DALLAS - Mack Brown stood with his players in front of the Texas band cherishing a victory over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry that few outside of Austin expected.
After the coach accepted the Golden Hat trophy that came with their 36-20 victory Saturday over the 12th-ranked Sooners, Case McCoy and these Texas seniors especially enjoyed passing around the prize and taking turns putting it atop their heads for the first time.
“I didn’t think I was very emotional at all. I thought I did a great, great job,” Brown said. “Besides that, you all wanted me to be more emotional than I was in the past. I had 97 cameras in my face. … I thought I was appropriately really happy.”
McCoy threw two touchdowns, 295-pound defensive tackle Chris Whaley returned an interception 31 yards for a score and the Longhorns (4-2,3-0) ended Oklahoma’s threegame winning streak in the rivalry to give Brown at least a temporary reprieve from all the gloomy talk about his future with the Longhorns.
Brown insisted this victory was special for what it was - finally a win for this senior group over Oklahoma, a 3-0 start in Big 12 play and the possibility of a league title and BCS game still in their future.
“You shouldn’t leave this school without beating Oklahoma. You need to do that,” Brown said. “This thing goes in streaks. And I guess we’ve won five of the last nine now.For you that’s counting.”
The 154 victories for Brown in his 16 seasons at Texas are second most in school history behind Darrell Royal. They also match Coach Bob Stoops’ win total in 15 seasons with the Sooners. The head-to-head record for the only active Big 12 coaches who have won national championships is now Stoops 9, Brown 6.
Texas, a two-touchdown underdog, never trailed after the impressive rumble late in the first quarter by converted running back Whaley. There was also an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown by Daje Johnson in the third quarter after Oklahoma had gotten within 23-13.
The Sooners (5-1, 2-1) had won the last two games in the series by a combined score of 118-38, but came out with their 10-game Big 12 winning streak snapped.
“Those are always difference makers in this game. And they were a big part of the game today,” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said of Texas’ first two non-offensive touchdowns this season. “They made some big pass plays that were big plays inthe game, and we didn’t have hardly any big plays that way offensively. In each part of the game I thought they outplayed us.”
Texas had two 100-yard rushers in Johnathan Gray (29 carries for 123 yards) and Malcolm Brown (23 carries for 120 yards).
In other Big 12 games, Trevone Boykin ran for a touchdown and threw for another as TCU (3-3, 1-2) overcame turnovers and Kansas (2-3, 0-2) 27-17 in Fort Worth. ... Davis Webb, Texas Tech’s backup quarterback, threw for three touchdowns and 415 yards in place of the injured Baker Mayfield to lead the No. 20 Red Raiders (6-0, 3-0) over Iowa State (1-4, 0-2) 42-35.
Sports, Pages 34 on 10/13/2013