield, seemed to paw the turf in time to the blaring Texas fight song.
The second-ranked Longhorns’ emphatic 45-12 drubbing of Oklahoma officially stamped them as a threat to Southern California’s national title.
The big picture took a back page in Texas’ history book to one snapshot: Sally Brown, left in tears after last year’s 12-0 defeat, passionately hugging her husband, Texas coach Mack Brown.
Five years and five straight losses is a long time between hugs in Dallas.
“We obviously wanted to win it for him,” said defensive tackle Rodrique Wright, still starry-eyed over his 67-yard fumble-recovery, exclamation-point touchdown with 7:41 left. “He’s gotten criticized so much for this game no matter how good of a season we have. Finally, we’ve rested that question: Can we win the Red River Shootout?
“It’s such a great feeling to see a smile on his face.”
The Longhorns (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) not only ended their longest skid to Oklahoma (2-3, 1-1) in 30 years, they made their own history. The 33-point margin matched their biggest win in the 100-game series and gave Bob Stoops his biggest Big 12 loss in his seven years at Oklahoma.
“This isn’t about me,” Brown said. “I’m happy for these guys, these seniors who will leave now with a great taste in their mouth, finishing this right.”
The domination was total. Young continued his Heisman Trophy candidacy, passing for three touchdowns. True freshman Jamaal Charles did a pretty good impersonation of Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson (circa 2004), breaking two tackles on an 80-yard TD run as part of his 116 yards.
Texas’ underrated defense indoctrinated freshman quarterback Rhett Bomar into the Big 12. The Texan hit only 12-of-33 passes for 94 yards and suffered an interception and three sacks, one leading to Wright’s TD. Oklahoma didn’t reach the end zone until Bomar’s 15-yard TD pass to Joe Jon Finley with 11:35 left.
Texas outgained Oklahoma 444-171.
“I thought this would be a fourth-quarter game,” said Texas guard Kasey Studdard, Highlands Ranch High School graduate.
Two huge plays turned it into a second-quarter game.
With Texas leading 14-6, Young made his only mistake. Middle linebacker Zach Latimer, a Gateway High product, intercepted and returned the ball 18 yards to the Longhorn 30. But a pass interference call gave Texas the ball back, leading to a 38-yard David Pino field goal.
After an Oklahoma punt, Texas didn’t sit on its own 30 with 55 seconds left. After one play, Young lofted a perfect strike to a wide-open Billy Pittman for a 64-yard TD and a 24-6 halftime lead.
The Sooners secondary didn’t know who the interference was called on (the official stats named cornerback Eric Bassey) but the Sooners knew the consequences.
“That second quarter late was really the breaking point,” Stoops said. “I’m not questioning the call, but it was a big swing. It was tough to overcome.”
What was impossible to overcome was the injury to Peterson and an injury-plagued and ineffective offensive line, which started its fifth different lineup. Hobbled by a sprained ankle, last year’s Heisman runner-up didn’t start and had three carries for 10 yards before calling it a day.
So while Oklahoma sinks into oblivion, Texas continues to steamroll toward a potential Rose Bowl berth and national title game.
Texas Tech remains its only ranked team left, and Texas gets the Red Raiders at home after hosting Colorado next week.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
