Plenty is at stake as No.12 Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) and No.3 Texas (5-0, 2-0) renew their vaunted rivalry for the 119th time at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas on Saturday.
The Red River Showdown has been played in Dallas since 1932, and the teams enter with unblemished records for the 31st time and first since 2011.
“This is why we’re in college football, right?” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said as he met with the media earlier this week. “To be put in games like this. Two undefeated teams. Two Top 25 teams. The spotlight of college football will be on us.”
Saturday will be the final time the teams meet as members of the Big 12 Conference, as both will depart for the SEC next year. Texas holds a 63-50-5 advantage over the Sooners, including last year’s 49-0 clobbering, but is just 8-15 against them since 2000.
“Usually, you say the momentum of a year ago shouldn’t have anything to do with this year,” Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables told the media on Tuesday. “We’ve got a much different team. … We need to play well this week. That’s the expectation, that’s what we’re working for, that’s what we’re preparing for, [and] that’s what our guys should expect if they have a great week of work. We should be a confident football team going against another confident football team.”
Oklahoma will be the third ranked opponent Texas has faced this year, and the Longhorns believe their schedule has prepared them for the Sooners.
“Every team we’ve played has got a winning record and is doing good things,” Sarkisian said. “I think that we’ve been exposed to some high-level football through five weeks, and naturally, we understand the emotions that come with this game and different things. I think it’s critical for us that we have a great week of preparation, that we take it one day at a time, and that we go in with the mindset to execute on Saturday.”
Texas’ offense has executed well most of the season, scoring 36 points and gaining 478.4 yards per game.
“There’s not an area that we don’t have to play well,” Venables said when asked about stopping the Longhorns’ offense. “We need to play well everywhere. You’re not going to just luck up and win a game like this. Sometimes, [in] certain places, you can be much better and overcome some mistakes. These guys will punish you for the smallest mistakes.”
The Sooners’ defense had all sorts of issues with the Longhorns’ offense a year ago, allowing nearly 300 yards rushing and an additional 289 yards through the air from freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers.
Oklahoma finished with a 6-7 record last season, its worst since 1998, as its defense finished 99th out of 131 teams. This year, the defense ranks 30th but will face its most challenging opponent yet on Saturday.
Another big difference in this year’s game will be the presence of Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who missed last season’s matchup with an injury. Gabriel is eighth in the country with 1,593 passing yards this season and a big reason for the Sooners’ success in Venables’ second year.
According to the Dallas Sports Commission, the game is expected to have an economic impact of at least $51 million for the City of Dallas. That number is an increase over recent years, and the game’s do-or-die stakes may push it even higher.
“I think the $51 million for this year may be a little bit conservative knowing that both teams are coming in highly ranked,” Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission, told The Dallas Express at the 54th Annual Pregame Bash on Friday.
“[It’s] the last time they’re under the Big 12 umbrella. Usually, we see a lot of fans that are going to be coming in that don’t have tickets to the game, [and] you’re going to see the 92,000-plus strong sell out in Cotton Bowl Stadium, but then the additional people that will be outside at the fair who are just coming to town to experience the excitement that we all know the Red River Rivalry has here locally.”
After the State Fair concludes this year, Overland Partners will begin a two-year, $140 million renovation project on the stadium as part of a larger project to update the Fair Park area. The stadium project will occur in two phases, pausing each year for the State Fair, the Red River Rivalry, and the annual State Fair Classic football game between Grambling and Prairie View A&M.
The project is expected to be finished in 2025 and includes:
- Widening concourses
- Adding escalators
- Improving the in-stadium Wi-Fi signal
- Increasing the number of hospitality areas and premium environments
- Renovations to concessions and restrooms
“We’re trying to create a vibrant fan atmosphere around it,” Bryan Trubey, design partner at Overland Partners, told the media on Friday. “That’s the great thing about the Cotton Bowl. That stuff is built in. The state fair’s going on, and there’s huge fan activation all day, every day. … We’re improving the stadium itself so that it matches the fan experience that happens around the stadium during the fair every year.”
