By Steve Habel/Senior Editor
DALLAS — Texas coach Charlie Strong said he has had a hard time sleeping lately, what with the Longhorns’ fan base stunned and upset by the team’s poor start and perceived lack of improvement and with national college football pundits opining that the job was too much for him to handle.
That all likely changed Saturday when unranked Texas used a potent rushing attack to rack up 313 yards and a stifling defense to stun No. 10 Oklahoma, 24-17, in the Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl.
The victory was, without a doubt, the most important in Strong’s 19-game-and-growing tenure at the Longhorns’ helm.
Texas (2-4, 1-2 Big 12) salvaged [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]what seemed to be a lost season by dominating in the trenches against the previously unbeaten Sooners.
“We were determined to run the ball, run it right at Oklahoma and control the line of scrimmage,” Strong said, “and we were able to carry out that plan.
“This is a huge win because we know we are better than we’ve shown on the field and we needed to see some evidence that the work we are doing is making us a better team. We got a lot of things accomplished out there today, but getting the win was the most important thing.”
The Longhorns got 117 yards on the ground by running back D’Onta Foreman on just nine carries (13.0 yards per carry) and 115 more from quarterback Jerrod Heard, who hails from Denton, about 35 minutes from where this game has been played since 1929.
“We didn’t maintain leverage on Heard, and when we had it we missed tackles,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “We didn’t block well, didn’t cover well and didn’t protect the passer well. That’s really all you need to know.”
Texas passed for just 55 yards, 24 of which came on a shovel pass in the first quarter.
Oklahoma (4-1, 1-1) had 278 yards, all but 85 in the second half.
The Longhorns sacked OU quarterback Baker Mayfield six times by using a combination of blitzes, a bull rush and a good push upfront from its interior defensive linemen and well disguised coverages.
“The plan today was to make (Mayfield) uncomfortable in the backfield and send extra players at Oklahoma to control the line, and it worked,” Texas linebacker Malik Jefferson said. “We needed to make a statement here today and we dominated a quality opponent. Winning — and winning like this — feels really good.”
The Longhorns could not have scripted a better first half for themselves. Texas scored two touchdowns in a 2:15 span of the first quarter.
First, wide receiver Marcus Johnson took a shovel pass from Heard and sprinted around the edge, dodging Oklahoma tacklers along the way, and tightroped the sideline to complete a 24-yard scoring play.
Sooners running back Alex Ross fumbled on the ensuing kickoff while being tackled by Texas defensive back Kevin Vaccaro and Longhorns running back Kirk Johnson pounced on the loose ball as the Oklahoma 41-yard line.
Texas scored six snaps later as reserve quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, the former starter who has been repurposed as the Longhorns’ short-yardage specialist, rammed over two Oklahoma defenders at the goal line for a 3-yard touchdown run and a 14-0 Texas lead.
Oklahoma cut into the lead midway through the second quarter with a 12-play, 67-yard drive that ended with kicker Austin Seibert’s 21-yard field goal.
The Longhorns’ much-maligned defense, ranked 119th of 128 FBS teams in total defense entering the game, allowed Oklahoma just 85 yards in the first half, 67 on the Sooners’ only scoring drive. For the game, it recorded six sacks and eight tackles for loss.
“We didn’t take Texas lightly because looking at the film we saw that it was a quality team and that they were just a few plays from a couple more wins,” Oklahoma center Ty Darlington said. “They were just more physical than we were today up front — and we didn’t execute the way we needed to.”
Texas added a 27-yard field goal from kicker Nick Rose on its first possession of the third quarter and Oklahoma responded with its best drive of the game, marching 87 yards in eight plays capped by quarterback Baker Mayfield’s 2-yard touchdown pass to fullback Dimitri Flowers.
The Longhorns reestablished their two-touchdown cushion on a two-yard touchdown pass from Swoopes to tight end Caleb Bluiett three plays after Foreman scampered 81 yards to the Oklahoma 10-yard line.
But the Sooners refused to back down, marching 75 yards in 15 plays to running back Samaje Perine’s 1-yard scoring plunge with eight minutes to play.
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