Red River Rivalry Renewed Between Texas, Oklahoma

Oct. 5, 1999

NORMAN, Okla. (AP)- Even though Texas and Oklahoma haven't won a national championship in many years, the annual Red River Shootout always has the feel of a mid-season bowl game.

The 23rd-ranked Longhorns (4-2, 1-1 Big 12) face the Sooners (3-1, 1-0) on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in the latest chapter one of the longest running rivalries in college football.

This is the 94th meeting between the teams since 1900, with the Longhorns holding a 54-35-5 edge, including a 7-2 mark this decade.

Second-year Texas coach Mack Brown has experienced the rivalry both as an assistant at Oklahoma and head coach for the Longhorns.

"Texas-Oklahoma is a special week for both schools," said Brown, who is looking for his 100th career win. "I've been fortunate, or unfortunate enough to be involved in this game from both sides."

But first-year Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is not caught up in the all the hype surrounding the rivalry.

"I've heard it all. But we can't get tied up in that," he said . "We've got to get ready to play, prepare, concentrate on our assignments to be able to win. Let everybody else do all the talking about it."

The game will feature two of the best quarterbacks in the conference.

Oklahoma's Josh Heupel, a junior college transfer, leads the conference and is fifth nationally in passing offense at 329 yards per game, helping the Sooners get off to their best start since going 3-1 in 1995,

Texas sophomore Major Applewhite is third in the conference in total offense at 281.5 yards per game. Through just 16 career games, Applewhite already has 4,216 career passing yards, good for fourth on the Longhorns' all-time list.

Applewhite's favorite target is junior wide receiver Kwame Cavil, who leads the Big 12 with 7.3 receptions and 97.3 yards per game.

Cavil needs eight catches to move past Eric Metcalf into second place on the school's career list.

Both teams squandered a chance to enter this game ranked for the first time since 1994.

Texas lost at home to Kansas State 35-17 last Saturday to fall eight spots in the poll.

Despite a school record 229 return yards, including an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Brandon Daniels, Oklahoma's first appearance in the Top 25 since 1995 was a short one as it lost to Notre Dame, 34-30.

By ANDY LEFKOWITZ
AP MegaSports Writer

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Red River Rivalry Renewed Between Texas, Oklahoma

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