College Football Old School Game of the Week: Longhorns Win Red River Showdown with 4th Down Goal Line Stop

James Allen is stopped at the one-yard-line by Stonie Clark in the 1994 edition of the "Red River Rivalry".

 On October 8, 1994 the Texas Longhorns travel to Dallas to take on the Oklahoma Sooners in their annual meeting at the Cotton Bowl dubbed as the "Red River Rivalry".

It was the first time since 1985 that both teams came into the game ranked in the top 25 as the Longhorns were ranked #15 while the Sooners were ranked #16 in the Associated Press poll.

Texas came into the game with questions at starting quarterback as Shea Morenz had injured his knee in the Longhorns' 34-31 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes the week before.

Feeling that Morenz was not healthy enough, third-year head coach John Mackovic decided to put redshirt freshman James Brown as quarterback.

Brown, who had not attempted a college pass up to this point, would need to rely on the Texas running game which featured future NFL back Priest Holmes in hopes of coming away with a win over Oklahoma, who also came into the game with a 3-1 record under head coach Gary Gibbs, who was in his sixth season as the Sooners' head coach.

Despite having a winning record in each of his first five seasons, Gibbs was feeling the pressure in Norman as he had complied a 1-4 record against the Longhorns as well as a 1-4 record against the Sooners' other big rival, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

A win over Texas could calm Gibbs' critics as well as set up the Sooners for a strong season.

The Sooners got the ball to start the game but quickly went three-and-out to punt the ball to the Longhorns who got great field position as they would begin their initial possession of the game at the Oklahoma 30-yard-line.

Texas would drive the ball to the Sooners' seven-yard-line where they faced a 4th & 1 as Mackovic decided to go for the 1st down, only to have running back Rodrick Walker get stopped for no gain to give the ball back to the Sooners.

Following an exchange of punts, the two teams would exchange turnovers as Oklahoma running back James Allen dropped a pitch from quarterback Garrick McGee, which was recovered by Texas nose guard Chris Akins at the Longhorns' 42-yard-line, only for Texas to give back to the Sooners four plays later when Brown was intercepted by Oklahoma cornerback Larry Bush.

The game was still scoreless early in the second quarter when the Sooners had the ball at their 12-yard-line as Allen ran for four yards to begin the Oklahoma drive to set up 2nd & 6 when McGee completed a 18-yard pass to Albert Hall and a 35-yard run by Allen that put the Sooners at the Texas 31-yard-line.

Two runs by Allen for eight yards set up 3rd & 2 when McGee handed the ball off to fullback Jerald Moore, who bursted through a hole behind his right guard and then broke two tackles to score a 23-yard touchdown to put Oklahoma ahead 7-0 with 11:43 left in the second quarter.

The Sooners would get a chance to add their lead later in the quarter as they drove from their two-yard-line to the Texas 26-yard-line on the strength of a 31-yard run by Moore and three completions by McGee for 40 yards.

However, the Sooners would get zero points out of this drive as McGee was intercepted by Texas cornerback Bryant Westbrook on a pass intended for JaJuan Penny, allowing for the Longhorns to run out the clock and go into halftime only down 7-0.

Texas would get the ball to start the second half as the Longhorns began their initial possession of the second half at their 18-yard-line with a 18-yard pass from Brown to tight end Steve Bradley.

Two plays later on 3rd & 4, Brown scrambled for 14 yards and a 1st down at the Oklahoma 46-yard-line which was followed by a three-yard run by Walker and a pass interference penalty to give the Longhorns another 1st down at the Sooners' 28-yard-line.

After Walker was dropped for a one-yard loss on 1st down, Brown handed the ball off to Holmes, who followed a block from fullback Juan Kemp, to run for 20 yards to set up 1st & goal from the Sooners' nine-yard-line.

A six-yard run by Walker followed by a two-yard run by Holmes set up 3rd & goal from the one-yard-line when Holmes was dropped for an one-yard-loss, leading the Longhorns to settle for a 19-yard field goal by Phil Dawson that put Texas on the scoreboard as they now trailed 7-3 with 9:45 remaining in the third quarter.

In his first collegiate start, Texas quarterback James Brown completed 17 of 22 passes for 148 yards, ran for 51 yards on nine carries, and accounted for two touchdowns.

