2005 Oklahoma vs. Texas football game
Encyclopedia
The 2005 Oklahoma vs. Texas football game, played October 8, 2005, was the 100th meeting between the University of Oklahoma
and The University of Texas at Austin
in a college football
game. The annual game between the Texas Longhorns
and the Oklahoma Sooners
is called the Red River Shootout. It is considered by college football coaches to be one of the three greatest rivalry games in college football, and Fox Sports
says the rivalry includes some of the most unusual traditions in the sport. The game often has conference or national title significance (as this game did) and the series is unusual in that it is played at a neutral site instead of the home teams' stadium.
The 2005 Texas Longhorn football team
(variously "Texas" or "UT" or the "Horns") was coached by head football coach Mack Brown
and led on the field by quarterback
Vince Young
. The 2005 Oklahoma Sooners football team (variously "Oklahoma" or "OU") was coached by Bob Stoops
with Rhett Bomar
at quarterback. This was the fourth game of the 2005 season
for both teams. Texas came into the game with a 4-0 record and a No.2 ranking. Oklahoma was 2-2 and unranked. Both teams were 1-0 in conference play. Since the two teams are both in the South Division of the Big 12 Conference
, winning this game would be an important step towards winning the Division and possibly the Conference. For Texas, a loss would likely eliminate hope of them playing in the BCS National Championship Game.
Prior to the game, UT was favored by 14 points. They took an early 7-point lead and led for the rest of the game. Although the score was close for the first quarter, Texas eventually won the game by 33 points, tying the biggest margin of victory for the Longhorns (a 40-7 victory in 1941) in the 100-game history of the rivalry. For Mack Brown, beating Oklahoma for the first time in five years allowed him to "get the monkey off his back" and shed his reputation as a coach incapable of winning the most important games.
The stadium attendance was 75,452 people, and the game was televised over most of the United States on ABC
. Texas' win kept them near the front of the national championship picture. They ultimately finished the season unbeaten, snaring the Big 12 Conference
and NCAA championships. Oklahoma finished the season with eight wins and four losses and ranked No. 22 in the nation.
and the Texas Longhorns
are two of the most storied programs in college football. Prior to 2005 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 considered to be one of the greatest rivalry games in all of college sports.
The 2005 matchup was officially called the Red River Rivalry, but the game is better known by its traditional name, the Red River Shootout. It is played at a neutral site, the Cotton Bowl
stadium in Dallas, Texas
, amid the atmosphere of the Texas State Fair which is 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. Since 1945, 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 five 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 had 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.
The 2005 game was the 100th meeting in the series and a special logo (above right) was created to commemorate the event. The game logo included both team logos as well as the logo of the sponsor for that game, SBC communications, as well as the number 100.
Oklahoma is the winningest program in what is widely considered the modern era of college football. OU has the most victories and best winning percentage of any team since the end of World War II. The Sooners have earned seven AP National Championships (1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000) in that span and are recognized by the NCAA for 16 titles. They have been ranked first in the AP and BCS polls more than any other team, have been ranked in the top 5 of the AP and BCS polls more than any other team, and have scored more points than any other team in the modern era. Naturally, Oklahoma had high expectations for the year. Their pre-season ranking of No.7 in the nation and the fact they had made it to the national championship game in both 2003 and 2004 only served to support this assumption.
One of the three most victorious programs in college football history as judged by either number of wins or winning percentage, the University of Texas has traditionally been considered among the elite of college football. From 1936 to 2004, the team finished the season in the top ten 23 times, or one-third of the time, according to the Associated Press
. The team that coach Mack Brown fielded in 2005 has been called one of the most memorable in college football history by College Football News.
The 2005 UT team was attempting to follow on the success of the 2004 season, in which quarterback Vince Young led the team to Mack Brown's first Bowl Championship Series
(BCS) game in the 2005 Rose Bowl and a top-5 finish in the polls. However, even that successful season was marred by a loss to Oklahoma, the fifth straight loss for the Horns. With the exception of Cedric Benson
, Derrick Johnson
, and Bo Scaife
, Texas returned most of their key players from 2004–2005, including redshirt
junior quarterback Vince Young.
