Every game matters in a college football game but some do a better job of explaining a game’s outcome than others. Here are the five, ha, no, the 10 plays that tell the story of Oklahoma’s epic 55-48 comeback victory vs. Texas in the Red River Showdown.
No. 6 OU 55, No. 21 Texas 48
Play No. 1: Welp, buckle up
Oh dear, is this how this one is gonna go? On the very first play from scrimmage, Texas quarterback Casey Thompson dumped the ball to Xavier Worthy. He made Jaden Davis miss, Delarrin Turner-Yell couldn’t get there and 75 yards in a hurry.
One play, Texas 7-0. Make matters worse, the only play for Turner-Yell. He wanted to play in the game so badly, but he simply wasn’t healthy enough to be available.
But there’s 14:46 left in the first quarter, and we have about a rollercoaster four hours left to go. Come along.
Play No. 2: Woods gets his Red River moment
The Horns blitz has continued. A blocked punt led to an easy Bijan Robinson touchdown. It’s 14-0 now, and OU is facing a third-and-10 from its own 25 yard line.
In the first now-or-never moment of the afternoon, Spencer Rattler rolled to his right and fired a deep one to Mike Woods.
After initially stepping out of bounds, Woods re-established himself and made an acrobatic 29-yard reception. The kid who dreamed of being a Longhorn got his Red River Showdown moment.
A lengthy review followed, but all was well. Rattler finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, and OU was on the board.
Play No. 3: Introducing Mr. Williams
It hasn’t gotten any better for the Sooners. It’s now 28-7 for Texas, and OU is facing fourth-and-one from its 34 yard line.
Here comes true freshman quarterback Caleb Williams, but the first quarter ends.
Lincoln Riley doesn’t budge, keeps Williams in, and here we go. The play looks pretty busted initially, but Williams finds a way to get the first down and just keep going.
Takes it across the field toward the sideline and outruns the Texas defense for a 66-yard touchdown to make it 28-14 one play into the second quarter.
“Caleb just came in and did his job. He made it simple,” running back Kennedy Brooks said. “That's what I told him – make it simple. He ran the ball hellawell. He started out with a long run… He just came on and executed.”
Play No. 4: Wheels fall off for Rattler
OK, Alex Grinch’s defense has found its footing. We’ve gone from 28-7 to 28-17, and the Sooners have the ball back. Things are going well until they don’t.
On a play that simply looked bizarre from the start, Rattler tries to run before he fumbles and the Horns recover.
Riley has shown patience with lack of execution, but OU doesn’t tolerate turnovers. An interception and a fumble and for the second year in a row, Rattler is asked to sit out vs. Texas in the second quarter.
The Longhorns went down the field and scored on Casey Thompson’s fourth touchdown pass of the half to lead 35-17.
Play No. 5: Hall takes a leap
We pick up with the next drive. The call is made. Riley is rolling with Williams at quarterback now, and there’s a buzz in the Cotton Bowl.
You don’t know what’s going to happen, but you want to make sure you’re there to see it.
After missing Hall on a first down throw, Williams got this one right. And then Hall channeled Trey Millard from 2012 with a hurdle moment and a 24-yard gain.
“There was never a moment in time where I thought that we were going to lose, but I was frustrated that we were making it harder on ourselves than it needed to be,” Hall said. “But as a captain – as a leader – I knew that we could come back, and I knew that it was only a matter of time until we got things rolling.”
A different energy. Led to a field goal, and we eventually closed 38-20 at halftime.
Second half
Play No. 6: ‘Cuckoo’ Stutsman leaves a mark
The third quarter sees Williams sort of find his way into the game and leading the offense. And now we’ve gotten to 41-33 for Texas early in the fourth quarter.
Biggest drive of the season, and Alex Grinch puts freshman Danny Stutsman in as one of the inside linebackers.
That’s trust. Stutsman rewards Grinch with a big-time sack of Thompson on first down, combining with Nik Bonitto to put Texas in a bad spot with the OU faithful going bonkers.
