Oklahoma vs. Texas Football 2009
Red River Rivalry Resumes Oct. 17 in Dallas
The Red River Rivalry resumes Saturday, Oct. 17, when the No. 20-ranked Sooners face the No. 3 Longhorns in Dallas, Texas. The Noon EST game, which will be telecast by ABC, will mark the 104th meeting between the schools.
Texas (5-0 overall, 2-0 Big 12) holds a 58-40-5 lead in a series that began in 1900, and has won three of the last four. But Oklahoma has taken six of the last 10.
The 2009 matchup once looked like one with two-sided national title implications, as Texas was second and Oklahoma was third in the preseason rankings. But the Sooners have lost twice.
However, Oklahoma (3-2, 1-0) is alive and well in the conference race, and a win over Texas would be a major coup for Bob Stoops' Sooners.
Texas will be looking to make a statement in addition to staying in the national title hunt. Despite remaining undefeated with a 38-14 triumph over Colorado last weekend, Mack Brown's crew dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the rankings, switching places with Alabama.
The Longhorns will battle an Oklahoma team that's coming off a 33-7 win over Baylor. And they'll face Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, who returned to the lineup last week after missing the previous three games because of a shoulder injury.
Bradford Provides Boost for Sooners
The Sooners rebounded from a 21-20 loss to Miami the previous week, piling up a season-high 586 yards vs. Baylor. Bradford seemed fine, throwing 49 times and completing 27 for 381 yards and a TD.
Freshman Landry Jones showed promise while filling in, helping the Sooners average 35 points and 457 yards per contest. But Bradford's return is an obvious boost.
The junior has already surpassed 8,300 career yards passing, and he guided the Sooners to the BCS title game in 2008. This year, he's 37-for-63 passing for 485 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
But he's not working with quite as many weapons as he had last season, or even at the beginning of this year.
Sooners Receiving Corps Hit Hard by Injuries
Oklahoma, which had already lost All-American tight end for the season, received another blow when wide receiver Ryan Broyles suffered a shoulder injury vs. Miami. Broyles, who leads the Sooners with 23 catches, 346 yards and seven touchdowns, is expected to miss at least another game.
But Brandon Caleb stepped up last week with career highs of seven receptions and 139 yards vs. Baylor. The junior has 21 catches for 340 yards and two TDs on the year.
With Broyles out, the Sooners will continue to rely more heavily on DeJuan Miller and Cameron Kenney. Miller had career highs of five catches and 67 yards vs. Baylor, and has eight receptions in 2009. Kenney has 11 catches.
One thing Oklahoma's been able to rely on is its running game. DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown form a punishing tandem, with Murray running for 381 yards and Brown adding 363. Both have rushed for three touchdowns, and Murray has 11 catches for 145 yards and a TD.
Sooners Defense Remains Stingy
Oklahoma's defense is allowing only 8.4 points per game, third-best in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Sooners haven't given up more than 300 yards in a game since its season-opening 14-13 loss to BYU and are surrendering an average of just 256.
Linebackers Travis Lewis and Ryan Reynolds pace the Sooners in tackles with 46 and 39, respectively, and Reynolds has three sacks. Brian Jackson, meanwhile, leads Oklahoma with three interceptions and fellow defensive back Keenan Clayton has two.
But it all starts up front, where the Sooners feature All-American tackle Gerald McCoy (7.5 tackles for losses) and Jeremy Beal (9.5 tackles for losses, 6.5 sacks).
The Sooners are averaging 3.6 sacks per game, tied for fourth in the FBS. They're tied for fifth with 8.8 tackles for losses.
Texas Loses Top Running Backs
The Longhorns trailed Colorado 14-10 at halftime, but broke away in the second half by scoring on a blocked punt, a punt return and an interception return. The victory wasn't enough to keep the Longhorns in the No. 2 spot, but they might have bigger concerns.
Texas lost both of its top two rushers, with Vondrell McGee (shoulder) and Tre' Newton (slight concussion) leaving with injuries. Their status for Saturday's game has not been announced.
McGee leads the Sooners with 258 yards and two TDs. Newton has 211 yards and three touchdowns. Cody Johnson, a 5-foot-11, 250-pound sophomore, tops Texas in rushing TDs with five.
McCoy, Shipley Lead Texas Aerial Attack
Still, the Longhorns do happen to lead the FBS in scoring (47.2 points per game), and are seventh in total offense (479.6 yards).
That's largely because of Colt McCoy, who's completed 135 of 184 passes for 1,410 yards. The senior Heisman Trophy candidate, has thrown 10 interceptions but he's been picked off six times.
His go-to receiver is Jordan Shipley, whose 47 receptions rank second in the FBS. The senior's collected 583 yards and three touchdowns, and he scored on a 74-yard punt return vs. Colorado.
Other frequent McCoy targets include 6-foot-4, 215-pound Dan Buckner (29 catches, 333 yards, 4 TDs and John Chiles (20 receptions, 176 yards, 2 TDs).
Longhorns' Run Defense Is Tops in FBS
The Longhorns lead the nation in run defense, giving up only 46.2 yards per game. They're also fourth in total defense, at 233 yards a contest.
Linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy has been an all-around performer, recording a team-high 38 tackles, six tackles for losses, two sacks and five pass breakups. Safety Earl Thomas has four interceptions, including one he returned 92 yards for a TD last week, and he's also broken up six passes.
The Longhorns have also relied heavily on players like cornerback Curtis Brown (7 pass breakups), linebacker Emmaneul Acho (8 tackles for losses) and tackle Lamarr Houston (5 tackles for losses). Sam Acho, Emmanuel's brother, has seven tackles for losses.
Oklahoma has produced 16 sacks this season, including five by defensive end Sam Acho. And the Longhorns are two spots behind Oklahoma in tackles for losses, with an 8.4 per-game average.
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