Oklahoma
Oklahoma and Texas, one of college football's most storied rivalries, opens new chapter in the SEC
Perhaps the only way the Oklahoma-Texas rivalry could have become even more intense happened when both joined the powerful Southeastern Conference in July.
The series that began in 1900 immediately will rank with the best of the SEC’s older ones — Alabama vs. Georgia, the Iron Bowl between Auburn vs. Alabama, the Egg Bowl featuring Ole Miss and Mississippi State and the Florida-Georgia matchups in Jacksonville, long-known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
First, there’s the atmosphere. The Cotton Bowl in Dallas is a neutral site virtually equal distances from the campuses in Norman, Oklahoma and Austin, Texas. The stadium is split with half Oklahoma crimson and half Texas burnt orange. The game takes place during the State Fair of Texas, creating a vibrant scene and a unique experience.
Then, there’s the history. Although Alabama and Georgia have played many high-stakes games in the past decade, even that series doesn’t measure up long-term. Oklahoma and Texas have 10 AP national titles between them -– Oklahoma boasts seven and Texas has three. In each case, the winner in Dallas won the national championship.
There’s plenty at stake this year too — Texas takes the No. 1 ranking into the game for the first time since 1984. Oklahoma. ranked No. 18, would get a huge boost from a win.
“How could you not get excited for this game?” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “This is everything that you want to coach and play for at this level. The pageantry, the emotion, the intensity, the opportunity, all of it. You’re going to have a center stage in college football this Saturday.”
There have been stars aplenty through the years — Oklahoma has seven Heisman winners and Texas has two, with many having helped their causes in Red River Rivalry games.
Legendary Texas coach Darrell Royal played for Oklahoma. But the Sooners have taken much more than a coach from Texas — something Longhorn fans are quick to bring up. Many of Oklahoma’s best players have come from The Longhorn State – Heisman winners Billy Sims, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray are from there, as were star running backs Adrian Peterson, Greg Pruitt, Joe Washington and many others.
Back in the late 1960s, Texas won big with the run-based wishbone offense. Oklahoma’s Barry Switzer borrowed it, tweaked it and ran it down Texas’ throat in the 1970s — with a heavy dose of those running backs he recruited from Texas.
The games often have been unpredictable. Last year, for example, Texas was heavily favored, but Oklahoma won on a touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel to Nic Anderson with 15 seconds remaining. Texas bounced back and made the College Football Playoff.
In perhaps the craziest year of the rivalry, the schools played twice in 2018. Texas won in the regular season, but Oklahoma took the rematch in the Big 12 title game, propelling Murray to the Heisman.
With all that in mind, here are five significant games in the rivalry.
2020: Oklahoma 53, Texas 45, 4 OT
Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Drake Stoops — son of former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops — in the fourth overtime for the game-winner.
In a game that deserved a full house, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the crowd to 24,000 at the 93,000-seat Cotton Bowl, and the state fair was canceled for the first time since World War II.
Those who showed up witnessed a barn burner.
Texas’ Sam Ehlinger, who had four rushing touchdowns, threw two scoring passes in the final 3:28 of regulation to help the Longhorns tie the game at 31 and force overtime.
But after Stoops’ touchdown catch, Oklahoma’s Tre’ Brown intercepted Ehlinger to end the game.
2008: Texas 45, Oklahoma 35
Oklahoma was ranked No. 1, Texas was No. 5. Oklahoma twice held 11-point leads in the first half, only for Texas to rally within 21-20 by halftime, with the play of the game coming on Jordan Shipley’s momentum changing 96-yard kickoff return.
The game produced an all-time quarterback duel as Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford passed for 387 yards and five touchdowns and Texas’ Colt McCoy passed for 287 yards and a score. Texas vaulted to No. 1 after the victory and held the spot for three weeks.
Oklahoma ended up winning in the end. Bradford won the Heisman and McCoy finished second. And the Sooners were granted the BCS national championship tiebreaker to earn a berth in the national title game.
2001: Oklahoma 14, Texas 3
This game is remembered mostly for a spectacular play by Oklahoma defensive stars Roy Williams and Teddy Lehman.
Oklahoma led 7-3 late in the fourth quarter, but Texas had a sliver of hope. After a punt, the Longhorns took possession on their 3-yard line with just over two minutes remaining. On Texas’ first play, Chris Simms dropped back into the end zone. Williams leaped into the air and hit Simms while he was throwing. Lehman caught the fluttering pass and returned it 2 yards for a touchdown. Williams would collect an interception later to help the Sooners close it out.
