Catharsis
The Red River Shutout was a perfect and cathartic Saturday for Texas Football and its fans.
Saturday was catharsis.
Saturday was a bloodletting.
Saturday was revenge for 28-7.
Saturday was an “Old Testament style butt-whipping” per Rod Babers. If it had been a boxing match, Brent Venables would have thrown in the damn towel.
Saturday was the scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie enacts revenge and beats the ever-loving snot out of his red-haired bully.
Saturday was the game that the sports movie ends on.
Saturday was affirmation for one fanbase and a reality check for the other.
The Red River Shutout was also one of the only moments since 2009 where Texas Football and its fans can truly exhale and just enjoy being in the moment. After Texas’ 49-0 drubbing of their archrival, I wasn’t as worried about what other teams won or lost that day, I didn’t care about what recruits we were going to get or lose to a bag full of money and promise of Dixie Chicken, I didn’t care about whether we were back, I didn’t care about who we played next week, I didn’t care about winning the conference, I didn’t care about when we were moving to the SEC, I didn’t care about ticket prices or traffic in and out of the stadium, long lines at Fletcher’s or jackass opposing fans (partly because they were silent).
Saturday made the last 12 years taste less bitter and even made me a little less salty too. Hell, I hope Mack Brown enjoyed some of Sally’s gooey cookies, I hope Charlie Strong hit a new PR on squat, I hope Tom Herman had the clearest urine and got to read his binder by a warm fire before bed, I hope Steve Patterson found a 10-dollar bill in the pocket of his jeans, I hope Lincoln Riley found some barbecue sauce to wash down his dry brisket. A small part of me even watched the end of the A&M and Alabama game and wished happiness for my dirt-bag Aggie cousins and all my red ass friends (hey, I just said it was only a small part of me).
As a sports fan, the lows usually outnumber the highs, even when your team is great, because that’s when you lack perspective and the losses carry the most weight. Then the dark times come and the individual losses hurt less, but you feel like you’re under a dark cloud that you can’t escape. Then every once in a while, you get a day like Saturday. Saturday was one of those days that fans should cherish and think back on later in life, because you don’t get many days like them. I think of Andy Bernard in The Office when he said "I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them."
But, enough of my feelings and let’s look at some truths facing both programs coming out of Dallas. The game felt like the start of something new for Texas and a journey into an unknown Hell for Oklahoma. Texas ended up calling off the dogs. Oklahoma waved the white flag. The Longhorns offense looked well oiled and machine like, their defense determined and aggressive. Whereas the Sooners offense (without quarterback Dillon Gabriel) was a gimmick fit for the carnival outside the Cotton Bowl and their defense looked rudderless and weak. Steve Sarkisian’s vision for the team looked like it was starting to come to fruition, while Brent Venables’ roster looked to be in shatters. Texas got their largest Red River win ever and gave their rivals their worst lost in program history. The Longhorns were led by motivated veterans playing their best ever football and have young talent all over the field. The Sooners players didn’t create one play in the entire game where I wondered “who is number such and such?” As the old saying goes, Texas showed up to the Cotton Bowl looking for a fight and a “football game broke out.” Oklahoma seemed to be showing up for a costume party wearing crimson Sooners jerseys. It was a biblical reckoning: for Texas, salvation; for Oklahoma, penance. The reaper has avoided Norman for a long time, focusing its attention on other programs, but mortality is finally here for the Sooners and we’ll see how long it takes them to crawl out of the grave. But, without further ado, here are my 10 most cathartic moments from The Red River Shutout.
10) Blocks. As I mentioned last week, there have been plenty of times where Oklahoma came into this game as the aggressor and Texas seemed to be hoping for a nice game of catch in the backyard. But, Kelvin Banks and Jordan Whittington made it clear early on in the game that they had different intentions for Saturday. On Texas’ first touchdown drive, the freshman tackle Banks drove an Oklahoma defender deep into the endzone and had the Sooners fans begging for a flag on their end of the field. Bijan Robinson would go onto score just a few plays later. On Keilan Robinson’s touchdown that made it 21-0, Jordan Whittington sealed off the running lane to the endzone by pancaking a Sooner defensive back into the crust of the earth. These plays reminded me of Brian Robinson’s hit on Rhett Bomar or Quan Cosby’s block on Lendy Holmes, they were momentary physical encapsulations of a turning tide in this rivalry.
