College football

More at stake in OU-Texas than bragging rights

Red River Rivalry winner should have shot at BCS Championship Game

Special feature

Red River Rivalry
Check out some of the key players in the Texas-Oklahoma game.

NBCSports.com

If Bradford is not already considered the greatest Sooner quarterback of all time, it is only a matter of time. He will break every passing record of 2003 Heisman Trophy Jason White, and Sooner rather than later. That Bradford is part Cherokee only lends another dose of venom to what is already gridiron’s classic Western.

At the other end of Main Street stands Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy, who in his third year as a starter has blossomed into the most prolific passer in Texas history. McCoy, from Tuscola, Texas, has already surpassed the Texas career TD passes mark (60; McCoy has 67) set by Major Applewhite (the Longhorn running backs coach, curiously enough) and by season’s end will be the career passing yards record-holder in Austin, as well. For good measure, McCoy also leads the Longhorns in rushing.

Both McCoy and Bradford have led their teams to victory in this rivalry the past two years. And while each will tell you that a victory — and an unblemished record — is all that matters to them, allow us to add that of the six Heisman Trophy winners who have come out of Texas or OU, only one (Steve Owens, Sooners, ’69), lost the Red River Rivalry game during his Heisman season.

Which brings us to one caveat. As brilliant as both Bradford and McCoy have been this season, both trail — statistically, and Heismatically — to fellow Big 12 passer Chase Daniel of Missouri. Daniel’s Tigers are also 5-0. Should they get past yet another 5-0 Big 12 team, Oklahoma State, next weekend (It's clear that the Big 12 is really, really, really solid in ’08), then a Texas victory would set up a second top-five showdown in the Lone Star State in as many Saturdays.

Which is to say that this season in the Big 12 the pass is prologue.

Talent abounds beyond the quarterback position, of course. The Sooner offensive line is brimming with All-American candidates such as tight end Jermaine Gresham and guard Duke Robinson, while defensive linemen Auston English and DeMarcus Granger put the OU in “ouch!”

The Longhorn strength is its passing attack. Senior wideouts Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley are veterans of three Red River gunfights as well as that historic ’06 Rose Bowl. And a defense that is the nation’s 3rd-best against the run will test the mettle of Sooner sophomore tailback DeMarco Murray.

Are these Red River renegades … ready?

Oklahoma, which has outscored its first five opponents by 35.8 points per game, led 35-7 at Baylor midway through the second quarter on Saturday. Texas, which has outscored its five foes by 35.8 points per game, led 35-7 at Colorado after three quarters.

They’re ready. And they’re both seeing red.

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