The Oklahoma Sooners are used to being the team with the edge in rivalry games. That’s why the moments when they’ve gone in as underdogs and still walked out winners stand out so sharply.
Across the Red River Rivalry, the old Bedlam battle and the Nebraska series, Oklahoma has had a handful of those rare nights when the odds were tilted against it but the result still broke the Sooners’ way. Some came with dramatic finishes.
Others were more about control and statement-making. All of them fit the same theme: Oklahoma finding a way anyway.
The most recent example came in 2023 against Texas, and it was the only Red River Rivalry win Brent Venables has had in four seasons. The Sooners entered that game as one-touchdown underdogs in a top-15 matchup with the No.
3 Longhorns, a team many had already stamped as a national title contender after its win over Alabama. There was still plenty of uncertainty around Oklahoma under Venables, too, especially with UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel at quarterback.
Gabriel answered with the kind of finish that lives in rivalry lore, leading a game-winning drive and hitting Nic Anderson for the touchdown with 15 seconds left in a 34-30 Oklahoma win.
It ended up being Texas' only loss of the regular season before falling to Washington in the CFP semifinal.
Back in 2013, Oklahoma pulled off another memorable upset in Stillwater. Bedlam almost never had the Sooners as the betting underdog, but that year Oklahoma State was rolling and one win away from clinching the Big 12 title in front of its home crowd.
The Cowboys were installed as a 10-point favorite. The Sooners’ situation got even tougher when starting quarterback Trevor Knight was injured in the first half while OU was trailing, forcing Blake Bell into the spotlight as the team’s third option at quarterback.
Bell delivered anyway. He guided a late drive and finished it with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Saunders with 19 seconds left. Then Eric Striker put the exclamation point on it by recovering a fumble and taking it into the end zone as time expired, sealing a 33-24 Oklahoma win.
The result knocked Oklahoma State out of reach of a BCS bowl game and sent the Sooners on to the Sugar Bowl, where Knight returned and Oklahoma beat Alabama. That was only the start of Oklahoma’s run of success against the Crimson Tide.
The 2002 Red River Rivalry brought another twist. Oklahoma was ranked No. 2, but still entered the game as much as a 7-point underdog to No.
3 Texas, the defending Big 12 champion. Bob Stoops’ team didn’t flinch.
The Sooners’ defense matched Texas turnover for turnover, with quarterback Nate Hybl throwing four interceptions and Oklahoma’s defense coming up with three of its own. On offense, Quentin Griffin carried the load, rushing for a career-high 248 yards and scoring twice overall.
Oklahoma held on for a 35-24 win, giving Stoops his third straight victory in the rivalry.
Then there was 2000 and the biggest stage of all: No. 2 Oklahoma against No.
1 Nebraska in the first 1-vs-2 matchup of the BCS era. The Cornhuskers jumped ahead 14-0 early, but the Sooners took over from there and shut them down the rest of the way in a 31-14 win.
That game finished Oklahoma’s famous "Red October," a stretch that also included top-10 wins over Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska. It was a turning point for Stoops’ program, the moment Oklahoma announced it was back among the sport’s elite and, as the source puts it, hasn’t went back ever since.
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OU Linebacker Room Suddenly Puts Cole Sullivan In The Spotlight
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The depth chart around him has only made his importance grow. Oklahoma has lost Kendal Daniels, Kobie McKinzie and Sammy Omosigho, while Taylor Heims injury has further squeezed the group behind the top options, leaving little margin for error at linebacker. Sullivans versatility gives the staff some flexibility, but it also puts him squarely in the middle of a situation that could keep shifting as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]