9) Stops. Oklahoma found some early success running a wildcat offense and channeling some of Joey McGuire’s 4th down aggression that previously worked against Texas. They even pulled out the rare pass to the kicker to extend their second drive. Then, the Longhorns defense stuffed them on a fourth and short, led by T’Vondre Sweat. Oklahoma pulled multiple rabbits out of their hat, but to come away with no points after all that effort showed that Venables and Jeff Lebby were out of tricks. Sweat, Keondre Coburn, Anthony Cook and DeMarvion Overshown, all holdovers from Herman’s early classes showed how much they have improved under Pete Kwiatkowski and Sarkisian, giving the audience clear signs of talent development, something that has been missing in Austin for a long time.
8) Breaks. In the last few Red River Showdowns, the Sooners have gotten every conceivable break that the games could muster. Therefore, it felt good to have some things go the Longhorns way for once, like the dropped interception of an early Quinn Ewers pass, or Keilan Robinson slipping while in motion and then catching a ball for a first down and finally Ewers connecting with Bijan Robinson for a mesmerizing circus catch. After Bijan caught that ball, I turned to my wife and said, “that’s how you know its your day.”
7) Picks. Jahdae Barron’s interception of running back Eric Gray’s pop pass was the moment where Texas told Oklahoma that they shouldn’t bring knives to a gun fight. It shutdown the success the Sooners had with the wildcat formation and removed any notion of belief from the Sooners’ players and fans. Then, D’Shawn Jamison’s amazing pick of Davis Beville’s bomb before the half was the Longhorns telling Oklahoma “no soup for you.”
6) Anticipation. Ewers’ first of two touchdowns to tight end J’Tavion Sanders looks like a nice throw on tv, but while watching from the quarterback’s angle you see that it was otherworldly. Ewers’ ability to anticipate where his receiver is going to be and place the football right on their path is a talent reserved for the game’s greatest passers. Quinn Ewers wasn’t perfect on Saturday, but that almost made it more impressive. He had some missed throws, failed on some drives and had a turnover, but Sarkisian said through it all Ewers was a “a cool customer.” The lows never sink him. He is showing remarkable ability to make plays and slow the game down in just his third college start in what should only be his true freshman year, all Longhorn fans should have the freedom to anticipate greatness.
5) Relief. The 18 games of Sark’s time at Texas have been defined by “almost.” That started last year against Oklahoma with the blown lead, a trend which continued and then spiraled the 2021 Longhorns out of control. Additionally, all of Sarkisian’s best moments at Texas thus far have come off the field: the transfer of Quinn Ewers, the 2021 signing class and the commitment of Arch Manning. Don’t get me wrong, Oklahoma is a bad football team, probably the worst in the Big 12 and calling it a signature win would be an exaggeration, but calling it a statement win is fair. It felt good to see Sark finally get a moment on the field that called for joy.
4) Silence. Their shotguns never fired and that little wagon never rolled onto the field. Most importantly, I didn’t hear the horrid Boomer Sooner played one time while in the stadium (you notice it on rewatch, but only early in the game). Usually, it’s a repetitive sound that crawls into your ear and squats there, incessantly playing for weeks and bringing about PTSD. This year, it was pure and blissful silence from that side of the Cotton Bowl.
3) Emptiness. This was only the second time I’ve seen Texas win Red River in person, the other being 2018 which came down to the wire, leaving both fanbases in their seats till the end. So, to see an empty Oklahoma half of the stadium was like when I saw Michelangelo’s David in Florence. It was a masterpiece.
2) Zero. Oklahoma wasn’t allowed to come up for air a single time. I think about Roschon Johnson punishing Oklahoma’s “best hitter” late in the game and Byron Murphy’s sack. It was obvious that Texas was going to shut Oklahoma out and Venables wasn’t even going to try to score, he just wanted the game to end so he could go have a fried iced tea and contemplate his existence in one of the funhouses. Texas shutout the Sooners for the first time since 1965. Longhorn fans might never see another Red River Goose Egg again.
1) Celebration. The upperclassman on this Texas team have been through a lot. Multiple coaches, plenty of losses and a lot of disappointment. It’s tempting to look back on many of their stints as Longhorns and feel sadness. Then you see their postgame celebration and when you see Roschon Johnson wearing the golden hat for the first time or Keondre Coburn and Jordan Whittington planting the Longhorn flag at midfield, you realize that they’re going to leave Texas in a much better place than they found it. Like us, they know most Saturdays aren’t like this, but like us, they’ll always have the memory of Saturday.
Saturday was perfect.
Masterful piece of writing
Makes me wish I was there!