Sooners go down 31-3 to No. 1 Texas in Cotton Bowl oven
Maybe the only performance worse than Oklahoma’s anemic scoring offense in the 34-3 loss to Texas was the local production of the game, which ran out of water in the stadium, offered something resembling candied stale pop corn, and had masses of liquored-up pedestrian football fans walking on active railroad tracks while Dallas police were screaming “follow instructions!”
I won’t say the 2024 Red River Rivalry was a shit show because the toilets in the Cotton Bowl were working just fine.
That may have been the most important thing for Sooner fans who were hit with an upsetting dose of second-quarter dysentery when a R. Spears-Jennings hit knocked the ball from Texas RB Quintrevion Wisner into the end zone and Texas WR Silas Bolden fell on it for a touchdown, ending what had theretofore been a tight game (Texas 7, Oklahoma 3) and beginning a Texas rout.
I know some Oklahoma fans weren’t too happy with offensive coordinator Seth Littrell’s play calling (and some in attendance wondered if Dallas city officials had put him in charge of concession stands at the Cotton Bowl.)
After an Oklahoma loss, I am always interested in how living-room-couch Sooners — the fans who watch the game on television — have a somewhat different perspective of the game from those of us suffering the heat from the blistering Dallas sun and the verbal abuse from people who worship a cow.
First let me say that while the TV watchers may have had a more close up view, I don’t put as much stock in their opinions as those who were baked in the sun and put up with the sickening sea of burnt orange that brought the bandwagon fans of the No. 1 ranked Longhorns to Big D.
My TV watching friends and family thought Michael Hawkins (19 of 30 for 148 yards passing and 20 carries for 61 yards rushing) was hurried too much by an inept offensive line and there were no open receivers.
I thought the O-line played better for the second week in a row, but the stellar Texas defensive rush was really good.
More importantly, from my perch behind the Texas secondary (i.e., row 42 of section 31), the Oklahoma receivers were running as open as a 24-hour Walgreens. Hawkins just didn’t find them.
Instead, his Gene Gene the Dancing Machine happy feet took over. It is always difficult to look downfield for receivers when you are looking to dodge behemoth Longhorns trying to separate the ball from your body. Or your body from your head.
(Pardon me for my 1980s Gong Show reference).
My point is, this was Hawkins’ second start at QB for Oklahoma. Last year at this time he was playing high school ball.
The Texas defensive line breathing down his neck was made up of a senior, another senior, another senior, and a transfer grad student.
Young Master Hawkins played too conservative
My TV-Twitter friends were calling for the firing of offensive coordinator Seth Littrell before the third quarter was over. I wonder how much they were influenced by the TV announcers, or the other Twitter-verse pundits who got their coaching training watching football on television; but that’s another story for later.
I am not saying Littrell called a brilliant game on Saturday. I haven’t played enough EA Sports College Football games yet to know, but if there is anything valid about criticism of Littrell it may be that he didn’t tell Hawkins to rip it a few times.
Hawkins played conservative. Not a bad thing for a young quarterback adjusting to the speed of the game being thrown at him by the No. 1 team in the country (Texas). But the Sooners never threw a pass deep — the way one gets jump ball opportunities and the chance of getting a pass interference call.
It is called stretching the field. Let’s get Littrell and Hawkins the Original Stretch Armstrong toy so they will remember next week.
Or, maybe Hawkins was like all those fans trying to get into Fair Park on Saturday, despite a disorganized train rail crossing, buses blocking cross walks and narrow passageways. Maybe he wasn’t following instructions being barked at him.
Yes, I understand that the Sooners are without their five top wide receivers. Maybe that had something to do with it too.
But, the longest OU pass was for 15 yards to freshman WR Zion Kearney.
For the Sooners offense to get on track and compete in the SEC they are going to have to take more chances. Even before the first team wide receivers are free from their crutches and wheelchairs.
When the highlight of the offense is the punter (Luke Elzinga averaged a phenomenal 47 yards in his six punts), there is a problem.
Meanwhile, I’m just chalking up this humiliating RRR loss to lack of experience on the offensive side of the ball. And too much experience on the No. 1 Texas Longhorn side of the scrimmage line.
Things will get better. Although they managed only a field goal, the OU offense did have several drives going in the game. They netted more first downs than Texas (18 to UT’s 17).
Oklahoma can build around Hawkins. The defense is stout, despite giving up some long runs to Texas running backs after the game seemed decided. On the defensive side, Eli Bowen — another freshman — was stellar on Saturday.
A couple of final notes to close this chapter of OU-Texas:
— The folks who attend the State Fair of Texas have an entertaining and eclectic assortment of wardrobes. I will just leave it at that.
— As much as we hated 11 a.m. kickoffs that the Big 12 kept ordering up, I’m thinking an 11 a.m. kickoff in Dallas wasn’t such a bad thing. This 2:30 pm kickoff presented a brutally hot afternoon that had many of the Sooner fans frequently leaving their seats to catch some shade.
— I was heartened by Oklahoma fans not going down without a fight. Specifically, the fight that broke out between one of them and a mouthy Longhorn fan in the crimson clad south end of the stadium in the last quarter of the game.
Both went their separate ways before the cops arrived. After all, by then, the game had been over for quite some time.
NEXT: Oklahoma vs. South Carolina. 11:45 am kickoff, Saturday, October 19. Owen Field.
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