Texas was given a pre-season No. 2 ranking (behind defending National Champions University of Southern California
) by Sports Illustrated
magazine and was also ranked second in the pre-season Associated Press Poll and USA Today
Coaches Poll
. This created anticipation that Texas might play for the national championship if they could win their road game against the Ohio State Buckeyes
and if they could snap their five-game losing streak against the Sooners.
For either team to play in the national title game, that team had to end up ranked No. 1 or No. 2
at the end of the regular season. Since the Bowl Championship Series
was formed in 1998, 9 of the 14 teams were unbeaten going into the championship game. The only time the national champion has not been unbeaten during that stretch was in 2003 when LSU
and USC
claimed a share of the title as each finished with one loss. Ohio State tackle Kirk Barton would later say "There’ll probably be two undefeated teams at the end of the road and if you’re not one of them you’re probably not going to be playing for the championship. So you’ve got to treat every game like it’s the Super Bowl
. You only get one opportunity."
and deferred to the second half. Texas used 5:52 worth of game clock to score on their first possession (12 plays, 82 yards) with a touchdown
by Ramonce Taylor. It marked the first time Texas had taken a lead in the Red River Rivalry since 2002. OU and UT traded punts
and then OU's Garrett Hartley
scored a 52-yard field goal
to make the score Oklahoma-3, Texas-7. This was the longest field goal of Hartley's college career. OU kicked off for a touchback
and Texas started on their own 20. On the first play, tailback Selvin Young
rushed over the right guard to the UT22 where OU's D.J. Wolfe forced a fumble
; the ball was recovered by OU's Zach Latimer
at the UT26. The Sooners ran two rushing plays to acquire a first down at the fifteen. A short run-play, a short pass
play, and an incomplete pass
followed to set up fourth and four from the 9. OU elected for field goal making the score 6-7 in favor of the Horns. OU kicked off for another touchback so Texas again started at their 20. The first play was a hand off to Jamaal Charles
and he ran it 80 yards for a touchdown. The Sooners punted on their next possession, and the first quarter ended with Texas on their own 23-yard-line and an eight-point lead.
intercepted Rhett Bomar
's pass at the UT36. This was the first interception for Bomar in 73 attempts. As the third quarter ended, UT had just gained a first down at the OU37.
UT did score a touchdown on that drive to go ahead 38-6. The kickoff by UT's Greg Johnson went 54 yards to the OU 11 where Lendy Holmes
caught the ball and made a 21-yard return to the OU 32. UT committed two penalties on the play: a face mask penalty for 15 yards and a personal foul, also for 15 yards. This gave the Sooners their best starting field position of the day: 1st and 10, OU ball on the UT 38. From there, OU punched in the touchdown with a five-play series culminating in a 15-yard pass to Joe Jon Finley
. Texas ended their next series by punting. OU drove to the Texas 23 when Brian Robison sacked Bomar and forced a fumble. The ball was picked up by UT's Rodrique Wright
, who ran 67 yards for a touchdown with 7:41 left in the game. For the second time in a row, the Sooners combined a kick-off return with a penalty against Texas. This time, Lendy Holmes fielded the ball at the OU 17 and returned it 29 yards to the OU 46. The penalty was another personal foul against Texas, which move the ball to the UT 39. The Texas defense stopped Oklahoma and Garrett Hartley came in to attempt a 41-yard field goal but it went wide right and UT took over at its own 24 with 2:21 remaining and a 45-12 lead. Texas ran three running plays and then took a knee to run out the clock
.
That also happened to be the last time UT had legitimate national title hopes, ending the regular season 11-0 before losing to Georgia
in the Cotton Bowl Classic game
. For Mack Brown, beating Oklahoma for the first time in five years allowed him to "get the monkey off his back" and shed his reputation as a coach incapable of winning the most important games.
