DALLAS - Oklahoma didn’t just swing the Red River Rivalry on Saturday. Peyton Bowen made it look like the kind of play Brent Venables had been showing his team all week.
Venables had spent the buildup to the game rolling clips of the rivalry’s biggest moments, the type that stick in the memory and tilt the whole afternoon. Bowen watched those shots and hoped one of them would be his.
Early in the fourth quarter, the senior safety got exactly that chance - and turned it into a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown that helped spark Oklahoma’s 27-24 win over previously No. 1 Texas.
“Just to be able to make that legacy play is unreal,” Bowen said.
The touchdown was more than a solo highlight. Oklahoma’s front set it up by collapsing the pocket and forcing Arch Manning to move.
Danny Okoye nearly got to him, but as he lunged, his helmet came off. Jake Kreul then dove at Manning, pushing the quarterback farther to his right and forcing him to loft the ball downfield.
Okoye was already headed off for the mandatory one-play sit and thought his chance had vanished.
“Then the crowd starts going crazy,” Okoye said. “And I look back and he’s running to the end zone.
I was like, ‘Wow.’ That changed my whole mood.”
Bowen came down with the pick and had a whole stretch of turf in front of him. Bishop Thomas waved him to his right, but Bowen cut the other way and kept his feet moving through the traffic.
“‘Oh, I’m going this way,’” Bowen thought. “And I just keep running, see some blocks unfold, guy on me, and I was just like, ‘I can’t get stopped.’”
He eased up near the goal line, then used a stutter-step and slipped through a gap between two Texas defenders for his first touchdown as a Sooner.
On the sideline, Okoye was jumping in celebration, even as coaches tried to settle him down before a flag could follow. Up in the Cotton Bowl stands, Oklahoma fans let everything fly - beers, pom-poms, water bottles and whatever else was within reach - as Bowen’s score unfolded right in front of them.
Texas answered on its next possession to tie the game again, so the night still had plenty left in it. But Bowen’s return had already shifted the feeling around the stadium. It made clear Oklahoma was still in the fight and still had a real shot at the upset.
For Bowen, the moment hit even harder because of where he’s from. He grew up about 40 miles from the Cotton Bowl in Corinth, Texas, starred at nearby Denton Guyer High, and attended a pair of Red River Rivalry games as a recruit.
“I grew up watching this game,” Bowen said. “... It’s surreal being one of the big impacts of the game today on my senior year, last year here, and just being able to live the moment.”
In Other News...
Texas Just Handed Oklahoma Fans A New Rivalry Talking Point
The Red River Rivalry rarely needs any extra fuel, but this one came with plenty of it after Oklahomas 27-24 win over Texas. Tate Sandell delivered the finishing touch with a 47-yard field goal as time expired, capping a game that swung late after Arch Manning threw two interceptions, including one that killed a Texas drive that could have changed the outcome.
Colin Simmons added a new layer to the postgame conversation by framing the loss as one Texas handed away through its own mistakes rather than one Oklahoma earned through superior play. For Sooners fans, that kind of take is exactly the sort of thing that lingers after October meetings with the Longhorns, especially when the box score already points to missed chances, late tension and a finish that left Texas searching for answers. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Let Red River Slip Away In The Worst Possible Moment
The Red River Rivalry delivered the kind of finish that can linger all season, and Oklahoma found the final answer when Tate Sandell drilled a 47-yard field goal as time expired to beat No. 1 Texas. The Sooners had already forced the issue with a defense that kept pressing all afternoon, and the games turning point came when Texas quarterback Arch Manning was intercepted in the final seconds, setting up the winning drive.
For Oklahoma, it was a complete showcase of complementary football in one of the sports loudest stages. A punt-return touchdown helped swing momentum early, and a pick-6 off Manning added another jolt to a game that already had enough twists to fill a rivalry decade. In the end, the Sooners walked away with a victory that felt as big as the setting, and Texas was left to sort through how quickly a tight game slipped away. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Just Delivered The Rivalry Jolt Sooners Fans Desperately Needed
A season that had already started to feel heavy for Oklahoma got a surge of life in Dallas, where the Sooners stunned No. 1 Texas 27-24 in the Red River rivalry on a final-play, 47-yard field goal by Tate Sandell. It was the kind of win that can reset the mood around a program in a hurry, and Oklahoma earned it with more than just one late kick, getting touchdowns from special teams and defense to keep pace in a game that swung back and forth all afternoon.
The Sooners also took advantage of Texas quarterback Arch Mannings mistakes, as his three touchdown passes were offset by two costly interceptions. For Oklahoma, the result was about more than bragging rights in one of college footballs biggest rivalries. It was proof that a team can still manufacture a signature win when the margins are thin, the pressure is high, and every phase has to come through at once. [Read more 🡒]