This year’s Red River Shootout game will be the 120th rendition of the historic rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma. That’s over a century of Sooners throwing a ‘Horns down’ on national television, Longhorns screaming “OU sucks” for an hour, last-minute game-winning touchdowns followed by pure silence from one half of the stadium and one of the most iconic college football environments ever created.
There’s no question that this annual matchup evokes a full range of emotions within its players, and head coach Steve Sarkisian is fully aware of the challenge that it promotes.
“Emotions run high in games like this, and most notably in this game,” Sarkisian said during Monday’s media availability. “And I’m not here to deny that our players won’t have some emotions in this game, and I think they deserve that. They should have it. The key is not to cross over that threshold where we get emotional.”
Although Sarkisian wants the team to embrace the feelings that come with playing in such an intense setting, he also wants to reiterate the difference between internalizing them and acting upon them on the field.
“I want to make sure that we stay true to who we are, that we do have emotion, and that there’s nothing wrong with that, but we fight the urge to get emotional,” Sarkisian said. “I think when we get emotional, that’s when some of those types of things happen that can put us in a position that might be, not be unsuccessful with. That’s what I’m looking for, and that’s what I’m preaching throughout the week to get ourselves in the right frame of mind for Saturday at (2:30).”
Sarkisian referenced a moment from last year’s showdown in Dallas when a Texas player took off their helmet and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct in the first quarter, ultimately resulting in an Oklahoma punt touchdown.
To prevent events like that from happening this time around, senior linebacker David Gbenda said that it’s all mind over matter.
“Whenever you’re being emotional, you got to be smart about it, and have your head on straight so you don’t hurt your team in the long run,” Gbenda said. “Obviously, you want to bring your best and help everybody win, and with that you have to be emotional about it, but at the same time, you don’t want to cause dumb penalties that could change the whole outcome of the game.”
If anyone felt the inevitable sting of a Red River loss, it’s Gbenda. The linebacker took the game’s final play, which resulted in Oklahoma’s game-winning touchdown, to heart, as he felt that he failed to do his job in preventing that opportunity.
When mistakes like that happen and emotions run high, senior tight end Gunnar Helm understands that it takes the entire team to keep each other in check.
“I think it’s (about) sticking with each other,” Helm said. “It’s hard to not get emotional in a game like this, or in a game like Michigan, when your backs are against the wall. … It’s a rivalry game. We know that. We know that going in, and we’ll remind ourselves before the game and during the game, just keep our composure.”
Now with Texas traveling to the Cotton Bowl Stadium as the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time since 1984, the stakes to take home The Golden Hat in the teams’ debut encounter in the SEC era are at an all-time high.
