Big Game Bob

If there is one game that has defined the Bob Stoops era, it's the Red River Rivalry. In Stoops' first OU-Texas game, the Sooners jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead before Texas rallied for a 38-28 win. It was a pattern that would repeat itself several times during Oklahoma's rebuilding year of 1999 - double digit lead that ended up with a loss. That was a different time. After a decade of futility, it was viewed as encouraging progress.

The Stoops mystique over the rival Horns began in 2000 as the Sooners rolled Mack Brown into a Texas-sized apology with a 63-14 beatdown. Oklahoma was ranked 10th, Texas 11th. The Sooners would go on to beat No. 2 Kansas State and No. 1 Nebraska in consecutive games to reclaim the school's first top ranking since 1987. Oklahoma held on to the No. 1 ranking for the remainder of the season and claimed the national title.

The Sooners went on to win five consecutive games (2000-2004) that featured three games where both teams were ranked in the top five and two blowouts when Texas was ranked around 11th. Oklahoma endured an unexpected rebuilding year in 2005 due to the combination of departing seniors from the '04 squad and the impact of unusual attrition in some highly ranked recruiting classes. Texas ended up cruising through a weak Big 12 but topping USC in a game for the ages.

During the nine matchups between Stoops and Brown, Texas has only defeated a ranked Oklahoma team once in 2006. The #14 Sooners actually outgained Texas by 100 yards but the Longhorns won the turnover battle 4-0 and forced timely key plays that resulted in a victory.

The winner of this game has won the Big 12 South during the Stoops era. Only twice has the loser appeared in the conference championship game - 2001 and 2006. In 2001, Oklahoma lost to Nebraska and then dropped a second game to Oklahoma State - one of the two home losses in the Stoops era. Texas dropped their final two games of the '06 season to allow Oklahoma to claim the South by beating Oklahoma 27-21 in Stillwater.

Stoops has definitely had the upper hand in a matchup of two of the top coaches in college football. Both have national titles but Stoops has 5 conference titles to one for Mack Brown. Some would argue that the phenom of Vince Young deserves all the credit but Brown did bring him and defensive coordinator Gene Chizik (present for both of UT's wins over OU) to Austin. Bob Stoops has 5 conference titles with 5 different QB and while two were national award winners, none of the previous 4 had NFL staying power.