By breaking the string of five consecutive losses to Oklahoma, Longhorn coach Mack Brown
preserved the Longhorns's National Championship hopes. UT Freshman running back
Jamaal Charles
set a record for rushing yards by a Texas freshman in the series. With his 80-yard scamper, Charles also had the longest touchdown from scrimmage by a Texas running back in the series. Vince Young completed 14 out of 27 passes for 241 yards and also ran for 45 yards.
As a result of the loss, Oklahoma's record changed to 39-56-5 all-time in the Red River Rivalry, while Bob Stoops’ is 5-2 against the Longhorns and 21-6 vs. ranked opponents.
as the only undefeated team, winning both the Big 12 Conference
championship and the National Championship.
The Longhorns' penultimate victory of the season, in the Big 12 Championship Game, featured the biggest margin of victory in the history of that contest. Their ultimate victory in the 2006 Rose Bowl
against the University of Southern California
Trojans
for the national championship, as well as their overall season, have both been cited as standing among the greatest performances in college football history by publications such as College Football News
, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Scout.com, and Sports Illustrated
. The Longhorns and the Trojans were together awarded the 2006 ESPY Award by ESPN
for the "Best Game" in any sport. The Longhorns finished the season as the only unbeaten team, with 13 wins and zero losses overall.
The season gave Texas its second Big 12 football championship (27 conference championships total, including 25 in the Southwest Conference), and fourth consensus national championship in football. It was the ninth perfect season in the history of Longhorn football.
UT set numerous school and NCAA
records, including most points scored in a season (652). After the season ended, six Longhorns from this championship team were selected by professional football teams
in the 2006 NFL Draft
. With Texas going on to Pasadena
to cap the 2005 season by playing for a national title, four of the last six Red River Shootouts have featured a team that went on to play in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game (2000, 2003-5).
Just prior to the start of Oklahoma's 2006 season
, Rhett Bomar
was kicked off the team for accepting improper cash contributions. On July 11, 2007, the NCAA announced a finding of "failure to monitor" the employment of student athletes and handed out penalties. These included a verdict that all wins from the 2005 OU season were vacated, changing the team's record from 8-4 to 0-4 for that year. The University of Oklahoma has announced that it will appeal the finding and the vacation of the wins from the 2005 season.
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
and The University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
in a college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game. The annual game between the Texas Longhorns
Texas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National...
and the Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
is called the Red River Shootout. It is considered by college football coaches to be one of the three greatest rivalry games in college football, and Fox Sports
Fox Sports (USA)
Fox Sports is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company . It was formed in 1994 with Fox's acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games...
says the rivalry includes some of the most unusual traditions in the sport. The game often has conference or national title significance (as this game did) and the series is unusual in that it is played at a neutral site instead of the home teams' stadium.
The 2005 Texas Longhorn football team
2005 Texas Longhorn football team
The 2005 Texas Longhorn football team represented the University of Texas at Austin during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, winning the Big 12 Conference championship and the national championship. The team was coached by Mack Brown, led on offense by quarterback Vince Young, and played...
(variously "Texas" or "UT" or the "Horns") was coached by head football coach Mack Brown
Mack Brown
William Mack Brown is head coach of The University of Texas at Austin Longhorn football team.Prior to his head coach position at Texas, Brown was head coach at Appalachian State, Tulane, and North Carolina. Brown is credited with revitalizing the Texas and North Carolina football programs...
and led on the field by quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Vince Young
Vince Young
Vincent Paul Young, Jr. , nicknamed "VY", is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League . He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Tennessee Titans. Young was the third overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college...
. The 2005 Oklahoma Sooners football team (variously "Oklahoma" or "OU") was coached by Bob Stoops
Bob Stoops
Robert Anthony "Bob" Stoops is the head coach of the University of Oklahoma football team. During the 2000 season, Stoops led the Sooners to an Orange Bowl victory and a national championship....
with Rhett Bomar
Rhett Bomar
Rhett Matthew Bomar is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft...
at quarterback. This was the fourth game of the 2005 season
2005 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the least amount of controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series title game in many years.To an extent it was a return to classic football...
for both teams. Texas came into the game with a 4-0 record and a No.2 ranking. Oklahoma was 2-2 and unranked. Both teams were 1-0 in conference play. Since the two teams are both in the South Division of the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
, winning this game would be an important step towards winning the Division and possibly the Conference. For Texas, a loss would likely eliminate hope of them playing in the BCS National Championship Game.
