Dear Oklahoma,
Welcome to the SEC! We came into this conference the same way we left the Big 12 — together. We wouldn’t have it any other way either, as our historic rivalry now has the opportunity to grow even stronger.
There are several people who would call our rivalry the best in college football, and it sure is sweet to be on the winning side of the Red River with a 63–51–5 all-time series record. There have been some memorable moments within the past 124 years.
One game that comes to mind was our match-up in 1963, the first year that we met as No. 1 and No. 2. You lost 28-7, while we went on to win a national championship.
Two decades later, we met again as No. 1 and No. 3 in 1984. Head coach Barry Switzer walked onto the field in his “Beat Texas” baseball cap, with our eventual head coach Mack Brown right beside him as offensive coordinator. Your 15-12 lead was lost in the endzone, with us making a game-tying kick to even us out at 15-15.
A few years later, we joined you to push the Big 6 to the Big 12, and our rivalry deepened. In 2000, you won a national championship title and began your five-win streak in the Rivalry until Vince Young took it into his own hands to stop the bleeding in 2005 and give us another national championship year.
Twenty years later in 2021, we carried our 21-point lead into the last quarter, which proceeded to turn into a bloodbath. Somehow you Sooners scored 25 points and clawed your way up to a 55-48 victory. For that, we can only applaud your fight.
In 2022, that fight seemed to disappear with a Longhorn win 49-0 — the largest winning margin in series history. We entered the 2023 Red River game undefeated and in high spirits, only to be laid flat on our backs by another fourth-quarter comeback to settle your win at 34-30.
When we both entered this conference, everyone around us said that the environment would be different. They said that we weren’t ready. They said that we weren’t prepared.
We’re ready, Sooners. The question is, are you?
With equal parts love and hate,
Texas
P.S. What time is it?