Oklahoma, the defending national champion, won its 18th straight game overall.
1999: Texas 38, Oklahoma 28
The first matchup between Texas coach Mack Brown and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops was a doozy that started with trickery.
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mike Leach wrote up a fake play script for the start of the game and hatched an elaborate plan to have it left near the Texas bench in pregame warmups. It worked when the Longhorns found the script and, thinking they knew the Sooners’ game plan, were lining up in all the wrong places.
Josh Heupel, who would lead the Sooners to the national championship in 2000, had 181 yards passing and two touchdowns as Oklahoma raced to a 17-0 lead. Texas defensive coordinator Carl Reese eventually trashed the bogus script and the Longhorns staged their biggest rally in nearly 35 years to win.
1984: Oklahoma 15, Texas 15
Before the game, Sooners freshman linebacker Brian Bosworth — a native Oklahoman — declared: “I hate Texas, I hate (Texas coach) Freddie Akers and I hate that burnt orange color. It reminds me of people’s vomit.”
On a rainy, soggy day at the Cotton Bowl, No. 3 Oklahoma led the top-ranked Longhorns 15-10 late in the third quarter before a safety pulled Texas within three. Texas was driving for the winning touchdown when an apparent Oklahoma interception was ruled out of bounds. With 4 seconds left, Texas’ Jeff Ward kicked a game-tying field goal. Switzer chased the game officials to yell at them.
″Oklahoma fans were mad,” Ward told the AP in 2000. “Texas fans were mad. Everybody was shouting. You felt miserable because of the rain.”
Bosworth respected Texas even less for the tie as the years went by.
“They came and did the unthinkable, trying to tie it up,″ Bosworth said in 2000. ″They were the No. 1 team. That was like shooting themselves in the head.”
AP Sports Writer Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas contributed to this report.
A contentious debate over water and growth is intensifying in Yukon as residents and city leaders grapple with the long-term costs of supplying major industrial projects, including a data center that uses up to 3 million gallons a day.
The discussion spilled into another packed Yukon City Council meeting, where residents learned how strained and expensive the city’s water outlook could be over the next 25 years.
Emotions ran high, with one resident comparing city leadership to a Nazi regime.
Yukon’s water supply plan examines eight options, including five aquifers, non-potable reuse water, direct potable reuse water, and purchasing 2 million gallons a day from Oklahoma City.
Projected costs exceed $200 million, with millions more expected over the next 25 years for operations and maintenance.
The data center was part of the conversation from the start of the water study, which began in late 2024.
The facility uses up to 3 million gallons a day to cool its servers. One option discussed for meeting that demand is a non-potable supply providing 3 million gallons a day, with $55.9 million in capital costs and a required 18-inch pipe stretching 3.5 miles.
The option is recommended to meet great industrial demands, including a data center.
Council member Rick Cacini said his focus is on residents’ needs rather than industrial users. Cacini said, “We had water problems 8 years ago when I started, and we have water problems today.”
Another council member raised the idea of taking cost out of the equation when considering whether to supply water to the data center.
Residents spoke out one after another against the data center after hearing details of the water plan and costs.
One resident referenced Piedmont, where two data center proposals were tabled on Monday. Another resident said, “It’s not a good deal for us, and the other cities know it already.”
Some residents escalated their criticism of city leadership. One resident said, “I voted for Pillmore, and I regret that vote more than anything probably I’ve ever done in my life because this feels like some nazi regime.”
Others called for city leaders to be recalled. “We will collect those signatures within 30 days, and we’re gonna remove you.”
Concerns also grew over the data center agreement, centered on the purchaser having an “out” while the seller does not.
The city manager was said to have gotten something wrong in August.
The meeting ended with Cacini threatening to sue Mayor Brian Pillmore over comments made in an early May meeting.
Pillmore was not at the meeting, saying he was on vacation with his family.
INOLA, Okla. — Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a petition in Rogers County seeking to block a proposed aluminum-smelting facility in Inola.
According to Drummond, Emirates Global Aluminum holds a 60% controlling interest in the project. The company is based in the United Arab Emirates.
Century Aluminum, a company headquartered in Chicago, owns the remaining 40%.
If completed, Oklahoma Primary Aluminum would be the largest primary aluminum production plant in the United States. However, the facility would produce hazardous waste, which has raised concerns in both the Inola community and across the state. Billboards have been spotted along Highway 412 in Inola, warning others about the proposal.