Prior to the game, UT was favored by 14 points. They took an early 7-point lead and led for the rest of the game. Although the score was close for the first quarter, Texas eventually won the game by 33 points, tying the biggest margin of victory for the Longhorns (a 40-7 victory in 1941) in the 100-game history of the rivalry. For Mack Brown, beating Oklahoma for the first time in five years allowed him to "get the monkey off his back" and shed his reputation as a coach incapable of winning the most important games.
The stadium attendance was 75,452 people, and the game was televised over most of the United States on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Texas' win kept them near the front of the national championship picture. They ultimately finished the season unbeaten, snaring the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
and NCAA championships. Oklahoma finished the season with eight wins and four losses and ranked No. 22 in the nation.
The Red River Shootout
The Oklahoma SoonersOklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
and the Texas Longhorns
Texas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National...
are two of the most storied programs in college football. Prior to 2005 each school had participated in college football for more than 100 years. They are home to nationally-known traditions from the Sooner Schooner
Sooner Schooner
The Sooner Schooner is the official mascot of the sports teams of the University of Oklahoma Sooners. Pulled by two white ponies named Boomer and Sooner, it is a scaled-down replica of the Conestoga wagon used by settlers of the Oklahoma Territory around the time of the Land Run of 1889...
and the RUF/NEKS
RUF/NEKS
The RUF/NEKS are an all-male student pep squad for the University of Oklahoma.-History:The earliest years of this student organization are not well known. The RUF/NEKS began in the late 1910s. In December 1915 at a basketball game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma A&M a group of football players were...
at Oklahoma to Bevo
Bevo (mascot)
Bevo is the name of the mascot of the sports teams at the University of Texas at Austin, a Texas longhorn steer with burnt orange coloring. The shape of the Longhorn's head and horns gives rise to the school's hand symbol and saying, Hook 'em Horns...
and the Hook 'em Horns
Hook 'em Horns
Hook 'em Horns is the slogan and hand signal of The University of Texas at Austin. Students and alumni of the university employ a greeting consisting of the phrase "Hook 'em" or "Hook 'em Horns" and also use the phrase as a parting good-bye or as the closing line in a letter or story.The gesture is...
of Texas. The annual OU/UT football game is considered to be one of the greatest rivalry games in all of college sports.
The 2005 matchup was officially called the Red River Rivalry, but the game is better known by its traditional name, the Red River Shootout. It is played at a neutral site, the Cotton Bowl
Cotton Bowl (stadium)
The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1929 and became known as "The House That Doak Built" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s. Originally known as Fair Park Stadium, it is located in Fair Park,...
stadium in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, amid the atmosphere of the Texas State Fair which is 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
Red River Shootout trophies
There are three Red River Shootout trophies given to the winner of the annual Red River Shootout which is a college football rivalry game between The University of Texas Longhorns and the University of Oklahoma Sooners. The trophies are the Golden Hat, the Red River Rivalry trophy and the...
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. Since 1945, 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 five 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 had 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.
The 2005 game was the 100th meeting in the series and a special logo (above right) was created to commemorate the event. The game logo included both team logos as well as the logo of the sponsor for that game, SBC communications, as well as the number 100.
Prior to the game
One of the three most victorious programs in college football history as judged by either number of wins or winning percentage, the University of Texas has traditionally been considered among the elite of college football. From 1936 to 2004, the team finished the season in the top ten 23 times, or one-third of the time, according to the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. The team that coach Mack Brown fielded in 2005 has been called one of the most memorable in college football history by College Football News.
