The Oklahoma Sooners are just days away from squaring off against their arch rivals, the Texas Longhorns, in the 120th playing of the [autotag]Red River Rivalry[/autotag] matchup.
There’s plenty of hype surrounding this year’s game, as the top-ranked ‘Horns are 5-0 and looking to stay unbeaten. OU, on the other hand, is 4-1 with a loss against Tennessee. They’re dealing with major injury concerns and big problems on offense, but a stout defense and a true freshman quarterback won’t be going down without a fight.
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who will be on the call for Saturday’s game, sat down with Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables to discuss what makes this game so special.
“Everybody in that stadium is invested,” Venables said. “There’s nothing like it … You have a group of people that are incredibly excited, they think that their encouragement in that moment is gonna be the difference, and when you’re winning, there’s a lot of energy that you feel.”
Herbstreit also asked Venables about the iconic close finishes that this game seems to always produce.
“Everything that goes into it and preparation leading up to it,” Venables said. “Nine of the last ten years have come down to, essentially, the last series of the game.”
When asked about the Golden Hat trophy, given to the game’s winner each year, Venables smiled as he answered.
“This is pride,” Venables said. “This means a lot to a lot of people. The past players, the past coaches, certainly to the current team. We know that for three hours when we go down to Dallas, Texas and compete in this game, everybody can take whatever problems you got, man you forget about them. You lose yourself in three and a half hours in the Red River Rivalry game and the joy that it can bring so many people.”
The Sooners and the Longhorns will square off again at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The game will broadcast on ABC.
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