The Red River Rivalry has always had a way of putting running backs in the spotlight, and Oklahoma’s history in the Cotton Bowl is full of days when one runner changed everything.
That matters again this week, because the Sooners still don’t know whether they have a reliable ground game after four games, while Texas has bolstered its offense by bringing in two star backs. In a series that has drifted toward the pass in recent years, the old truth still hangs over the matchup: when OU and Texas meet in Dallas, the team that owns the line of scrimmage usually owns the day.
Oklahoma’s best individual rushing performances in the rivalry have come in some memorable, chaotic games, and one of the biggest belonged to De’Mond Parker. The Sooners came into the Cotton Bowl at 2-3 in John Blake’s second season, and Parker - a sophomore from Booker T.
Washington High School in Tulsa - was already building a reputation. He had started only two games the year before, but he still led Oklahoma in rushing with 1,184 yards and earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors.
He had also turned heads earlier that season with 239 yards in a win over Donovan McNabb’s Syracuse Orangemen and 191 yards and a score against Louisville.
Across from him was Ricky Williams, the junior back who would go on to win the Doak Walker Award and, the next year, the Heisman Trophy. The 1997 meeting turned into a showcase for both runners.
Parker opened the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, putting Oklahoma ahead 7-3. Williams answered with a short score of his own, and Texas took control later.
But Parker kept dragging the Sooners back into it. Trailing 24-10 late, he ripped off a 48-yard touchdown.
Then, with 2:42 left, he struck again from 66 yards to pull Oklahoma within three.
Texas still escaped with a 27-24 win after Williams helped the Longhorns run out the clock, but Parker’s night went into the record book. His 291 rushing yards remain No. 3 on Oklahoma’s all-time single-game list and stand as the best rushing performance ever against Texas. Together, Parker and Williams piled up 71 carries, 514 yards and five touchdowns in a game that felt like a throwback even then.
Five years later, the rivalry produced another Oklahoma win built on the ground game. Texas entered the 2002 matchup as the No. 2 team in the country and desperate to end its skid against No.
3 Oklahoma. Nate Hybl did not finish the previous year’s game against Texas, a 14-3 Sooners win that featured Jason White and Roy Williams’ “Superman” play, but he had a rough start this time, throwing three early interceptions, including a 73-yard pick-six that put Oklahoma in a 14-3 hole.
Hybl would end up with four interceptions, though the Sooners’ defense helped soften the damage by picking off Texas quarterback Chris Simms three times. And Quentin Griffin kept Oklahoma moving.
The Longhorn-killer delivered play after play, including a one-yard "touchdown catch" from Hybl after Will Peoples fumbled at the goal line and Griffin scooped it up for the score. Griffin later added a 17-yard touchdown that put the game away for good, giving Oklahoma its third straight win over Texas.
After No. 2 Oklahoma’s 12-0 victory over No. 5 Texas, ABC’s Brad Nessler put the moment in plain terms: "A star is born on the Norman campus, and he did it in style in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas."
Then came 2003, when another Sooners back made his first big Red River statement. Texas brought future NFL defensive standouts Derrick Johnson, Michael Huff and Aaron Ross into the game, but freshman Adrian Peterson made them look ordinary. Oklahoma’s defense handled Vince Young and the Longhorn offense, and Peterson kept the Sooners on track with sustained drives, running around, past and through the Texas defense.
That performance introduced Peterson to the wider college football world and carried him all the way to a second-place finish in the Heisman Trophy, the highest finish ever by a freshman at the time.
Now the question is whether Oklahoma can find that kind of backfield spark again in 2026. The Sooners are hoping they can.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Faces A Red River Concern Fans Already Feared
Oklahoma heads into the Red River matchup with a defense that could get a boost from a couple of returning pieces, but the more immediate concern is on the other side of the ball. The Sooners are working through injury issues along the offensive line and at running back, and that combination can shape everything from protection to play-calling in a game where margin for error is already slim.
Michael Fasusi is doubtful, Eddy Pierre-Louis is questionable and Xavier Robinson is out, leaving Oklahoma to sort through a patchwork situation at key spots before facing Texas. There are several other availability questions on the report as well, while Texas enters with fewer players listed as unavailable, which only sharpens the concern for a Sooners offense that would prefer far cleaner health heading into one of the season's biggest tests. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas Receiver Frustration Just Took Another Hit Before Texas
A week before the Red River showdown, Oklahoma added another wrinkle to a wide receiver room that has already been under scrutiny. Freshman Jahsiear Rogers has been dismissed from the football program, according to an OU spokesperson, and he has already been removed from the teams online roster. Rogers had not carved out a major role this season, but he arrived with the kind of recruiting profile that made him an intriguing long-term piece for the Sooners.
For a passing attack trying to find more consistency, losing a young receiver who once looked like a possible building block is another reminder of how much turnover can shape a season. The Sooners are now moving toward Texas with less depth and one fewer developmental option at a position that has been watched closely all fall. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma's 2028 Running Back Problem Just Got Worse Before Texas Week
The recruiting battle around the Red River Rivalry picked up another jolt when Micah Rhodes, a four-star running back in the 2028 class, backed off his Oklahoma pledge and announced for Texas just ahead of the matchup. Rhodes had originally committed to the Sooners, so the flip adds a fresh layer of sting to a weekend that already carries plenty of recruiting and regional weight for both programs.
Rhodes change of heart came after the departure of Oklahoma running backs coach DeMarco Murray, a reminder of how quickly the staff turnover can reshape a class. The Sooners still do not have a replacement lined up for Rhodes in the 2028 group, though they remain involved with other targets such as Jayshawn Mitchell as they try to steady that part of the board. [Read more 🡒]