Oklahoma Football: 30 Best Games in School History

Oct 11, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners fans cheer after a touchdown in the game against the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma beat Texas 31-26. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Oct. 9, 2004 – Oklahoma 12, Texas 0

Bob Stoops had won four consecutive games over Oklahoma’s longtime Red River rivals, and patience was beginning to run very thin among Texas Longhorn supporters. It didn’t help that Texas’ most recent loss in the series was a 65-13 pasting at the hand of the Sooners.

This game was the 99th in the series, one of college football’s most celebrated rivalries, and it also OU-Texas debut of a player who was highly recruited on both sides and was the most prized running back recruit in the country, Adrian Peterson.

Peterson made his presence known early in the game. On his second carry of the game, he broke free for a 44-yard gain.

Defense ruled throughout this game. The only scoring in the opening 30 minutes was a 22-yard field goal off the foot of the Sooners’ Trey DiCarlo. The Longhorns crossed midfield five times in the first two quarters, but were unable to put any points on the scoreboard.

The Sooners took the second-half kickoff and, largely on the legs of Peterson, moved the ball downfield and into scoring range, but had to settle for a second field goal from DiCarlo.

It turned out it wouldn’t be needed, but Oklahoma padded its precarious six-point lead by adding a fourth-quarter touchdown on an 8-yard run by Kejuan Jones to make the score 12-0.

That’s the way things ended, as Stoops & Co. chalked up a fifth straight win over Texas, shutting out the Longhorns for the first time since 1980. It also was the first time the Longhorns had been blanked in their rivalry with Oklahoma in 32 years.

The Sooner defense did an excellent job in bottling up Texas running back Cedric Benson and limiting big plays by quarterback Vince Young.. Benson was averaging 187 yards rushing per game, but was held to 92 yards on 23 carries. Young carried the ball 16 times for 54 yards and completed 8 of 23 passes for 86 yards.

Peterson ran for a game-high 225 yards for the Sooners, setting a new freshman record. The five-game winning streak in the series was the longest by Oklahoma since 1971-75.

Next: Dec. 1, 2007 - Oklahoma 38, Missouri 17