The tale of an ugly game

(3) Texas 16 - (20) Oklahoma 13 : This was not a pretty football game. Neither team looked especially good while no offensive stars shined. The defenses did though. Each defense played pretty stout throughout the game, with Texas' coming up big in the end. A jarring hit from Texas CB Aaron Williams knocked QB Sam Bradford out of the game early. He re-injured his throwing shoulder and did not return to the game. Redshirt freshman Landry Jones filled in nicely throwing for 250 yards and a TD. But 2 ill-advised passes ended up INT's for the 'Horns and killed OU drives.

The question coming into this season for each team was OU's offensive line and Texas' defensive line. Could each team reload at those spots? With OU's O-line banged up that was answered quickly and often. Although the Sooner D tallied more sacks than the Longhorns, Texas' line was just as effective. He didn't record a sack but DE Sergio Kindle was disruptive the entire game. On many running plays he forced the play to be bounced outside or cut back inside to LB's and D-linemen. He got the opportunity to shine against solid competition an he did finally. The factor Kindle also brings to the table is the attention he gets on his end. Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp said the blitz by CB Aaron Williams that knocked Bradford out of the game was put together with Kindle in mind. Muschamp figured OU would be rolling their pass protection towards Kindle and that left the backside open. Oh, and this Aaron Williams kid is good. Texas' defensive secondary is going to be scary good for a year or two with he and S Earl Thomas back there. Much like the Florida Gators were a year ago and this season, most of those guys are sophomores and juniors.

Texas' run defense was also as advertised holding the Sooners to -16 net rushing yards. RBs Demarco Murray and Chris Brown never got going and OU was relegated almost exclusively to the pass. Texas on the other hand struggled throwing it. The OU D-line got a consistent pass rush and never let QB Colt McCoy get in a groove. McCoy looked out of sync all day and may very well have lost the Heisman. But Texas got much needed rushing yards out of RBs Fozzy Whittaker and Cody Johnson, in addition to some key runs by McCoy. Whittaker and Johnson combined for over 100 yards on the ground which helped Texas control the clock late, especially with the absence of their passing game. Oklahoma did a great job neutralizing WR Jordan Shipley holding him to 4 catches for 22 yards and 2 punt returns for -3 yards.

21 penalties, 6 fumbles, and 3 interceptions are what Texas and Oklahoma gave us Saturday. But the Red River Shootout is always a fun one and even though it wasn't pretty, it was enjoyable. Texas now takes the wheel in the Big 12, but if they don't improve in the coming weeks, I wouldn't put it past someone else knocking them out of the driver seat.