The 2005 UT team was attempting to follow on the success of the 2004 season, in which quarterback Vince Young led the team to Mack Brown's first Bowl Championship Series
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
(BCS) game in the 2005 Rose Bowl and a top-5 finish in the polls. However, even that successful season was marred by a loss to Oklahoma, the fifth straight loss for the Horns. With the exception of Cedric Benson
Cedric Benson
Cedric Myron Benson is an American football running back for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears fourth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft...
, Derrick Johnson
Derrick Johnson
-Kansas City Chiefs:Johnson started every game for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2005, becoming the first Chiefs linebacker in 20 years to start all 16 games of his rookie campaign. He was subsequently awarded the Mack Lee Hill Award by the Chiefs...
, and Bo Scaife
Bo Scaife
Oliver Edward "Bo" Scaife, III is an American football tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft...
, Texas returned most of their key players from 2004–2005, including redshirt
Redshirt (college sports)
Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...
junior quarterback Vince Young.
Texas was given a pre-season No. 2 ranking (behind defending National Champions University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
) by Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
magazine and was also ranked second in the pre-season Associated Press Poll and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
Coaches Poll
Coaches Poll
The USA Today Coaches' Poll is the current name for a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and Division I college basketball teams....
. This created anticipation that Texas might play for the national championship if they could win their road game against the Ohio State Buckeyes
2005 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
The 2005 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented The Ohio State University in the college football season of 2005-2006. The team's head football coach was Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a win-loss record of 10 and 2, and...
and if they could snap their five-game losing streak against the Sooners.
For either team to play in the national title game, that team had to end up ranked No. 1 or No. 2
2005 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Three human polls and one formulaic ranking make up the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the National Collegiate Athletic Association , does not bestow a National Championship title...
at the end of the regular season. Since the Bowl Championship Series
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
was formed in 1998, 9 of the 14 teams were unbeaten going into the championship game. The only time the national champion has not been unbeaten during that stretch was in 2003 when LSU
LSU Tigers football
The LSU Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, represents Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States in NCAA Division I FBS college football. Current head coach Les Miles has led the team since 2005. Since 1999 when Nick Saban took over as...
and USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
claimed a share of the title as each finished with one loss. Ohio State tackle Kirk Barton would later say "There’ll probably be two undefeated teams at the end of the road and if you’re not one of them you’re probably not going to be playing for the championship. So you’ve got to treat every game like it’s the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
. You only get one opportunity."
First quarter
Oklahoma won the coin tossCoin flipping
Coin flipping or coin tossing or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air to choose between two alternatives, sometimes to resolve a dispute between two parties...
and deferred to the second half. Texas used 5:52 worth of game clock to score on their first possession (12 plays, 82 yards) with a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
by Ramonce Taylor. It marked the first time Texas had taken a lead in the Red River Rivalry since 2002. OU and UT traded punts
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
and then OU's Garrett Hartley
Garrett Hartley
Garrett Hartley is an American football placekicker for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2008...
scored a 52-yard field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
to make the score Oklahoma-3, Texas-7. This was the longest field goal of Hartley's college career. OU kicked off for a touchback
Touchback
In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead behind or above a goal line and the team who is attacking that goal line is responsible for the ball being there. Responsibility is determined by which team gave the ball the impetus...
and Texas started on their own 20. On the first play, tailback Selvin Young
Selvin Young
Selvin Young is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2007...
rushed over the right guard to the UT22 where OU's D.J. Wolfe forced a fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
; the ball was recovered by OU's Zach Latimer
Zach Latimer
Zach Latimer is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma....
at the UT26. The Sooners ran two rushing plays to acquire a first down at the fifteen. A short run-play, a short pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
play, and an incomplete pass
Incomplete pass
An incomplete pass is a term in American football which means that a legal forward pass hits the ground before a player on either team gains possession. For example, if the quarterback throws the ball to one of his wide receivers, and the receiver either does not touch it or tries to catch it...
followed to set up fourth and four from the 9. OU elected for field goal making the score 6-7 in favor of the Horns. OU kicked off for another touchback so Texas again started at their 20. The first play was a hand off to Jamaal Charles
Jamaal Charles
Jamaal RaShaad Jones Charles is an American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft...
and he ran it 80 yards for a touchdown. The Sooners punted on their next possession, and the first quarter ended with Texas on their own 23-yard-line and an eight-point lead.
