It’s Another Red River Bumble for Longhorns

For Texas Coach Mack Brown, all the carnival rides at the annual Texas State Fair are a “House of Horrors.”

Just when you thought there were no more painful ways for Brown to lose to Oklahoma, he found one.

Saturday, No. 2 Oklahoma beat No. 5 Texas, 12-0, in front of a crowd of 79,587 at the Cotton Bowl. It was Oklahoma’s fifth consecutive victory in the series and marked the first time Texas has been shut out in 281 games dating to November 1980.

To think, the talk coming into the game was how Oklahoma’s 39th-ranked defense was not playing up to standards due to the loss of key players.

“Everyone talks about all the guys we graduated,” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said. “We graduate guys every year.”

The most painful part for Texas, however, had to do with a prized recruit who got away.

Oklahoma freshman tailback Adrian Peterson, who grew up in Texas as a “die-hard” Longhorn fan and still has a poster of Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams hanging in his dorm room, rushed for 225 yards in 32 carries to help beat Texas.

How did Peterson become so interested in Oklahoma?

He attended last year’s Texas-Oklahoma game as Texas’ recruiting guest. Oklahoma would crush Texas, 65-13, and later Peterson would crush Longhorn hearts with his Sooner signing.

Texas lost all hope of signing Peterson when Cedric Benson, the Longhorns’ star running back, decided to return for his senior season.

How’s that for dumb luck?

Peterson wanted more playing time as a freshman and Oklahoma was more than happy to oblige. Saturday, he ran inside, outside and up the middle in becoming the first Oklahoma player in history to rush for more than 100 yards in his first five games.

Afterward, Brown graciously noted Peterson “is going to be a great player at Oklahoma” even as it appeared Peterson was already great.

Peterson, still a soft-spoken teenager, said Texas was “the team I grew up liking” and confessed he entered the game “just very excited and pumped up.”

At 6 feet 2 and 210 pounds, Peterson runs in an upright style that evokes memories of Eric Dickerson.

So, you ask, what else can go right for Oklahoma and wrong for Texas in this game?

After losing to Oklahoma by 52 points last year, Texas hired two new defensive coordinators, vowed to get tougher and did -- it was only a 6-0 game in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense gave us a chance to win,” Brown said. “And our team played tougher and harder than last year.”

Still, it wasn’t enough.

In a game decided by defense and ball control, Oklahoma made a couple of big plays and Texas didn’t.

The Longhorns hurt themselves by committing three turnovers -- bringing to 19 their total in five straight losses to Oklahoma.

Texas had a chance to score first and take control of the game early, but quarterback Vince Young fumbled at the Oklahoma 14-yard line.

Late in the half, Oklahoma drove 83 yards and settled for a 22-yard Trey DiCarlo field goal, then made it 6-0 early in the second half on a 26-yard DiCarlo kick.

To put it simply, the Longhorn defense kept them in the game and the Longhorn offense kept them out of it.

On Texas’ second drive of the second half, Benson lost a fumble at his own 24.

On its next possession, Texas squandered a field goal chance when Young was sacked for an eight-yard loss on third down at the Oklahoma 42.

Up 6-0, Oklahoma drove 80 yards in 11 plays in the fourth quarter for its only touchdown, a six-yard run by Kejuan Jones with 8:07 left.

Texas’ fate was sealed when Young fumbled on the Longhorns’ next possession.

Oklahoma improved to 5-0 and Texas dropped to 4-1.

Once again, Brown was gracious in defeat and said the Longhorns simply had to regroup and get ready for next week.

“Missouri doesn’t care whether we won or lost,” he said.

Oklahoma has typically used the Texas game as a launching pad to greater things.

The emergence of Peterson as a star has taken the pressure off Sooner quarterback Jason White, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner.

Saturday, White completed only 14 of 26 passes for 113 yards. He had no touchdowns and two interceptions, yet Oklahoma still won.

“The passing game wasn’t there, and we turned to the run,” White said.

Last year, Oklahoma was a pass-first team that lost its last two games -- the Big 12 championship game against Kansas State and the BCS title game against Louisiana State -- because it could not effectively run the ball.

Stoops says Peterson gives the Sooners a different look.

“I believe so,” Stoops said. “It gives us more options. We just have more dimensions offensively.”

Grading his performance, Peterson said, “I’m not satisfied yet. It feels pretty good. I’ve got more games to go.”

Stoops ran his record to 5-1 against Brown.

Brown ran home to Austin to contemplate what went wrong ... again.