The facility would also draw more than 1,000 megawatts of continuous energy.
“A primary aluminum smelter does not belong in a community’s backyard, and its emissions do not respect property lines,” Drummond said, adding that winds could carry pollutants into the surrounding northeastern Oklahoma communities. “The injury is imminent, it is grave, and it is irreparable.”
However, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has criticized Drummond’s actions, saying the facility would be one of the state’s largest economic development projects in history.
It is important to note that Drummond is currently running for Governor.
“As soon as President Trump made his endorsement in the governor’s race, Drummond dropped the act and showed his true colors,” said Stitt. “Now he is turning his machine against one of President Trump’s top priorities, once again weaponizing his office to settle scores instead of serving Oklahomans. President Trump’s aluminum project in Inola will rapidly grow Oklahoma’s economy and strengthen America’s supply chain for generations, while Drummond turns his back on our state in favor of cheap political gimmicks and personal gain.”
President Trump has endorsed Mike Mazzei in Oklahoma’s gubernatorial race. The Republican primary is scheduled for June 16.
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Oklahomans will soon see semis on the road without a driver inside. That has people asking questions about safety.
The Oklahoma legislature passed a law in 2019, which was modified in 2022, allowing for fully autonomous commercial trucks on Oklahoma highways as long as they meet federal safety standards and follow state traffic laws.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is tasked with governing the operation of these trucks on Oklahoma roads. Troopers have been meeting with the truck makers and have trained to learn as much as possible about these trucks before they start operating. News On 6 asked troopers questions like: How will troopers pull them over? How do the trucks avoid crashes? How do the trucks handle unexpected situations?
Nearby states like Texas already have these trucks on the roads, which OHP says is helpful.
“We did have a lot of the same questions the public has. We have a lot of the same concerns about safety,” said Lieutenant Mark Southall with OHP. “We haven’t heard any bad stories from these other states. This company claims they’ve traveled two million miles without an at-fault collision. Meaning they have not been the causation of any collision.”
High-tech cameras in the trucks
OHP says they learned the trucks have cameras that can see a small animal 600 meters away, day or night. This camera system helps the trucks avoid crashes or anything in the roadway.
“We learned the camera systems in these vehicles are very sophisticated, that they can capture an image as small as a small animal up to 600 meters away. Looking at that the human eye can’t see 600 meters away or see something that small, but these cameras can pick that up and begin to make maneuvers to make sure they stay safe,” said Southall. “The cameras are very, very accurate, and they can avoid those crashes. We watched videos when we went to this training where we watched them avoid those crashes.”
How does the truck handle an unexpected road closure?
OHP says the trucking companies say the trucks have been put through just about every situation imaginable.
“The company has put this vehicle using AI through multiple different situations and scenarios that it’s learned from. If it comes upon a situation it wasn’t prepared for, using the camera system inside the vehicle, I think it begins to recognize what it needs to do,” said Southall.
How does law enforcement pull over the trucks?
“These trucks, from what we are told, are made to recognize when they are being stopped, they are made to recognize the red and blue lights and pull over to the shoulder,” said Southall. “If the vehicle senses red and blue lights and maybe they are not being pulled over, they’ll still pull over to the shoulder and stop and let the emergency vehicle go by.”
How does OHP get information if there is no driver?
OHP says there is a number on the cab of the truck that they call, and it takes them to a dispatch center. All of the trucks are equipped with a lock box with the truck’s documentation.
“The dispatch center will give us a code to be able to get into the box, and we can look at the documents on the truck from there,” said Southall.
What if a citizen sees a truck that has crashed or is on fire?
If a citizen sees the truck crashed or on fire, they can call the number on the cab, which goes to the dispatch center.
What if the truck has a mechanical problem while on the road?
OHP says if the vehicle has any sort of malfunction, it is supposed to pull over to the side of the road and stop, and it will alert dispatch.
Will the trucks be on every highway in Oklahoma?
The trucks won’t be on every highway in Oklahoma. For now, the trucks are expected to only run on the major travel routes like I-35 and I-40.
“We don’t work for this trucking company; our interest is working for the people of Oklahoma to make sure these roadways are safe. This is something the state legislature made state law, and we’ve got to begin to work with it so we can understand it,” said Southall.
The trucks could be on Oklahoma roads with drivers for testing as early as this month.
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