Stoops Reflects on Red River Showdown

No Oklahoma head football coach beat Texas more often than Bob Stoops. Stoops, who retired on June 7, 2017, after a remarkable 18-year run that featured 10 Big 12 championships and the 2000 national title, posted an 11-7 mark against the Longhorns. That's two more victories against UT than both Bud Wilkinson (9-8) and Barry Switzer (9-5-2) recorded.

During Stoops' tenure, the Sooners outscored Texas by 143 points (574-431 for an average score of 32-24) and outgained it by 915 yards (7,032-6,117). For OU fans, his teams produced plays and outcomes that will undoubtedly stand the test of time. Mention “63-14,” or “65-13” or “Superman,” and even casual Sooner supporters can fill in many of the details.

Stoops recently took time to recall his Red River battles and the importance of the annual affair in Dallas.

When you were hired at Oklahoma, what did you know about the Red River rivalry and what were you told about it?
All I remember about it when I was hired was people saying, “Hey, don't worry about anything...just beat Texas.” But I knew that only goes so far. You beat Texas and you don't win the rest of them, no one really cares. So in the end, I just remember hearing about the series and it being at a neutral site. And I was familiar with that coming from Florida, because we played Florida-Georgia in the old Gator Bowl. It was split east and west, and the only difference with this game is the Cotton Bowl is split north and south. I was very familiar with what the atmosphere would be like and anticipated it. And, it was just about what I thought it would be.

Did you feel a greater sense of pressure with that game, either early on during your time at OU or throughout?
I can't say that I did. When you're here at Oklahoma and you're expected to win all of your games, to focus on one football game more than any other just doesn't work for me. You're all in, every game that you play. I didn't know how to do it any other way. I understood the importance of it to the outside world and to the fans, but did I feel any extra pressure? I can't say that I did. I felt pressure to win every game. But, I guess the best part of OU-Texas was after a win. That's when you allow yourself to enjoy it just a little bit more.

Stoops' first Gatorade bath vs. Texas in 2000.

What do you remember about the first time you played Texas in 1999?
I remember starting off so well. The offense, I believe, scored on each of the first three possessions, and the defense was playing great. And then, just little by little we didn't keep up. Offensively we didn't keep pace, defensively gave up a few plays here and there. I just remember them coming back and us not being strong enough, be it mentally, talent-wise, coaching, whatever it was. We just weren't strong enough to finish the game off. We were good enough to get a good strong lead, but we didn't play well enough the second half, or last three quarters. We dominated the first quarter but then couldn't keep the pace.

What sticks out about the 63-14 game in the national championship year of 2000?
The game just went so well in every facet. Defense was playing great, offense just kept scoring. (Quarterback) Josh Heupel had a sensational day. They just had trouble with whatever we were doing. Obviously, (running back) Quentin Griffin was scoring left and right. I remember at one point in the second quarter, we were up 42-7 and I was on the headphones talking with all the coaches about what play we were going to run, and just monitoring the game, and I said, “You know what boys? We're pretty good.” You just really started to realize the potential of the team and I just expressed that. “We're pretty good.” Even I had to admit that. “At this point, we're a really good football team.”

Where does the Roy Williams “Superman” play in 2001 rank for you in your 18 years as head coach at OU?
It ranks up there with any of them. It's as good of a play as any in that series, and it clinched the game. I can remember the play as it happened. I remember conferring with my brother, (defensive coordinator) Mike (Stoops), on the headset on whether we should kick the field goal or try and pin them down inside and hold them one more time. We had held them all day without a touchdown. Mike was the one who said, “I'd punt it down there and we'll hold them again.” So we lined up for a field goal but punted, and they didn't have anyone back. Fortunately, one of their guys ran back and grabbed it and got tackled at about the 2-yard-line.

So here it was. We had them backed up and one of the teams called timeout. I believe it was first down when Roy made the play. I can remember specifically we wanted to run a zone blitz again and bring Roy. He was so hard to deal with, so Mike wanted to bring Roy on some kind of pressure and I remember telling our defensive end Corey Heineke, “Get out under (Texas receiver) Roy Williams. That's who they will go to. Specifically find him and get under him because that's where they're going to go. So, when the play starts, I see it's a pass and my eyes are immediately on Corey Heineke. I'm looking hard left on their side and I see that he's underneath (Texas' Williams), so I'm like, “Yes, that's exactly why Chris Simms is holding the ball.” He wanted to throw it to him, but he couldn't.

