In the universe of sports, there are no greater rivalries than those that exist in college football….USC vs Notre Dame, Ohio State vs Michigan, Alabama vs Auburn, Texas vs Texas A & M, Yale vs Harvard, Florida vs Florida State and so on and on….but for our dollar at Ima Sportsphile, the greatest of the all is played every year at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas…..as the Texas Longhorns go to war every year against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The 1984 Sooners football team posted a 9–2–1 overall record and a 6–1 conference record to earn a share of the Conference title under head coach Barry Switzer in his 9th conference title in twelve seasons. After winning a share of conference title with Nebraska….OU earned a trip to the Orange Bowl for an appearance against the Washington Huskies….after a season in which they faced five ranked opponents (In order including # 17 Pittsburg…# 1 Texas, as seen in this video herewith….# 1 Nebraska….# 3 Oklahoma State….and # 4 Washington….with the last three of these opponents finishing the season ranked in the top 10. It endured a tie against
The team was built around defense, with All-American DT Tony Casillas leading with 10 QB sacks…. as freshman LB Brian “The Boz” Bosworth led the team with 133 tackles….while DB Gary Lowell posted 4 interceptions. This 1984 Sooner defense set a school record that would only be eclipsed by the 1986 team when it allowed only 2.2 yards per rush over the course of the season. On offense, QB Danny Bradley led in passing with 1095 yards….with WR Derrick Shepard leading in receiving with 392 yards….and Lydell Carr led the team in rushing with 688 yards,…which was plenty suffecient for OU to post a 9 – 2 – 1 season record and ending up # 6 in the final NCAA polls in 1984.
The 1984 Texas Longhorns started off the season being ranked as # 4 in the country….moved to # 2 after beating legendary coach Shug Jordan’s Auburn Tigers in their 1st game….then moving to # 1 after beating another coaching legend Joe Paterno’s Penn State Nittany Lions….where they remained until entering this game with these Oklahoma Sooners.
As with all UT vs OU games played throughout the incredible history of this Red River Shootout….this was a “snot snorting saliva sloshing dog fight” that ended up in a 15 – 15 tie….for like all episodes of this intense college football rivalry, to which you better bring your guns to this fight….it is well worth the watch.
