The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
Longhorns face rival Sooners for 110th time
10.05.2015 | Football
AT&T Red River Showdown kicks at 11 a.m. from Cotton Bowl
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas and Oklahoma are set to tangle for the 110th time as the AT&T Red River Showdown kicks at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Longhorns and Sooners will face each other from the Cotton Bowl at the Texas State Fair Park with the game televised nationally on ABC. The Longhorn IMG Radio Network broadcast, including flagship 104.9 FM in Austin, begins at 10:30 a.m. Listen on participating Longhorn Radio Network affiliates, including the Austin Radio Network. The game can also be heard online at TexasSports.com.
Quick hits
• Saturday's game will be the 110th meeting between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners. It also will be the 93rd time the contest will be held in Dallas.
• Texas enters the contest after a 50-7 loss at No. 4/3 TCU.
• RB D'Onta Foreman ran for a career-high 112 yards at TCU, the first time the sophomore recorded a 100-yard game in his career.
AT&T Red River Showdown
• There is no rivalry quite like the Texas-Oklahoma series. The series, which began in 1900, has been played in Dallas since 1912 and at the Cotton Bowl since 1929. Dallas' Cotton Bowl is located an equal distance from Austin and Norman, Okla. The stadium is split evenly among Longhorn and Sooner fans at the 50-yard line. It is the second-oldest UT series and tied for the 19th most-played rivalry in NCAA history. Only Texas A&M has met Texas on more occasions (117 times). Since 1900, the only years Texas and Oklahoma have not met were 1918, '20, '21 and 1924-28. The series resumed in 1929 at the State Fair of Texas and has remained a fixture since.
Scouting the Sooners
• Oklahoma comes to Dallas following a 20-point victory at home over then-ranked No. 23/21 West Virginia. The Sooners won 44-24 by forcing the Mountaineers into five turnovers.
• The Sooners scored 13 points off those turnovers, including one fumble return for a touchdown.
• Oklahoma is led by quarterback Baker Mayfield. The former Texas Tech Red Raider is averaging 345.5 yards passing per game and has 13 touchdowns on the year. He also has scored four times on the ground while averaging 34.5 yards per game to rank second on the team.
• The Sooners spread the ball around on offense with eight different players catching touchdown passes from Mayfield so far this season.
Series history
• Texas leads the all-time series against Oklahoma, 60-44-5.
• The Longhorns are 48-40-4 against the Sooners in games played in Dallas.
• The series is an even 5-5 over the last 10 meetings.
Last Meeting
• Texas fell in the AT&T Red River Showdown last year by the score of 31-26.
• QB Tyrone Swoopes led Texas on a fourth-quarter charge with 13 unanswered points. Swoopes was 27-of-44 throwing for 334 yards with two TDs and added 50 yards rushing and one TD.
Rivalry Traditions
• State Fair: The Texas-Oklahoma game is once again a part of a state festival with the State Fair of Texas surrounding the event. That continues a tradition which began in 1929. That year, the game was played in an old wooden structure called Fair Park Stadium, which was located on what is now a parking lot at Fair Park. A new stadium, also named Fair Park Stadium, was built in 1930 and renamed in 1936 as the Cotton Bowl. The name change came about because, at the time, Dallas was the largest interior spot cotton market in the world.
• The Battle Line: One of the unique characteristics of the Texas/OU rivalry is the colors. With the tickets divided equally, burnt orange and crimson split down the middle. OU claims the south horseshoe from the 50-yard line and UT the horseshoe north of midfield. As the home team, the Longhorns will wear burnt orange jerseys and occupy the west bench area (opposite the press box side) with that role reversing next season.
• The Golden Hat: To the victor goes the Golden Hat, a rotating trophy representing the winner of the Texas/Oklahoma contest. It's a gold cowboy hat mounted on a large block of wood and it has been a part of the series since the State Fair of Texas donated it in 1941. The only change has been the actual color. When it first arrived, it was known as the "Bronze Hat" and actually was bronze. When that hat was reworked in the 1970s, it came out gold, hence it is now officially known as the Golden Hat.
