‘Past has nothing to do with the present’: Drake Stoops ready to put last year behind them

After a 49-0 loss last season, Drake Stoops and Co. are ready to put that loss behind them.

Since 1999, nearly 25 years, the Oklahoma Sooners vs. the Texas Longhorns has featured a Stoops. That streak will most likely come to an end next year as [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] gears up for one final showdown with the team down south.

Stoops is a sixth-year senior and currently leads the Sooners with 25 receptions on the season. He’s also second on the team in touchdowns with four.

He talked to reporters about just how special this rivalry is.

“It’s a very historic series,” Stoops said. “One of the greatest rivalries in all of college football. But the past has nothing to do with the present, so we’re just focusing on this week. Focusing on today, tomorrow will be focusing on Tuesday, and when Saturday comes, we’ll focus on an 11:00 a.m. kick.”

Stoops has had several big moments in this game, whether it was his game-winning touchdown catch in the fourth overtime in 2020 or his two-point conversion catch to tie it up after the Sooners were down 28-7 in 2021.

But after a 49-0 win by the Longhorns a year ago, Stoops said that was something they thought about this summer.

“That left a bad taste in all of our mouths,” Stoops said. “But at the end of the day, we want to go 1-0 each week, and that’s the goal. So, we want to go 1-0 this week, and like I said, the past has nothing to do with the present. So here we are this year, and we’re ready to put our best foot forward and go to battle.”

A battle it most certainly will be between two of the remaining unbeaten teams in college football.

Just as it should be.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.