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Then, I hear the stadium erupt and everyone on our sideline is going crazy. But I don't know what happened. I'm running around asking everybody what happened and all I keep hearing is “Touchdown! Touchdown!” At least I knew, based on where the ball was, that it was our touchdown, but I didn't see the play until I got to see the replay. I was focused on their Roy Williams and us being able to get underneath him, so finally I realized what happened and had a little bit of joy. Remarkably, our Roy Williams gets an interception on the next series to really clinch the game. Just a fabulous player, of course.

What was the key to winning five consecutive games from 2000 to 2004 when Texas was ranked no worse than No. 11 in the AP poll? No team in the series had won five in a row since the 1970s.
You know, if you remember, we won all of those games in different ways. Some of them were big scores, blowout wins. I guess people remember those. But I remember some tight games where we made big plays down the stretch to win. I remember shutting them out with Vince Young at quarterback, 12-0. We won in a lot of different ways, whether it was a shutout or a blowout or a tight game, we just had it going through that period of time.

Just thinking back, we talked about the big scores, the 65-13, the 63-14, but also the Roy Williams 14-3 game. With two minutes to go in that one, it's a 7-3 game and we're punting to them. So, they had a chance to score but Roy makes the play. The 12-0 game, where we must have had eight or 10 sacks and shut them out, Adrian Peterson has a huge day.

I think in all of those games, two things happened: we rushed the football well and we won the turnover battle. It's overlooked in this game. The turnover battle and who can possess the football and run it the best, 99 percent of the time is going to win the game. We did that it in all five of those games.”

How difficult was the loss in 2008, and what did it say about that team that it was able to win out and make the BCS National Championship game?
Yeah, I remember being incredibly disappointed. I remember Colt McCoy having an incredible game on the other side. Really give him and their staff credit; they did an excellent job. But in the end, the guys held it together. We knew it was a long season and still had a chance to win out and we could still be Big 12 champs and/or play for a national championship. Both of those things happened.

You know, with our big win against Texas Tech late in the year, who was ranked No. 1 and had already beaten Texas, we knew it could be a defining moment. We just had such a great game against Tech that we got the nod and we were in the Big 12 Championship.

Was there any particular loss to Texas that was tougher to swallow than others?
Any of them. Anytime you lost, it was disappointing. For the longest time in there, it meant who was going to control the Big 12 South and represent the South in the Big 12 Championship. That's always where we began with our goals; the South title and winning the Big 12 Championship. The OU-Texas game through those years was so instrumental in determining who it was going to be. For a great number of years there, it was us or Texas in the Big 12 Championship. Fortunately, us more than them.

Stoops fires up the crowd after getting off the bus at the Cotton Bowl in 2010.

Describe the ride in to the State Fair. Do you pay attention to that as head coach? Did it feel any different than arriving at the stadium for other games?
I enjoyed it. I always got a kick out of seeing the fans enjoy seeing us. All the different hand signals that you get from everybody, whether it be the other team or your team. So, I would look around coming in and see the sea of people really having fun and enjoying the atmosphere and the State Fair and getting ready for the big game. You know, just the fact that they were enjoying what was getting ready to happen. For you, it began to put the hair up on the back of your neck that, “Hey, we're getting ready to do this and it's about time.” So, getting excited about it as much as anything.

Players always talk about the adrenaline rush of walking down the tunnel. Did you get those same emotions down the tunnel right before the game?
Oh, absolutely. I totally did. It's exciting, it's challenging, it's what you want out of the experience. Being in that kind of arena, getting ready to play, it's all you want and we loved it. I always looked forward to it.

Did you ever experience the fair and let yourself have a little fun after any of your wins?
I have to admit, after the 2000 game when we won 63-14, we allowed the players to go out and enjoy time with family for a couple hours at the fair. So, we gave them some time and said, “Alright, at 4 o'clock we're all going to meet here at the bus and nobody be late.” And they weren't. They got to enjoy their families and the fair and we met back and headed out at 4 o'clock.

The coaches had a little tent with a picnic table, so we sat there and had some hot dogs and some pops, and enjoyed the fair for a little bit. It was fun. Most of the people were really respectful and let us have our time there. We enjoyed it.

Bob Stoops

Stoops swapped his signature visor for the Golden Hat in 2014.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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