• The Governor's Cup: The Governor's Cup is exchanged by the Governors of Texas and Oklahoma following the AT&T Red River Showdown. The tradition started when Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe donated the trophy, and each year it is transported from the office of the previous year's winning Governor to Dallas. It is displayed in the Hall of State on game day and then transported to the office of that year's winning Governor after it has received its engraving.
• UT Torch Light Parade: The annual Torchlight Parade is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Main Mall on the UT campus. Head coach Charlie Strong and the team will be on hand at approximately 8:30 p.m.
Foreman Gaining Ground
• Sophomore D'Onta Foreman had a career day against TCU (Oct. 3) with career-high in yards (112) and carries (18).
• Foreman had 18 carries for 112 yards. It marked the first 100-yard game of his career.
• His previous bests were nine carries for 47 yards earlier this season against Cal.
• Also had career highs at TCU with two receptions for 32 yards.
Growing Better with Age
• Foreman tallied 73 yards on 15 carries all of 2014 as a freshman.
• Two carries for 37 yards in career debut against North Texas last year
• Five carries for 13 yards against West Virginia (Nov. 8, 2014)
• In 2015, Foreman has averaged 42.2 yards per game and 8.8 carries.
Many Happy Returns
• Texas leads the nation with three defensive touchdowns on the year. Tied with the Longhorns are five other schools: Buffalo, Cal, Middle Tennessee, Ole Miss, Ohio State.
• The Longhorns had two defensive touchdowns against Oklahoma State (Sept. 26) when Hassan Ridgeway returned a fumble 34 yards and Holton Hill returned an interception 41 yards. It was the first time since Oct. 31, 2009 that Texas had two defensive touchdowns in the same game, which also happened to be against Oklahoma State.
• Malik Jefferson returned a fumble 28 yards against Rice (Sept. 12) to register the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Longhorns.
• Also against Rice, Daje Johnson returned a punt 85 yards for a score. That gives Texas two games this season with multiple non-offensive touchdowns.
• The most defensive touchdowns Texas has had in a season was six in 2003.
• The Longhorns have had five defensive touchdowns in three seasons: 2006, 2000, 1987
Youthful Experience & Freshman Starters
• Texas had a strong 2015 recruiting class and many of the newcomers wasted little time making an impact during preseason camp. Seven true or redshirt freshmen were listed as first-teamers on the depth chart heading into the Notre Dame game.
• The Longhorns ended up with five freshman starters in their opening lineup: WR John Burt, LT Connor Williams, RG Patrick Vahe, LB Malik Jefferson and CB John Bonney were in the starting lineup. In addition, Michael Dickson handled the punting chores. Redshirt freshman Edwin Freeman was listed as the first team weakside linebacker, but the Horns opened the Notre Dame game with five defensive backs.
• Texas was among the national leaders in true freshmen who played in the season opener. Only Georgia had more true freshmen play in Week 1 and only Florida State and NC State had more total freshmen play.
• Freshmen continue to make an impact as redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard got the first start of his career against Rice. Heard threw for 120 yards and two TD's while also rushing for 96 yards to lead the team. He followed that with a school record 527 yards of total offense against Cal.
• The 2015 recruiting class was highly touted and included 19 signees from Texas along with recruits from California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi and New York.
• Coach Strong on his recruiting philosophy: "We know this – the state of Texas will always be our home ground. We will always build it from this state. There are great high school coaches in this state. That's what it's all about. We will always know this, any time we need to go out of state where we can get into battles, I don't mind going outside the state to get in a battle. That's what it's all about; that's what recruiting is all about. We knew we were not going to back down."
• Texas may have one of the youngest teams in the nation. The Longhorns played 21 freshmen, including 15 true freshmen, in the season opener vs. Notre Dame. Only Florida State, NC State and Syracuse played more freshmen in their first game, and just Georgia had more true freshmen get on the field.
• Twice this year Texas has played a combined total of at least 20 freshmen: at Notre Dame and vs. Cal.
• The game against Cal saw Texas play its most freshmen. A total of 22 played with 15 of them true freshmen.
• Texas is averaging 19.2 freshmen seeing action per game this season.