Second quarter
Texas was not able to score on that drive and they punted the ball to Oklahoma, who began their drive on their 32-yard line. It was the first of four consecutive combined punts for the two teams and during this time the clock wound down to 6:54 remaining in the first half. Texas snapped the scoring drought with an eight play, 32-yard drive that culminated in a 38-yard field goal. The Sooners punted on their next possession, giving the ball to UT on their 30-yard line with 0:55 remaining. Vince Young rushed for eleven yards and a first down, but the next play was called back because of a Longhorn penalty. Young then completed a pass to Billy Pitman who ran 64 yards along the left sideline for a touchdown with 0:17 in the half. The extra point made the score OU-6, UT-24 and Oklahoma took a knee to end the half.Third quarter
The Longhorns scored once in the third quarter as Young threw a 27-yard pass to Billy Pittman to increase the Longhorn lead to 25 points. As stated by the Associated Press, "the rout was on". The Sooners only got within UT territory once, and that drive ended abruptly when Michael HuffMichael Huff
Michael Wayne Huff II. is an American Football Free Safety for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He played collegiately as a CB/S for The University of Texas Longhorns.-High school career:...
intercepted Rhett Bomar
Rhett Bomar
Rhett Matthew Bomar is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft...
's pass at the UT36. This was the first interception for Bomar in 73 attempts. As the third quarter ended, UT had just gained a first down at the OU37.
Fourth quarter
Lendy Holmes
Lendy Holmes is an American football defensive back who currently a free agent. He was signed as an undrafted free agent after playing college football for the Oklahoma Sooners. Holmes played in eight games during his 2009 rookie campaign.-External links:*...
caught the ball and made a 21-yard return to the OU 32. UT committed two penalties on the play: a face mask penalty for 15 yards and a personal foul, also for 15 yards. This gave the Sooners their best starting field position of the day: 1st and 10, OU ball on the UT 38. From there, OU punched in the touchdown with a five-play series culminating in a 15-yard pass to Joe Jon Finley
Joe Jon Finley
Joe Jon Finley is an American football tight end who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Oklahoma. The Detroit Lions signed him on September 8, 2010. Despite playing well in pre-season, Finley was cut...
. Texas ended their next series by punting. OU drove to the Texas 23 when Brian Robison sacked Bomar and forced a fumble. The ball was picked up by UT's Rodrique Wright
Rodrique Wright
Rodrique Charles Wright is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft...
, who ran 67 yards for a touchdown with 7:41 left in the game. For the second time in a row, the Sooners combined a kick-off return with a penalty against Texas. This time, Lendy Holmes fielded the ball at the OU 17 and returned it 29 yards to the OU 46. The penalty was another personal foul against Texas, which move the ball to the UT 39. The Texas defense stopped Oklahoma and Garrett Hartley came in to attempt a 41-yard field goal but it went wide right and UT took over at its own 24 with 2:21 remaining and a 45-12 lead. Texas ran three running plays and then took a knee to run out the clock
Running out the clock
In sports, running out the clock refers to the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to expire through a series of pre-selected plays, either to preserve a lead or hasten the end of a one-sided contest.- American football :...
.
Analysis
Prior to the game, the Longhorns were ranked second by the Associated Press, and the Sooners were unranked for the first time since 1999, which was also Texas's last victory over OU. Texas was favored by 14 points; they ended up winning the game by 33 points, tying the biggest margin of victory for the Longhorns (a 40-7 victory in 1941) in the 100-game history of the rivalry. The game also marked the sixth time the Longhorns have entered the contest ranked second nationally, and they have won all six times. With the win, Texas started their season 5-0 for the first time since 1983.That also happened to be the last time UT had legitimate national title hopes, ending the regular season 11-0 before losing to Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams of the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference...
in the Cotton Bowl Classic game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
. For Mack Brown, beating Oklahoma for the first time in five years allowed him to "get the monkey off his back" and shed his reputation as a coach incapable of winning the most important games.
