Tale of the Tape: Texas
Every play matters in a college football game, but some do a better job of telling the story than others. Here are the plays that explain Oklahoma’s 34-27 victory against Texas in the Red River Showdown.
OU 34, Texas 27
Play No. 1: Murray a heat-seeking missile
You know, why not just set the tone from the jump? That was the mindset of linebacker Kenneth Murray, who has perfected the art form of the violent upper body tackle without it being a horsecollar or facemask.
Murray did it again to begin this showdown. On the second play from scrimmage, Texas was trying to get Devin Duvernay involved and use his speed.
Might have worked, except for the fact Murray got him and got him good. Neville Gallimore added the first of OU’s nine (!) sacks on the next play, and the defensive rout was on.
“Pssh. K9’s a playmaker,” safety Delarrin Turner-Yell said. “Any chance he gets to make a play, that’s just what he does.”
Play No. 2: Fields right on time
Despite the complete dominance by the Sooners in the first half, it was only 7-0 when Texas took over with less than six minutes left in the second quarter.
Facing a third-and-nine from its own 25 yard line, defensive coordinator Alex Grinch dialed up a delayed blitz to perfection for safety Pat Fields.
Grinch simply called a near-flawless game. From the nine sacks to the 15 tackles for loss to the players executing at a high level, it was a thing of beauty for OU fans.
“Any time you look up the statistics on negative plays, if you get one negative play a series, the chance of the offense scoring decreases by 50 percent,” Fields said. “We just look at things like that. TFLs, sacks, those are momentum drivers right there.”
Play No. 3: Wait, Lamb did what?
Yes, we’re talking about that play now. OU squandered so many opportunities in the first half, and Texas knotted the game at 10-10 midway through the third quarter.
It was time for CeeDee Lamb to etch his name in Red River Showdown history. The first came on a 51-yard touchdown reception off a flea-flicker.
A flea-flicker is usually cool enough, but yea, this is all about Lamb’s incredible run after the catch. We’ve all seen the photo now of five Texas defenders surrounding Lamb around the 20 yard line and him just not giving a you know what.
He was gonna make this happen, and he did. Lamb razzle dazzled himself out of that predicament to give OU a 17-10 lead, and the Sooners would never relinquish the advantage the rest of the way.
Play No. 4: Wait, Lamb did what, again?
Yea, now we’re going to that one. Again, despite the fact it felt like OU was just stomping a mudhole in Texas, the game was 20-17 entering the fourth quarter.
You like the flea-flicker? How about you add a tightrope touchdown to that afternoon? Jalen Hurts connected with Lamb on a 27-yard touchdown to give OU a 27-17 lead.
Lamb caught the ball, broke two tackles, tightroped down the sideline and waltzed into the end zone to punctuate a legendary day. Ten catches for 171 yards and three touchdowns.
That’ll do, Lamb, that’ll do.
Play No. 5: Brooks is the closer
So accustomed to Trey Sermon being the closer, but he was a decoy in this game. Instead, it was Kennedy Brooks who delivered the final blow.
Brooks rushed for 64 of his 105 yards in the fourth quarter, including a huge 42-yard run to get OU on its way toward icing this one once and for all.
A Texas field goal made it 27-20 for OU with 6:53 left in the game. Brooks took the first carry 42 yards, and the drive ended with Hurts’ fourth overall touchdown.
Texas would tack on a meaningless touchdown, but it didn’t matter. The Golden Hat was coming back to Norman.
Plus one: Hurts’ magic trick
The play didn’t result in a first down. The ensuing fourth down conversion didn’t happen, but when you’re talking spectacular plays, you have to talk Hurts’ behind the back scramble in the third quarter.
Facing a third-and-12 from midfield, Hurts was on his way to being sacked and maybe even fumbling. He put the ball behind his back, rolled to the right and found Lamb for an 11-yard gain.
Hurts was very uneven in the first half, but when it was all said and done? He accounted for 366 total yards of offense and four touchdowns, setting an OU quarterback record with 131 rushing yards against Texas.
And had this gem.
“I wouldn't rather do it with any other group,” Hurts said. “You talk about emotional ties that I have to this university. They are there now. For sure. OU DNA in me.”