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Texas Itching to End Sooners' Winning Streak
Longhorns looking for first win in six tries
Oct. 3, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - After all the talk about beating Oklahoma and possibly ending the losing streak, this is the week the No. 2 Texas Longhorns finally get their chance to do it.
This year's Texas-Oklahoma matchup in Dallas is the 100th anniversary in a bitter border rivalry that has Longhorns fans more interested in its ugly recent history than its glorious distant past.
"We owe them one," Texas senior offensive tackle Jonathan Scott said before the season started.
Make that several.
Texas (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) hasn't beaten the Sooners (2-2, 1-0) since 1999, when Major Applewhite rallied the Longhorns from an early 17-0 deficit for a 38-28 victory. It was Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops' first season in Norman and his only loss to Texas' Mack Brown.
The Red River Rivalry has been all-Oklahoma since.
In 2000, it was a 63-14 romp that catapulted a developing Sooners program toward a national title. In 2003, it was another Oklahoma rout - 65-13 - that was Texas quarterback Vince Young's baptism by fire. Oklahoma thumped Texas again last year 12-0, the first time Texas had been shut out since 1980.
The Sooners' five-game winning streak has embarrassed the Longhorns and frustrated Brown's quest for his first conference title as a head coach.
So what makes Longhorns fans think this year can be different? Chalk it up to changes on both sides of the Red River.
Texas entered the season ranked No. 2 coming off its Rose Bowl win over Michigan and solidified its standing as a national title favorite with a 25-22 win at Ohio State on Sept. 10.
Young's leadership, the emergence of freshman tailback Jamaal Charles and the dominating play of a veteran defense give this year's Texas team an aura of toughness it hasn't had in recent years.
And Oklahoma is struggling. The departure of key players off last year's national title-game team, the hit-and-miss play of freshman quarterback Rhett Bomar and two early losses to TCU and UCLA make the Sooners appear ripe for their first loss in Dallas in the new century.
Oh, and sophomore running back Adrian Peterson is banged up. He left the Sooners' 43-21 win over Kansas State on Saturday night in the second quarter with an ankle injury. Stoops said after the game that Peterson will be OK to play against Texas.
Bomar hasn't played in this rivalry, yet hardly sounds nervous about what he might face in a game that has created nearly as many goats as heroes of late.
"This team, when it comes to the Texas game, we have confidence. We have that swagger," Bomar said. "A lot of people might count us out just like that, but we're going to go down there with all the confidence in the world."
Texas certainly has swagger. The Longhorns just might be the most confident team in the country after Saturday's 51-20 win at Missouri.
Young, who answered the critics who said he couldn't throw with 270 yards and two touchdowns passing against Ohio State, ripped off his first 100-yard rushing game against Missouri. The Longhorns topped 50 points for the third time this season despite 14 penalties and two turnovers.
"If we weren't killing ourselves with penalties, we would have scored at least 70 points," Scott said.
Oklahoma has flirted with 70 a couple of times in recent years against the Longhorns. Texas would love to saddle the Sooners with a similar humiliation this year.
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