Following an Oklahoma punt, the Longhorns got the ball back at their 19-yard-line where after two runs by Walker gained ight yards, Brown ran for seven yards on a quarterback draw to pick a 1st down at the Texas 34-yard-line where Brown would connect with Lovell Pinkney for a 17-yard completion that put Texas at the Sooners' 49-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Brown would hit Eric Jackson for 15 yards which was followed by a 13-yard run by Kemp on 2nd & 11 to give the Longhorns a 1st down at the Oklahoma 22-yard-line when a false start penalty pushed the Longhorns back five yards to the Sooners 27-yard-line.

From there, Walker ran for three yards on 1st down, which was followed by back-to-back completions by Brown that totaled 13 yards to give Texas another 1st down at the Oklahoma 11-yard-line.

The Longhorns would cap off the 15-play, 81-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run by Brown to give Texas a 10-7 lead with just 17 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Sooners tried to change the momentum on its ensuing possession as it attempted a halfback pass with Allen throwing the ball, only to have Westbrook intercept it and return the pick to the Oklahoma six-yard-line, though Texas would begin its next possession at the Oklahoma 21-yard-line after the Longhorns were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following the interception.

Holmes would get the call on 1st down and ran for 14 yards that with a face mask penalty on the Sooners gave Texas a 1st & goal at the Oklahoma four-yard-line.

After two running plays picked up two yards, Brown threw a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Pat Fitzgerald to increase the Longhorns' lead to 17-7 with 13:05 left in the fourth quarter.

Desperately needing a score, the Sooners would get the ball at their 20-yard-line to start their next drive as Moore completed a 23-yard pass to Hall on the first play from scrimmage then after a holding penalty pushed Oklahoma back 10 yards, found Hall again 24 yards and a 1st down at the Texas 43-yard-line.

The Sooners would then go to the ground as they ran the ball seven straight times, including one on a 4th & 1, to drive Oklahoma to the Texas 23-yard-line when McGee connected with tight end Stephen Alexander for a 12-yard gain and another 1st down at the Longhorns' 11-yard-line.

Three more runs that totaled seven yards set up Scott Blanton's 22-yard field goal that trimmed the Longhorns' lead to 17-10 with 6:40 remaining in the game.

Following a 42-yard return by Curtis Jackson on the ensuing kickoff, the Longhorns drove from their 48-yard-line to the Sooners' 31-yard-line, giving Texas a chance to put the game away as Dawson come on to attempt a 48-yard field goal.

However, Dawson's kick was wide right and no good, giving the ball back to the Sooners at their 31-yard-line with 3:16 left in the game for Oklahoma to drive down for a touchdown.

After an 11-yard pass to Alexander to start the drive, McGee went deep and found P.J. Mills for a 41-yard completion to give Oklahoma a 1st down at the Texas 17-yard-line.

McGee would go back to Mills as the two connected on a seven-yard completion which was followed by two runs by McGee for four yards to set up 1st & goal from the Longhorns' six-yard run.

McGee would hand the ball off to Moore, who ran for three yards to set up 2nd down from the three-yard-line when Texas linebacker Tyson King almost came away with a game-ending interception, which was followed by Longhorns defensive tackle Tony Brackens stopping McGee for no gain to set up 4th & goal with 43 seconds left.

That is when McGee handed the ball off to Allen, who had lined up as a wingback on the right side of the field, to come back across the left side only to be stopped at the one-yard-line by Texas nose guard Stonie Clark, to give the ball back to the Longhorns who would run out the clock to come away with the 17-10 victory.

Oklahoma running back James Allen had a tough day as he accounted for two turnovers and was stopped one yard short of a potential game-tying touchdown.

The Sooners would fall to #22 following the Texas loss and then out of the top 25 when they were trounced by Colorado the following week 45-7 as Oklahoma would finish the season with a 6-6 record as Gibbs would resign after the end of the season as he finished with a 44-23-2 record.

Meanwhile, the Longhorns would finish with a 8-4 record good enough to earn a #23 ranking in the final AP poll and #25 ranking in the final coaches poll as Holmes would run for 161 yards and score four touchdowns in Texas' 35-31 win over North Carolina in the Sun Bowl to cap off the season.

As for Allen, he would get his revenge on the Longhorns two years later as he scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime of the Sooners' 30-27 upset win over Texas(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/college-football-old-school-game-of_10.html).