Rain before and after, but it's clear during game
There's no doubt to almighty significance of OU vs. Texas
Rain before and after, but it's clear during game

By John Rohde

Published: October 7, 2007

As if there was any doubt to the almighty significance of Oklahoma vs. Texas in football, what transpired Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl should convert all non-believers.

The Longhorns and Sooners were both coming off losses for only the seventh time in the 102-game series.

Preseason hype had quickly faded. The Big 12 was being trashed top to bottom. The two best teams from the South had just been swept by two tweener teams from the North. ESPN's College GameDay was nowhere in sight.

Recent history didn't bode well for a nail-biter, with every OU-Texas game since 1997 having been decided by double-digits.

Such things helped explain why it had been so quiet leading up to the annual showdown, both north and south of the Red River.

Fans who arrived early Saturday to the State Fair of Texas were greeted with rain from 10 a.m. to noon, providing yet another way to dampen any enthusiasm.

But when both teams trotted onto the field for pregame warmups, clouds began to lighten and eventually separated.

Heaven was clearly visible from the Cotton Bowl, and vice versa.

After taking a shower, the sellout crowd of 80,000 was treated to a sauna as the humidity dripped at 88 percent.

With patrons sweating profusely, the mood quickly seemed to intensify. Extreme dislike had returned.

The Sooners beat the Longhorns 28-21 in a single-digit decision.

The instant the clock hit :00 — and this is no exaggeration — the first raindrops in six hours were felt.

Seven minutes later came a public address announcement pleading for fans to leave the stadium and seek shelter.

Within minutes, a deluge arrived. And yet the game itself was not touched.

Such things transpired for a reason: This was OU-Texas.

Despite the good-news outcome, there was some bad news for OU students on Saturday.

School president David Boren was spotted on the field during the post-game celebration. The fate of 29,721 undergraduate students was in his hands.

Though Boren was smiling, he was not feeling particularly generous.

"There will still be school on Monday,” Boren said. "Sorry.”

After exchanging pleasantries with Sooners coach Bob Stoops during pre-game warmups, Longhorns coach Mack Brown walked down to the 35-yard line on the OU side.

There, he shook hands and offered words of encouragement to OU senior defensive end John Williams, who will miss the rest of the year with an Achilles injury.

More than a few attractions at the State Fair strike me as odd.

Just curious, but do people go to the fair looking to purchase a hot tub?

Who wants to see a two-headed rattlesnake? A one-headed rattler is disturbing enough.

Guaranteed winners when you throw darts at balloons? Then why throw darts at all? Just stand there and hand out prizes.

Tiny Tim is the world's smallest horse. Come to think of it, I'm almost certain I bet on him to win the Preakness.

Spotted Saturday morning while walking on Commerce Street: "Band Dad. Need two tickets.”

It's doubtful the plea tugged on many heart strings. To some band cynics, it might have bumped the price of tickets up a bit.

Next time, try something more extreme: "Player's brother. Separated at birth. He doesn't even know yet. Will tell him at the game. Need two tickets.”

The monster scoreboard in the south end zone of the Cotton Bowl sure is nifty. But it's the only scoreboard in the entire stadium.

The north end is equipped with only a game clock and play clock.

Because of this, OU fans in the south end zone spend much of their time with their back to the field in order to see replays, down and distance, yard line, timeouts left, and, oh yeah, the score.

Unlike the previous six years, there were no rifle-toting sharp-shooters stationed on rooftops overlooking the Cotton Bowl.

Oddly enough, it felt more secure without the extra security.

Shortly before the OU-Texas kickoff, media members huddled around TVs in the pressbox to watch the end of the Kansas-Kansas State game.

Can't remember the last time that happened, if ever.

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