“Looked like he got in there... Kind of like a guy’s first game, a guy’s first Red River game, a young freshman like that... Is he playing fast? Is he playing physical? Is he executing the calls? From my vantage point you notice him out there,” Riley said. “He’s very physical. He can really run. He’s a really smart kid. It was great to get him back. I thought the linebackers as a whole played well.”
It was Stutsman’s first game back after missing the previous three with an elbow injury, and he absolutely left his imprint.
Play No. 7: Third-and-19 – enough said
What will you remember? The throw? The catch? The crowd? The Marvin Mims dance? All of the above, obviously.
So OU got the ball back and trailing 41-33. The Sooners are facing a third-and-19 at the OU 48 yard line. OK, get some yards to maybe go for it on fourth down? Maybe more yards for a fifth Gabe Brkic field goal?
Nah, how about we just get it all with one of the most memorable plays in OU-Texas history with Williams hurling that sucker and Mims with one of the most acrobatic catches you’re ever going to see to keep his foot inbounds and the ball in the end zone.
“To be honest, man, I just ran the route,” Mims said. “I'm running and I see Caleb stepping up in the pocket. We kind of made eye contact and he lets that thing go. But I had no idea where I was on the field. I didn't know I was in the corner.
“The only time – I saw the pylon as I was falling down to my left. Crazy play. I didn't know if I was in or not. I waited for the referee to give the signal. And (Brayden Willis) came down, he told me he saw the whole thing with his own eyes. He said I was in, he picked me up and yea. Special play.”
Play No. 8: Rattler bounces back
Lost in all the hoopla of the Williams-to-Mims connection is the fact OU needs to go for a two-point conversion to tie.
Riley makes the call to go back to Rattler, and Rattler is up to the task.
“He handled it like a pro,” Riley said.
Rattler rolled to his right and found Drake Stoops, who made a solid competitive grab and made sure he was in the end zone.
Play No. 9: Kelly closes his RRS chapter in style
It was a day of touchbacks, and you could tell somebody wanted to try to make a play. Worthy was that guy for Texas after Brkic’s kick was at least six, seven yards deep in the end zone.
He took it out, and Caleb Kelly made good ol’ Sooner Magic happen.
“I was trying to read where the kick returner was gonna go, and then I read it right, played the gap ... and then, I actually ripped the ball kinda like you would back in junior high,” Kelly said. “It was weird. I grabbed it and just turned with it and just took it.
“Everybody else was looking for it, but it didn't hit the ground or anything. I just grabbed it and just stripped it to my chest and held it. I'm sitting there hiding, just kinda holding it, and I see everybody looking for the ball and then I run out and I'm holding the ball out and it goes crazy. It was cool.”
Not a lot of people had any idea Kelly had stripped it. But once they did, oh boy, about as loud as the Cotton Bowl can get.
Kennedy Brooks would waste zero time in scoring from 18 yards out to inexplicably, somehow give OU its first lead of the game at 48-41.
Play No. 10: Finish this off, Mr. Brooks
Thompson bounced back one more time for his fifth touchdown of the game, and it’s 48-48 with 1:23 left.
Here comes Williams one more time, and OU is now at the Texas 33 yard line with 10 seconds left. It’s time to get in position for Brkic to kick the game-winner.
Oh, wait. Somebody forgot to tell Brooks. He bounced it outside and went the final 33 yards to give OU the 55-48 lead with :03 left.
“Most plays we design to score, they just don’t turn out that way. It was great,” Riley said. “We were obviously gonna run the football trying to gain something. We were already in field goal position. The move from seven to 10 seconds was big. It was right, but it was big. Now guys can be more aggressive and go make a play.
“We blocked it beautifully. Kennedy hit it. It reminded me so much of... it was different because it wasn’t blocked as well, it was more of a great run... but it reminded me of Rodney Anderson’s at Kansas State. Very similar deal. Popped it and scored to win the game. It was awesome. It was elite execution at a critical time.”
Twenty-five carries for 217 yards and two touchdowns. You earned the Golden Hat, Brooks.