By breaking the string of five consecutive losses to Oklahoma, Longhorn coach Mack Brown
Mack Brown
William Mack Brown is head coach of The University of Texas at Austin Longhorn football team.Prior to his head coach position at Texas, Brown was head coach at Appalachian State, Tulane, and North Carolina. Brown is credited with revitalizing the Texas and North Carolina football programs...
preserved the Longhorns's National Championship hopes. UT Freshman running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
Jamaal Charles
Jamaal Charles
Jamaal RaShaad Jones Charles is an American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft...
set a record for rushing yards by a Texas freshman in the series. With his 80-yard scamper, Charles also had the longest touchdown from scrimmage by a Texas running back in the series. Vince Young completed 14 out of 27 passes for 241 yards and also ran for 45 yards.
As a result of the loss, Oklahoma's record changed to 39-56-5 all-time in the Red River Rivalry, while Bob Stoops’ is 5-2 against the Longhorns and 21-6 vs. ranked opponents.
After the game
As had occurred the two seasons prior when Oklahoma won the Red River Shootout en-route to a national title game, the road to the 2005 National Championship game went through Dallas. This time it was Texas who eventually finished the season of 2005-20062005 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the least amount of controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series title game in many years.To an extent it was a return to classic football...
as the only undefeated team, winning both the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
championship and the National Championship.
The Longhorns' penultimate victory of the season, in the Big 12 Championship Game, featured the biggest margin of victory in the history of that contest. Their ultimate victory in the 2006 Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
against the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
Trojans
2005 USC Trojans football team
The 2005 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the college football season of 2005–2006, winning the Pacific-10 Conference , and playing for the NCAA Division I-A national championship...
for the national championship, as well as their overall season, have both been cited as standing among the greatest performances in college football history by publications such as College Football News
College Football News
College Football News is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includes comparisons between teams, predictions of game outcomes and...
, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Scout.com, and Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
. The Longhorns and the Trojans were together awarded the 2006 ESPY Award by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
for the "Best Game" in any sport. The Longhorns finished the season as the only unbeaten team, with 13 wins and zero losses overall.
The season gave Texas its second Big 12 football championship (27 conference championships total, including 25 in the Southwest Conference), and fourth consensus national championship in football. It was the ninth perfect season in the history of Longhorn football.
UT set numerous school and NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
records, including most points scored in a season (652). After the season ended, six Longhorns from this championship team were selected by professional football teams
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
in the 2006 NFL Draft
2006 NFL Draft
The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offered by ESPNU and, for the first time, by...
. With Texas going on to Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
to cap the 2005 season by playing for a national title, four of the last six Red River Shootouts have featured a team that went on to play in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game (2000, 2003-5).
Just prior to the start of Oklahoma's 2006 season
2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 2006-2007, winning the Big 12 Conference Championship...
, Rhett Bomar
Rhett Bomar
Rhett Matthew Bomar is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft...
was kicked off the team for accepting improper cash contributions. On July 11, 2007, the NCAA announced a finding of "failure to monitor" the employment of student athletes and handed out penalties. These included a verdict that all wins from the 2005 OU season were vacated, changing the team's record from 8-4 to 0-4 for that year. The University of Oklahoma has announced that it will appeal the finding and the vacation of the wins from the 2005 season.
Further reading
- Longhorns' Perfect Drive: Texas' 2005 National Championship Season Sports Publishing (January 15, 2006) ISBN 978-1-59670-116-8
- Sports Illustrated CFB Texas # Time Inc. Magazine Company (January 9, 2005) ISBN 978-1-58060-762-9
- Sports Illustrated College Football Championship Commemorative Issue 2006 The Time Inc. Magazine Company (January 6, 2006) ISBN 978-1-58060-758-2
- Texas Pride: Longhorn Glory Shines Through an Unforgettable Championship Season Triumph Books (January 31, 2006) ISBN 978-1-57243-876-7