The Texas-Oklahoma rivalry can change things quickly, regardless of teams' records

AUSTIN – The storylines are pretty much the same this October.

They’ve just been swapped.

That’s how fast things can change in one of the most historic rivalries in the sport.

Texas has raised itself from the ashes after reaching the heights of the Mack Brown era. Oklahoma was running things in the Big 12 and grabbing Heisman trophies like they were pocket change before running afoul of late.

Texas reached the College Football Playoff semifinals two straight seasons from 2023-24 before sitting out the playoffs last year. OU hadn’t been a contender recently but did crash the CFP party last December only to exit quickly despite leading Alabama 17-0 in Norman in the first round.

We turn to the present season. Texas is up, OU is down. But check back in a week where fortunes can change at breakneck speed.

Texas, most would probably agree, isn’t the best team in college football, but it is unbeaten and ranked No. 1 because of quality wins. That’s why it is a 7½-point favorite.

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Oklahoma, everyone would attest, isn’t close to the best team, either, or maybe not even one of the really good teams in college football, but there are few programs as proud or as successful as the Sooners, and they might actually be good with two quality losses.

And to be honest, none of that really matters when it comes to October in Dallas where Stonie Clark can become a hero with one monumental tackle at the goal-line and Peter Gardere stamps his legacy as a quarterback with four wins over OU. Players can enter the Cotton Bowl as a mortal and leave 60 minutes later as a legend.

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Who knows what qualifies as an upset any more in a series that has been played in Dallas since 1912 and at the State Fair since 1929 and is more passion play than sport. The Longhorns lead the series 65-51-5, but there are good reasons Texas ranks fifth in all-time football wins at 975 and OU sixth with 967.

“I can promise you one thing,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said, “nobody’s overlooking anybody in this game.”

That’s the perfect history lesson since these two teams have flipped the scripts from just 12 months ago.

A year ago the wounded Longhorns limped into the Cotton Bowl unranked with two losses.

On Saturday, the flawed Sooners will sneak into that historic area unranked with two losses.

Before this game in 2025, Texas had lost to one of the college football foremost bluebloods on the road (Ohio State) and was embarrassed in its SEC opener (at Florida).

This year, OU has lost to one of the heavyweight brands in the nation on the road (Michigan) and was humiliated in its SEC opener (at Georgia).

While the two teams appear to be trending in opposite directions, their emotions will identically coincide this weekend. Nothing changes that.

Both squads will be at a fever pitch for Saturday’s 2:45 p.m. kickoff. Actually even before that.

“There’s always a ton of emotion in pregame for whatever reason,” Sarkisian acknowledged. “The ball’s not kicked off, and everybody’s all hyped up at the start of the game.”

Sarkisian said he and his staff will try to temper those emotions, nerves and unbridled anticipation and stay focused on the game itself.

Texas didn’t do that all that well last October when it trailed 6-3 at intermission, but rallied to shut out the Sooners 20-0 in the second half to seal its second consecutive win in this series and third in four years.

That’s usually how this series flows. One side dominates for a span, only to be ultimately switched. Just ask Mack Brown.

Sarkisian doesn’t really subscribe to the theory that OU is less of a football team this fall. He attributes the Sooners’ 2-2 record largely to being a product of a harsh schedule, but of course the last thing he wants to do is rile up the crimson fan base.

“I don’t know that necessarily they haven’t played well,” said Sarkisian, who is personally 3-2 against the Sooners. “Defensively, they’ve played exceptional. These guys are a phenomenal defensive football team. They played at Michigan, which is not easy. They played at Georgia, which we know is not easy. I’m sure Coach (Brent) Venables wishes he had the schedule of some other teams or they could be 4-0.”

While the Longhorns appear to have much more to play for with a terrific start at a championship run with two quality wins over Ohio State and Tennessee, the Sooners will approach this game with an anger level and desperation that could mask any shortage of offensive firepower or momentum.

Mix in a slow start with a turnover here and there, and up may become down. Worked for Texas last year.

That’s just how this rivalry rolls.

“They’re definitely going to give us their best effort,” Longhorn linebacker Justin Cryer said. “I think they are super dynamic (on offense). But I don’t take a lot from their recent performances and people’s perception of them. This is a game they’re going to show up for. We have to be on it or it’s going to be a long day for us.”

That type of response has to be music to Sarkisian’s ears.

He gave his players, which include 48 newcomers to his roster, a tutorial on Texas-OU 101 to educate them about the history and significance of the only rivalry in the country that splits the stadium down the middle with rival fans sitting side by side at the two 50-yard lines. You know, within spitting range.

Heck, he even showed them a picture of the storied Cotton Bowl and pointed out the tunnel from which both teams enter the playing field and where they will warm up.

It’s all about the details.

“But at the end of the day,” he said, “it’s football, and the game means a ton to us. I don’t waste a lot of time and energy in the rah-rah speeches on a Monday.”

He shouldn’t have to.

For his money, he loves the neutral-site setting of this game, which will be played for the 122nd time. Thankfully, he appreciates the history and doesn’t ever want to go to a home-and-home arrangement.

“The idea that this thing’s split at the 50, and half the game is a home game, and the other time it’s a road game when you’re in OU’s end, I love all of that,” Sarkisian said. “I love all that comes with it. I love that it’s at the State Fair. The smell of the corn dogs, the funnel cakes and all that, it’s so special and so unique, and I do not take that lightly. I would not change it for anything.”

That’s one thing that should never change, even if the programs’ trajectories do.

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This article originally published at The Texas-Oklahoma rivalry can change things quickly, regardless of teams’ records.

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