Every year on the second Saturday in October, college football fans of the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns converge at the Cotton Bowl at the State Fair of Texas for one of the top rivalries in college athletics: the Red River Rivalry. Since 1934, the fans have made the pilgrimage and split the Cotton Bowl in half by color: red on one side and burnt orange on the other.
This used to be one of the biggest games in the Big 12 football season, but now it shifts to the SEC where the two well known programs have moved in hopes of a better shot at a national title and more TV revenue.
But while these two schools are bound by a desire to rise to the top, they also share history, geography, players, coaches, and above all — hatred.
Welcome to the 120th meeting of the Red River Rivalry.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Series History: UT owns the series lead 63-51-5
Series Began: 1900, seven years before Oklahoma became a state
Recent History: Oklahoma has dominated recently, winning 11 of the last 15
Winningest Coach in the Series: Darrell Royal won 12 meetings from 1957-1972
Largest Victory: Oklahoma beat Texas 65-13 in 2003 (Texas repaid the favor, 49-0 in 2022)
Rivalry Trophy: The Golden Hat, a 10-pound gold cowboy hat that the winning coach and players are often seen wearing after the game
The River Runs Red
The Red River Rivalry gets its name from the Red River, a river that runs along the border of Texas and Oklahoma and is known for it red colored water.
This game was known as the “Red River Shootout” until the 100th meeting in 2005 when it was changed to “Red River Rivalry” to eliminate any indication that the game condoned gun violence. Ironically, that was the first year that the meeting had a corporate sponsor.
The first meeting of the rivalry was a nondescript, non competitive contest in 1900 before either football team had a name. So nondescript was the game, that the local newspaper described it as a “practice game” for the Varsity squad (the name Texas’ football team was known as at the time).
That game took place in Austin, Texas, and the teams would take turns hosting the other until 1912, when they would move the contest to Dallas, a halfway point between both universities. The game would remain in Dallas from that time on except for 1913 (Houston), 1922 (Norman), 1923 (Austin), and 2018 (Arlington).
But few meetings between the Horns and Sooners have been nondescript and non-competitive as one of the teams has come into the matchup ranked 70 times since the AP Poll began in 1936, including 19 of the last 20.
Shared History
Oklahoma dominated Texas in the 1950s, winning 9-of-10 meetings before they hired Darrell K Royal as coach.
From the time he was hired in 1957 until 1972, Royal won 12-of-16 meetings and completely turned the narrative of the rivalry around.
In the 1963 version of the Red River Rivalry, No. 1 Oklahoma played against Royal’s No. 2 Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns won the game 28-7, took the No. 1 ranking and held onto it for the rest of the year, claiming their first national championship as a result.
Royal would go on to win two more national titles with Texas and never had a losing season as a head coach in his career. He holds the record for most wins as head coach at UT and the team’s stadium bears his name.
Ironically enough, Royal actually played quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners from 1946-1949 and was 2-2 against Texas during his time there. He also played defensive back and was an All-American.
Modern Day Firepower
Perhaps the biggest reason this rivalry is so well known is the sheer number of big name athletes to have played in the game and the national implications the game always seems to have.
Multiple Heisman trophy winners have competed in the game including: Ricky Williams, Jason White, Sam Bradford, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Caleb Williams. And that list only goes back to 1998!
There have been countless stars to play in the game as well and this year’s game will be no different, not to mention that Texas enters the game No. 1 in the nation and has the inside track to a spot in the College Football Playoff.
2024 MATCHUP
Date: Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024
Site: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
Time: 3:30pm ET
TV: ABC/ESPN+
FOOTBALL SCHEDULES
Even a Georgia Bulldogs fan likes Red River Rivalry.