Game Grades: Oklahoma 63, Texas 21
By Joe Buettner
Oct 13, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooner receiver Kenny Stills (4) celebrates with the golden hat trophy after a victory against the Texas Longhorns during the red river rivalry at the Cotton Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE
| Player/Group | Grade | Evaluation |
| Quarterbacks | B+ | Landry Jones was quiet in this one while Blake Bell grabbed most of the attention. The Stache had two touchdowns and over 300 passing yards for the first time all season, but he did throw an interception Texas returned for six. Other than that one blemish, Jones was good in a win that made him the winningest quarterback in Oklahoma history. Also, Bell was a monster, but you already knew that. |
| Running backs | A | Damien Williams showed up in a big way. In his first RRR, Williams scored on a 95-yard rushing touchdown, which is the longest rushing attempt in the rivalry’s history. D-Will looked so solid against a hyped Texas defensive line, but so did Brennan Clay and Dom Whaley who combined for 110 rushing yards. Trey Millard continued to prove why he deserves more carries. Millard’s lone touchdown came through the air, but regardless, Millard is a threat with the ball in his hands. |
| Wide receivers | B- | Other than Millard, it was a big day for Justin Brown. Also, we finally got to see Jalen Saunders, the transfer from Fresno State. Saunders had some nice catches in his first game with Oklahoma, and he looked impressive for the most part. Stills, Metoyer, and Shepard were a bit quiet on the stat sheet. Keep in mind that the run game was really the story of the game. However, be very excited about Justin Brown who is really coming in to his own with Oklahoma. |
| Run defense | A- | Johnathan Gray and the Texas run game could not get anything going. OU’s defensive line really brought it, only allowing 74 rushing yards. The absence of Malcolm Brown had to hurt Texas, but Oklahoma looked improved after allowing a lot of teams to run all over them. |
| Pass defense | B | It just was not David Ash’s day. Two interceptions and a fumble lost for Ash, and he wasn’t even able to finish the game due to an injury. The Oklahoma secondary held Ash to 13-of-29 through the air, and contained Mike Davis about as good as you can with his talent. OU got the pressure on Ash, forcing him to make some bad decisions. Though, Case McCoy, who came in after Ash hurt his wrist, threw two touchdown passes in garbage time. While it was the back-ups, it is never fun seeing the other team try to make the score look better. Especially when the last touchdown came on the very last play of the game. |
| Special Teams | C+ | OU actually did not too bad in special teams. Justin Brown made some big plays, not only in the punt return game but punt coverage game. Hunnicutt was a perfect 2/2 on field goals. Also, the Sooners did not allow any big returns from Texas on kickoffs. However, I bump the special teams down for that really weird PAT on the first touchdown that Texas returned for two points. It had no effect on the game, but it was just so unbelievably OU, you kind of have to mark them down a bit for the error. |
| Coaching | A+ | Bob owns Mack. OU came in to this one with a lot of fire and straight up burnt the Horns. This is a big win for Stoops, and possibly could be the beginning of the end for Brown’s career in Texas if he keeps this up. |