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Dallas—MMark Montgomery and David Frudiger, two Oklahoma football supporters, were seated in Section 4, 28 rows above the field, providing them with a close-up view of one of the most heinous defeats in OU football history on Saturday.
Montgomery, 59, said he didn’t enter the game with much hope because Davis Beville seemed ready to start at quarterback for the injured Dillon Gabriel. Montgomery traveled from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to watch the 2022 Red River Showdown against Texas.
His gloom was confirmed by a dismal performance that forced Dallas resident Frudiger, 59, to say, “I survived the (John) Blake era,” to the man seated behind him. I’m capable of overcoming this.
Others among the 92,100 spectators, perhaps hoping to find solace in amenities from the Texas State Fair, flocked to the gates well before the Longhorns finished crushing the Sooners 49-0, unable to relive anything like the depression of 1996–98.
Although they stayed until the very end, Montgomery and Frudiger spent the last few minutes of the game in the stadium’s basement. After a historic collapse that saw them go from a fringe College Football Playoff contender to last place in the Big 12—aa conference that it has won 14 of the previous 22 years—iin just four weeks, OU coaches and players were left with no choice but to continue in the same direction.
Before the Oct. 8 game against Texas, head coach Brent Venables and athletics director Joe Castiglione (left) had a meeting.
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The Southeastern Conference will welcome both schools in 2025. Texas (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) and its explosive offense seem up to the task, while Brent Venables and OU (3-3, 0-3) have a lot of work ahead of them.
Venables, the first OU coach to begin conference play with a losing record, stated, “As a competitor, when you’re used to success, whether it’s this game or any game, there’s a standard of performance that you’re fighting for every single day.” It’s really disappointing when you fail as a coach or as a team for that reason.
Oklahoma had never lost by more than 33 points to its bitter rival and had last been shut out by Texas in 1965. The biggest shutout loss it had ever experienced was a 47-0 setback to Oklahoma State in 1945.
In the absence of Gabriel, who is still undergoing evaluation for a concussion sustained during a game against TCU, the Sooners relied on Pittsburgh transfer Beville and a Wildcat attack captained by senior tight end Brayden Willis, who is in his fifth year of playing.
Willis, receiver Jalil Farooq, running backs Eric Gray and Marcus Major, and the unit produced a season-low 3.7 yards per carry. With five players trying, it managed a meager 39 passing yards.
In the first half, OU turned the ball over in enemy territory twice, on downs and then on a jump pass interception by Gray. Beville also threw a long pick to close out the first half. The careless effort might remind the most devoted Oklahoma supporters of the dangerous moment when Blake dangerously switched back to the antiquated wishbone offense in 1998.
After practicing the new offense with Beville for the past week, Willis said, “Your results don’t always match up with the work that you put in, and that’s the frustrating part for us right now.” “I felt that the planning and the intention were correct. All you need to do is be better at the end of the game.
With cornerback Kani Walker out of the picture and safeties Billy Bowman and Damond Harmon sidelined, Texas’ offense exploited Oklahoma’s defense, allowing quarterback Quinn Ewers to toss for 289 yards and four touchdowns and running back Bijan Robinson to rush for 130 yards and two more.
Cornerback Due to his injuries, Woodi Washington was moved to deep safety, but he was clearly in pain as he played, and both Trey Morrison and Kendall Dennis received penalties. And for the third week in a row, OU’s pass rush was ineffective. The Sooners finished nonconference play ranked in the top five nationally in both tackles for loss and sacks, but they only recorded four of those totals.
A supporter in the upper deck was heard making fun of Venables’ reputation as a “defensive guru” during the game, having built it over his ten years at Clemson. Television cameras captured an OU supporter sobbing in another part of the stadium following Texas’ 28-0 first-half lead.
