While the UW football team has made great strides in the past decade, the one thing that Head Coach Barry Alvarez has been unable to provide is a good, old-fashioned rivalry. Some might point to Minnesota, with Paul Bunyan's Axe up for grabs, but outside of students from Minnesota, the game means very little. Others might claim Michigan as UW's rival, but unfortunately, for a rivalry to exist, the opposing team must actually acknowledge the rivalry.
For those who are curious as to what constitutes a real rivalry, this Saturday's Red River Shootout (the namesake derived from the river dividing the two states) between the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (5-0 overall) and the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners (5-0 overall), serves as a prime example. These two traditional powerhouses, with a combined 10 national championships, recognize the rivalry, care about the rivalry and, most importantly, loathe each other.
Texas Head Coach Mack Brown has participated in the game from both sidelines, as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator in 1984 and now as UT's head coach, understands the importance of the game.
\I know from the time we come down that tunnel to the final whistle, adrenaline will be flowing,"" Brown said. ""This is a great college rivalry, and I'm very privileged to have been on both sides of it.""
In the two states, where football comes before all other sports, the bragging rights gained from a win are more than enough to salvage a disappointing season. Every year since 1929, Texas and Oklahoma have traveled to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. to play the game, a site equidistant from both schools. The neutral site creates a unique atmosphere, with Oklahoma fans and Texas fans equally divided along the 50-yard line, heckling and booing the opposing team while cheering on their own.
While Texas leads the overall series 55-36-5, the Sooners have won the previous two meetings. The 97th meeting finds both teams ranked in the Associated Press Top Five for the second straight year and both have legitimate shots at the national championship.
""The Oklahoma-Texas game can't get here soon enough for us. We are a lot more emotional in our preparations for a game like this,"" said Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops, who has been on the sidelines for the past three meetings between these talented teams.
College careers at Oklahoma and Texas are made and broken based on performances in the Shootout and no player has more to prove then senior UT quarterback and Heisman hopeful, Chris Simms. His interception with 2:01 left in the Oklahoma game last year made him 0-2 in the Shootout.
This record has done little to endear him to Texas fans, though a win this Saturday could turn that completely around.
Both teams struggled last week, barely maintaining their undefeated records. The Longhorns narrowly held on to beat Oklahoma State 17-15 at home while the Sooners railed to beat Missouri 31-24, despite the fact that their highly touted defense gave up 449 yards of offense.
The game boils down to a matchup of the Oklahoma defense versus the Texas offense. The Longhorns are known for their passing attack and talented receiving corps, but to win the game they need to get sophomore running back Cedric Benson involved early. In the past, their five-receiver set has proved ineffective when not combined with a balanced attack. If Oklahoma can stop Benson, they will be content forcing Simms to beat them through the air, something he has been unable to do in the past.
Oklahoma, on the other hand, needs its questionable offensive line to give senior quarterback Nate Hybl time to throw. The Oklahoma running game has struggled this year (-45 yards rushing against Missouri), so look for the underrated UT defense (which is quietly the No. 2 defense in the nation) to challenge the OU offensive line with its pass rush.
However, make no mistake about it, OU is a defensive team first and foremost. The defense, highly touted in the preseason, has not looked as sharp as last year. If the defense, led by junior defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson, is able to gel into the unit that everyone predicted that they would be then Simms and the Texas offense will have a difficult day.
Simms and the Sooner's defense have something to prove this weekend and whichever one of them is able to live up to the hype will lead their team to victory in a this fierce rivalry and have their legacy secured in the eyes of their fans.
The bad news for fans is that the ABC station in Madison will not broadcast the game due to the Penn State vs. Michigan game.
