Portal:College football/Selected article/August, 2007

The 2005 Oklahoma vs. Texas football game, played October 8, 2005, was the 100th meeting between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. This annual game is called the Red River Shootout. It is considered by college football coaches to be one of the three greatest rivalry games in college football, and Fox Sports says the rivalry includes some of the most unique traditions in the sport.

The 2005 Texas Longhorn football team was coached by head football coach Mack Brown and led on the field by quarterback Vince Young. The 2005 Oklahoma Sooners football team was coached by Bob Stoops with Rhett Bomar at quarterback.

This was the fourth game of the 2005 season for both teams. Texas came into the game with a 4-0 record and a #2 ranking. Oklahoma was 2-2 and unranked. Both teams were 1-0 in conference play. Since the two teams are both in the South Division of the Big 12 Conference, winning this game would be an important step towards winning the Division and possibly the Conference. For Texas, a loss would likely eliminate hope of them playing in the BCS National Championship Game.

Prior to the game, Texas was favored by 14 points. They took an early seven-point lead and led for the rest of the game. Although the score was close for the first quarter, Texas eventually won the game by 33 points, tying the biggest margin of victory for the Longhorns (a 40-7 victory in 1941) in the 100-game history of the rivalry. For Mack Brown, beating Oklahoma for the first time in five years allowed him to "get the monkey off his back" and shed his reputation as a coach incapable of winning the most important games.

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