Oklahoma football: Notable numbers from Red River Rivalry history
By Chip Rouse
The annual Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas is much more than a football border war.
It is a full-fledged event that serves as a headline attraction every year at the Texas State Fair in Dallas.
All roads leading north and south toward Dallas in the 24-to 48-hours before game time are packed with endless streaming lines of motorized vehicles carrying passionate fans and noticeable markings proudly declaring their diehard allegiance.
It can only mean OU-Texas weekend, and if you don’t believe it is a big-time event, try getting a hotel room, or even a dinner reservation, in Dallas one the same weekend as the Red River game.
On Saturday, close to 90,000 fans will descend on Fair Park, southeast of downtown Dallas and site of the State Fair of Texas. Therein sits the historic Cotton Bowl, site of the 117th renewal of the classic battle royal between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas.
It is one of the only college football rivalry games in which the stadium is equally divided in fans of the two schools. Half of the stadium, between the 50-yard lines, sports the crimson colors of Oklahoma, and the other half is fully adorned in burnt orange, the school color of the Longhorns. It is truly a striking site to witness in person.
This is the 90th consecutive year the annual OU-Texas rivalry game, officially known now as the Red River Showdown, has been played at the Cotton Bowl. Before the game was permanently moved to Dallas, which just happens to be approximately halfway between Austin and Norman, it was hosted by the two schools.
The game was played in Austin 10 times and in Houston once between 1900 and 1923. Oklahoma was the home team on six occasions during that time frame, including three times when the game was played in Oklahoma City.
Here are some other notable numbers from the OU-Texas rivalry series:
3 — Number of trophies exchanged pending the outcome of each game in the series: the golden hat, a gold, 10-gallon-style hat awarded to the winning team and placed on display in the winning team’s athletic department; the Governor’s Trophy, exchanged between the governors of the two states, and the Red River Rivalry Trophy, the newest of the three awards, exchanged between the student governments of the two schools.
8 — Consecutive wins by Oklahoma over Texas between 1940 and 1947, the most by either team in the long history of the rivalry. That was followed by the Sooners winning nine of the next 10 games in the series under legendary coach Bud Wilkinson.
30 — Total wins by Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops versus Texas. Switzer had the best record against Texas at 9-5, but lost his last three games to the Longhorns. Stoops was 12-7 against Texas. Wilkinson had the worst record against the Sooners biggest rival, going 9-8, including losing his final six games against Texas.
48 — Total points scored by Texas in the six games with Oklahoma from 1952 to 1957. The Sooners’ combined points in winning all six games was 168.
50 — Oklahoma has scored 50 or more points five times against Texas since the 2000 season. The Sooners scored that many points only one time in the OU-Texas series before the 2000 season.
62 — Wins by Texas in the all-time series with Oklahoma. The Longhorns lead the overall series with a record of 62-49-5.
65 — Points scored by Oklahoma in defeating Texas 65-13 in 2003. That is the most points scored by either team in the 116-year history of the rivalry.
77 — Total number of games in the OU-Texas rivalry since 1945, or post World War II. From 1945-2020, Oklahoma has won 38 times, Texas 36 times and there have been three ties.
1900 — The year of the inaugural game in this historic rivalry, won by Texas 28-2.
1963 — The game that year featured No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Texas, one of only two times in the 116-year-old history of the series that the Sooners and Longhorns were the top two teams in the country at the time the game was played. Texas won the 1963 game 28-7 and took over the top spot in the Associated Press poll, which it held for the remainder of the season. In 1984, Texas entered the Red River rivalry game as the nation’s top-ranked team, with the Sooners sitting at No. 2. That game ended in a no-decision. The final score was 15-15. Also of note, former Texas head coach Mack Brown was on the OU sidelines for the 1984 game. He was the Sooners’ offensive coordinator that season under Barry Switzer.