2009 Red River Rivalry - Oklahoma Sooners at Texas Longhorns

This rivalry series between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners, formerly referred as the Red River Shootout, has been going on since 1900. Here is what to expect when these two teams meet on October 17^th in Texas.

The success of both of the football programs centers on the mean who lead the team from the sidelines, head coaches Mack Brown and Bob Stoops. Since 1999 these two field generals have gone head to head in this rivalry series, with Bob Stoops claiming six wins of the ten wins. Mack Brown has been the winner lately, winning three of the last four.

For the Texas Longhorns to have success, Mack Brown, will need to find a way to break through the top ranked defense in the country. The Oklahoma Sooners have only allowed 4.7 points per game while opponents average only 223.3 total yards of offense.

The key for the Longhorns will be quarterback Colt McCoy and his ability to pick apart the Sooners defense. Last year McCoy helped the Longhorns earn a win by completing 80% of his passes for 277 yards with 1 touchdown. While he did not need to win the game with his arm in 2008, expect more out of him in the passing game in 2009.

If Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners are going to come away with a win in 2009, they will need to rely more upon the running game than Sam Bradford's arm. Even though Bradford completed 71.8% of his passes for 387 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions, the Sooners still lost the game.

The Sooners defense will need to step up this year and make the nation's top rated Longhorn offense one dimensional. So far in 2009, the Longhorns are averaging 49.5 points per game while gaining 521 yards of offense in each contest. Stoops will have his front seven focuses on taking away the run and make McCoy win the game with his arm.

Another area where Mack Brown's team shined in 2008 was on special teams by returning a punt back for a touchdown. If Bob Stoops does not have the Sooners ready for all aspects of the game will find themselves on the losing end.

When the final seconds countdown on the 104^th game in the Red River Rivalry, the Texas Longhorns will emerge with a win and a chance to play in the BCS title game.

Resources

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football