Every second Saturday in October, with the iconic Cotton Bowl as its stage and the smells of the State Fair of Texas serving as an olfactory backdrop, one of college football’s great rivalries comes to the forefront: the Allstate Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated in the lead-up to Saturday’s renewal of the rivalry, former Texas All-American wide receiver Jordan Shipley looked back on some of the scenes that make this game so special.
“It’s like all the best memories you have as a kid all rolled up into one,” Shipley says of game day in the Red River Rivalry. “You’ve got state fair, you’ve got football, you’ve got Texas vs. OU. You’re coming out of the same tunnel.
“They’re popping off all those little rocket things. You’re trying not to get into fistfights on the field before the game because the emotions are so high. It’s a setting unlike any other in college football that I’ve ever seen.”
Shipley played for the Longhorns for four seasons, starring for the program in his final two years, during which he set the program’s single-season records for receptions (116), receiving yards (1,485) and touchdown receptions (13) in 2009.
The Temple, Texas, native also played in four Red River Rivalry games, including the 2008 classic the fifth-ranked Longhorns won, 45–35, over the top-ranked Sooners, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest games in the 126-year history of the contest.
“When you’re the underdog, you feel like you have a chip on your shoulder,” Shipley says. “I just remember them coming out early and I think they went up 14–3 and just feeling like, ‘Man, we’ve got to make something happen here.’ ”
Make something happen, Shipley did.
Down 14–3 in the second quarter, Shipley fielded the ensuing kickoff return at his own five-yard line, burst past a diving Sooner at the 25, then turned on the jets to race past three more Oklahoma gunners to take it 96 yards to the house, sending the burnt orange at the Cotton Bowl into a frenzy.
“I remember walking out onto the field and thinking, ‘Something big’s about to happen.’ And sure enough, the guys did a great job, the blocks were there and it just kind of opened up. Hit the seam as fast as I could hit it,” he says.
“And that was just a huge moment for, obviously our team and our season, and for me individually. I remember thinking after that week thinking, ‘All right, I got to have a small piece in this rivalry.’ And it was just one of the most fun experiences of my life for sure.”
Led by 277 passing yards from Colt McCoy and 112 receiving yards and two total touchdowns from Shipley, the Longhorns prevailed in the back-and-forth affair.
The rivalry again takes center stage at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday, when the top-ranked Longhorns, this time the favorites, take the field against the unranked Sooners at the Cotton Bowl, the 96-year-old stadium that has been the home of every Red River game since it opened in 1930.
The Longhorns are riding high coming out of the bye week, with a résumé boasting a come-from-behind win over the then-No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes, and a triumph over No. 14 Tennessee in Week 4.
Meanwhile, the Sooners enter the game on shaky footing coming off of a blowout loss to Georgia in which quarterback John Mateer turned the ball over three times, sparking questions about his status as the starter entering Saturday’s game.
“It’s going to be a fistfight, you can throw the rankings out the window,” Shipley says. “Some of the key things are the same as every big game. Explosive plays and turnovers are the two big things. Penalties. You cannot beat yourself. I think that’s the No. 1 thing.
“You go in there, you play loose and you have fun. If I’m Coach Sark [Texas coach Steve Sarkisian], that’s what I’m telling the guys.”
And the atmosphere on Saturday afternoon?
“Electricity is the best way to describe it. It’s a combination of love of football, love of college football rivalries. Some hatred probably,” Shipley says with a laugh. “The stands are right on top of the field, so there’s hardly any room on the sidelines.
“You’ve got it split right down the middle—crimson on one side, burnt orange on the other side. So, it’s just electric.”
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