What we learned
Oklahoma: So the Sooners mustered just 12 points. No matter. This is a complete team that will only get better as it continues its march to the postseason. The defense was an equal-opportunity oppressor, thoroughly flustering Texas sophomore quarterback Vince Young (8-of-23 passing, two fumbles, sacked three times) while denying senior tailback Cedric Benson (92 yards, zero TDs) the scoring opportunities to which he had been accustomed so far this season.
As for the Sooners' offensive attack, which was already healthy with a defending Heisman winner at the controls, tailback Adrian Peterson's influence cannot be overstated. Given what the true freshman did against a veteran, vindictive Texas defense, there is no telling what sort of damage he will continue to do as the season -- and his young career -- wears on.
Texas: According to anyone and everyone in burnt orange, the Longhorns entered this game as spirited and prepared as they ever have been in Mack Brown's tenure. And, indeed, under new co-defensive coordinators Dick Tomey and Greg Robinson, Texas looked a little tougher on that side of the ball than it has in recent years. But against OU, it's always something -- this millennium, at least -- and this year, that something was an offense that couldn't convert third-down opportunities when it desperately needed to. Young's athletic gifts were cloaked by poor passing decisions, as the Longhorns finished with 240 total offensive yards and zero trips to the red zone.
Player who impressed me
Could this be any more obvious? Through the first half, Peterson had averaged nine yards per carry to collect 126 rushing yards -- a number that might have pushed 180 had Texas strong safety Michael Huff not caught an ankle to end a 44-yard run in the first quarter. With 32 tackle-breaking runs, Peterson bullied through an otherwise sound Texas defense for 225 yards, and has now rushed for 100 yards in each of his five games as a Sooner.
Locker room confidential
It was no secret where Oklahoma's defensive priorities were Saturday. "We put a lot of guys in the box to stop the run, because we knew that's what they wanted to come out and establish," Sooner defensive end Jonathan Jackson said. "We knew if we took away the running game, we'd have a great chance to win." ... Plenty of Oklahoma's defensive players deserve game balls, but can anyone claim a better surname than Chijoke Onyenegecha (pronounced ON-yuh-nah-get-cha), a juco transfer who sacked Young to end a Texas scoring drive at the beginning of the fourth quarter? ... The shutout marked an end to the Longhorns' NCAA-leading streak of 181 straight conference games with a score, which dated to 1980. ... Rice coach Ken Hatfield, whose team lost to Texas on Sept. 25, was asked after that game whether he saw any changes in Texas this year. "Oh, I sensed a difference all right," he said. "Where I sensed a difference was No. 11 [linebacker Derrick Johnson] on the field. He's as big-time a difference-maker in a ballgame as any I've ever seen." Johnson backed up the praise with an 11-tackle performance that also included an interception and one forced fumble -- giving him Texas' single-season record in that category (seven). If a couple of his offensive counterparts could have moved the ball as well as Johnson did, the Longhorns might have had a shot at their first Red River win in half a decade.
The big picture
While the Sooners sit as pretty as can be at the top of the conference, Texas isn't going to recover from this one anytime soon -- even if it dominates for the rest of 2004. That the Longhorns held Oklahoma to 12 points, after surrendering 65 last season, makes an offensive goose-egg all that much tougher to swallow. As long as they continue to buckle against their biggest rival on such a colossal national stage, the Longhorns' recruiters are going to have a tougher and tougher time holding onto in-state talent -- and Mack Brown is going to have a harder and harder time keeping his job.
