Oklahoma Sooners 31, Texas Longhorns 26: Modified Box Score
Zack Sanchez's pick-six was one of the biggest plays in a weird, weird win over Texas. (Image courtesy: dallasnews.com)
A modified box score from the Oklahoma Sooners' 31-26 win over the Texas Longhorns in the 2014 Red River Shootout.
(CLICK HERE for more on the modified box score.)
Notes:
*You know those boring-ass cliches about the importance of all three phases in football? Welcome to a purist's wet dream.
Texas had the edge on both offense and defense in this game. Special teams was a rout in favor of the north side of the Red River. The Sooners netted 16 more yards per kickoff, thanks in large part to Alex Ross' return touchdown. On the whole, OU enjoyed a significant advantage in starting field position, which speaks to overall quality of its coverage and return units.
*I'd love to know how often a team averages more than 6 yards per play on first down and struggles to convert third downs the way that OU's offense did on Saturday.
To be fair, what doesn't show up in the aggregate is that a handful of big plays inflated that average. All in all, nine of OU's 21 plays on first down generated less than three yards. That left the O behind schedule way too often.
*The non-offensive TDs for OU did some wacky things to the numbers. UT had a whopping 34 more offensive plays in the game than the good guys. Again, how often does a squad dominate the action that way and still lose?
Just a bizarre game.