Lincoln Riley matched Bob Stoops record of 5-1 through his first six games against the hated longhorns last Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.
In what might have been the greatest game ever played between the rivals, the texas longhorns new “triplets” had stat lines that looked like a video game, but in the end, it didn’t matter.
Quarterback Casey Thompson threw for 388 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Running back Bijan Robinson carried the ball for 137 yards and 1 touchdown and receiver Xavier Worthy caught 9 passes for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns.
All that, and they LOST.
That and many other things made the fourth victory in a row for Oklahoma in this series that much sweeter.
Lincoln Riley made what was probably the toughest decision of his head coaching career. – Dave
Sooner Magic made its most recent appearance as Oklahoma overcame a 21-point first quarter deficit and an 18-point late third quarter deficit to rip the still beating heart out of bevo’s chest in front of stunned longhorn fans everywhere.
It’s still hard to believe what I saw. The Sooners were shocked in the initial two minutes of the game after texas’s first offensive play went for a 75 touchdown off a seemingly harmless two- yard swing pass.
Then after an OU three and out, the longhorns blocked the punt which was cashed in for an easy two-yard touchdown rush from phenom Bijan Robinson and Oklahoma was suddenly down 14 points before they knew what hit them.
Things didn’t get much better as Oklahoma struggled to catch up with Spencer Rattler committing two costly turnovers, an interception and a fumble, to keep the Sooners reeling.
But then Lincoln Riley made what was probably the toughest decision of his head coaching career.
He sat the pre-season Heisman favorite and handed the ball to true freshman Caleb Williams.
Williams came in not only as a true freshmen, he also did not play any high school football his senior year due to Covid-19.
With the help of Kennedy Brooks (who outshone the aforementioned Robinson with an amazing 217 yards and two touchdowns, including a walk off to end the game) and showing big play ability that included a 66-yard touchdown run on a 4th and 1 and a 52-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Mims on a 3rd and 19, Williams cemented his claim to the starting quarterback job for the foreseeable future.
Reports out of OU practices this week have been that Caleb has taken the majority of snaps with the first team.
He is most likely now QB1 for the Oklahoma Sooners after bringing OU back against their hated rival and placing himself forever in the lore of the storied rivalry of Oklahoma vs. texas.
As for Spencer Rattler, I hope he stays out the season and supports Williams and does everything he can to help the team.
It can be a fresh start for him. A chance to change the narrative, fair or unfair, that has followed him since his senior season of high school was documented on the Netflix show QB1 Beyond the Lights.
The brash 5-star quarterback who seemed to be about himself rather than the team.
The OU quarterback with the NIL sponsors who was looking toward the NFL rather than working harder to be even better at his position for himself and the team.
Again, none of us really know if this was the case. It was just how he came off.
But he can show everyone that that public persona was not him. He has all the talent in the world. NFL teams are still watching.
Being a team player will go a long way in showing the NFL that he can be a starting QB in that league. I wish him luck.
It will be a raucous scene this Saturday night as we welcome home the conquering heroes when they face the TCU Horned Frogs in prime time.
TCU is kind of what they have always been recently. They have a good run game and a mobile quarterback who really isn’t that great of a thrower.
So it’s really OU’s strength, (run defense) against their offensive strength. Force Duggan to beat us with his arm.
But I guess that has always been OU’s game plan. Stop the run first.
If this is Caleb’s first start of the year, he will be going up against a pretty mediocre defense that ranks in the last half of the Big 12, which is somewhat of an anomaly for a Gary Patterson coached team.
But TCU will be looking to do the same thing. Stop our run and force Caleb to throw.
There have been some tight games between the Sooners and TCU, so this is by no means a gimme.
So the Worry Meter is at 71% this week.
Buckle up Sooner fans, the second half of the season should be fun. With all that being said…BOOMER!!!
-Dave
Worry Meter: 71 %
Kickoff: 6:30 pm Saturday night. TV: 
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