The best and most memorable Red River Rivalry moments

We go back to 1900 for the very first meeting between Texas and Oklahoma, the latter of which had not even received statehood at the time. Neither squad had official nicknames back then. According to annals of the rivalry, the game was played in Austin, with host Texas victorious, 28-2. Texas won the first four meetings with Oklahoma and was 6-0-1 before the would-be Sooners finally won a game in the rivalry, 2-0 in 1905 at Oklahoma City.

The Cotton Bowl and city of Dallas are obviously part of the game's tradition and charm. But, the city didn't always play host to the big game between the Longhorns and Sooners. In fact, the game's first appearance in Dallas did not come until 1912. Since 1929, Dallas became the permanent home of the rivalry, with the Cotton Bowl playing its role of traditional host, starting in 1932.

Before Darrell Royal become a legendary head coach at Texas, he was a two-way standout for the Oklahoma football team as a quarterback and defensive back. Royal took over the Longhorns' program in 1957, and one year later his group won 15-14 to halt the Sooners' six-game winning streak. Royal's victory in '58, began a run of eight consecutive victories for Texas in the series -- and 12 wins over a 13-game stretch.

The 1963 version of the Red River Rivalry pitted the No. 1-ranked Sooners versus the No. 2 Longhorns. There was plenty of hype surrounding the contest, however, it turned out to be a rather one-sided affair. Texas amassed an impressive 239 yards on the ground -- 49 more total yards than Oklahoma gained for the entire game. When the dust settled, the Longhorns won 28-7, took up residence at The Associated Press, and eventually won the program's first national championship.

Before the New England Patriots made the term "Spygate" popular, Oklahoma was trying to gain the edge on rival Texas before the 1976 meeting. Texas coach Darrell Royal publicly accused Oklahoma personnel of spying on the Longhorns' practice. Even before this incident, Royal and Sooners coach Barry Switzer were not entirely fond of one another. During their pregame exchange with U.S. President Gerald Ford, neither coach spoke to the other. The game ended in a 6-6 tie, and Switzer, years later, admitted to spying on the Longhorns.

The 1977 matchup featured the rivals both ranked among the top-10 teams in the nation. The Sooners were No. 2, and Texas sat fifth. The Longhorns, however, lost two quarterbacks to injuries in the first half, but star Earl Campbell ran for 126 yards and a touchdown, Russell Erxleben connected on field goals of 64 and 58 yards, and Texas' defense held Oklahoma to 237 total yards for a 13-6 victory.

Barry Switzer might hold a special place in the hearts of most Sooners' fans, but he's always been bitter about the 15-15 result of the 1984 game. The matchup pitted a pair of top-3 teams, with the Longhorns sitting No. 1. Played amid a steady rain with Switzer sporting a "Beat Texas" hat, the Longhorns led 10-0, but Oklahoma clawed back and led by three late in the game. In the final seconds of the contest, the Sooners' appeared to intercept a Texas pass in the end zone. However, it was ruled incomplete. The Longhorns then made the tying field goal, leaving Switzer livid -- apparently still to this day.

The year was 1994, and Texas led 17-10 with 43 seconds left in the game when Oklahoma faced a 4th down-and-goal inside the 5-yard line. The Sooners' James Allen got the ball on a reverse, alluded one Texas defender but was dropped right before the goal line by 6-foot-1, 343-pound Longhorns nose guard Stonie Clark. Texas took over possession and went on to beat Oklahoma for the fifth time in six years.

Oklahoma entered the 1996 contest at 0-4 and giving up an average of 38.5 points. Texas, meanwhile, was 2-2, but ranked 25th. Yet, after spotting the Longhorns a 10-0 first-quarter lead, the Sooners fought back to take a 13-10 advantage. Oklahoma went down again but rallied for 11 fourth-quarter points to force overtime. James Allen capped his 159-yard rushing day with a 2-yard score in the extra session, and the Sooners pulled out the 30-27 win.

Ricky Williams earned near-legendary status during his time at Texas, rushing for 5,273 yards and 84 touchdowns. Exactly 461 of those yards came in three games versus Oklahoma, including 223 and two touchdowns on 40 carries in the Longhorns' 27-24 win in 1997. However, it was one year later when Williams truly left his mark on the rivalry. Wearing the No. 37 jersey of Texas legend Doak Walker, who died in late September 1998, Williams ran for 139 yards and two scores in the Longhorns' 34-3 rout of the Sooners.

En route to the program's seventh and most recent national championship, Oklahoma rolled to a 63-14 rout of Texas. However, the story of that contest was Sooners running back Quentin Griffin, who tied an NCAA record with six rushing touchdowns. Interestingly enough, the longest of Griffin's touchdowns was just 8 yards. He finished with 87 yards on 23 carries, with his longest rush of the game totaling 16 yards.

Roy Williams was a stellar defensive performer for Oklahoma, and his claim to fame seemed more reminiscent of a famed superhero. With the Sooners up 7-3 in 2001, but Texas holding the ball on its own 3-yard line with 2:06 left in the contest, the blitzing Williams dove over blocking Longhorns' running back Brett Robin, and hit quarterback Chris Simms' arm as he threw from his own end zone. The ball fluttered out of Simms' hand and into those of Oklahoma linebacker Teddy Lehman, who easily walked into the end zone for the insurance score and a 14-3 Sooners' win.

From 2005-'09, Oklahoma beat Texas just once. That came during the back-and-forth affair of 2007. The Longhorns' Colt McCoy threw for 324 yards, but Oklahoma's DeMarco Murray rushed for 128 yards with a touchdown and Sam Bradford recorded 244 yards and three TDs through the air. His 35-yard scoring strike to Malcolm Kelly with 10:42 left in the fourth quarter broke a 21-21 tie and eventually gave the Sooners a 28-21 victory.

Baker Mayfield actually faced Oklahoma as a member of two different schools, beginning with his time at Texas Tech in 2013. He also went 2-1 in the October rivalry game. After going 22-of-31 for 390 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in Oklahoma's wild 45-40 victory over the Longhorns in 2016, Mayfield threw for 302 in the '17 meeting. His second touchdown of that contest went to tight end Mark Andrews, on a wheel route, for 59 yards to give the Sooners a 29-24 lead -- which was how the game finished.

We've highlighted some of the more notable individual performances during the history of the Red River Rivalry, but when it comes to career achievements, former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger felt right at home inside the confines of the historic Cotton Bowl. Though he went 1-3 against the Sooners in that environment, the Austin native threw for 1,089 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions and scored a whopping 10 rushing touchdowns while gaining 281 yards on the ground in those four games.

The crowd was limited amid the lingering coronavirus pandemic, but the fact the Red River Rivalry was being played in 2020 , at the Cotton Bowl, in early October, was a sign that some sense of normalcy was happening. And, the game did not disappoint. The Sooners were coming off back-to-back losses while Texas was also fresh off its first 2020 defeat. Oklahoma led 10-0 after one quarter and 31-17 after three. However, the Longhorns scored 14 unanswered in the fourth to force overtime. It would take four overtimes before Drake Stoops'25-yard TD catch from Spencer Rattler gave Oklahoma the 53-45 victory in the highest-scoring game in the rivalry's history.