Oklahoma football: Five unforgettable OU-Texas battles of the last 50 years
By Chip Rouse
2001 — Oklahoma 14, Texas 3
The reigning national champion Oklahoma Sooners, winners of 17 straight games, rolled into the Cotton Bowl in 2001 with an abundance of confidence and a No. 3 ranking behind No. 1 Miami and Florida. Texas was a highly confident group as well, returning nine offensive starters and sporting a 4-0 record and a No. 5 ranking.
This was the first time that both teams came into the game ranked in the top-five nationally since the dramatic 1984 game that ended in a 15-15 tie.
The teams played a scoreless first quarter.
Texas had a 35-yard field goal attempt blocked in the second quarter, thwarting the Longhorns first sustained scoring drive.
OU starting quarterback Nate Hybl, a transfer from Georgia, took a fierce hit from Texas linebacker Everick Rawls and was forced out of the game midway through the second quarter. Sophomore Jason White came in to replace Hybl and promptly directed the Sooners on a scoring drive, capped off by a two-yard run by Quentin Griffin.
The Longhorns managed to get on the scoreboard on a 27-yard field goal with just 27 seconds to go in the first half.
Despite the offensive firepower on both sides, this was a game dominated by the defenses.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, and the game entered the fourth period with OU clinging to its 7-3 advantage.
Longhorn quarterback Chris Simms led Texas on a drive deep into Oklahoma territory in the fourth quarter, only to come up empty when the Sooners’ Antonio Perkins intercepted a pass in the end zone.
With OU facing a fourth down on the Texas side of the 50-yard line, the Sooners lined up for what looked like a field-goal try, but instead pooch-kicked with the ball being downed on the Texas three-yard line. The next play was one of the most memorable in the now 114-year history of this rivalry.
Blitzing OU safety Roy Williams hit Sims as he let loose of the ball and it fluttered straight upward and into the welcome hands of linebacker Teddy Lehman, who stepped ahead the final two yards for a Sooner touchdown, stretching the Oklahoma advantage to 14-3.
That is the way things ended as the Sooners stretched their winning streak to 18 games. It also marked the second straight game against a top-five team that the OU defense held the opponent without an offensive touchdown.