Oct. 13, 1990 ▪ Cotton Bowl Stadium ▪ Attendance: 75,587
Texas coach David McWilliams had hovered around mediocrity in his previous three seasons in Austin, owning a career mark of 16-18, which was unacceptable at the tradition rich program. Coming off a struggling 5-6 record in '89, McWilliams was entering a crucial year with a depth chart of at least ten returning starters.
On the offensive side, the Longhorns had experience and speed led by sophomore QB Pete Gardere, who became a starter in the fourth game of '89. There may have been question marks at RB with a few players coming back from injuries, but in the air they looked to one man, senior Johnny Walker, who caught a then-school-record 55 passes in '89, one of which stunned the Sooners for a UT victory.
Texas (2—1) began the season with a win over #21 Penn State. The 17-13 victory was McWilliams' first in an opener. Next, #20 Colorado beat the Horns, 29-23. Texas recovered with a 26-10 win at Rice, entering the Red River rivalry game unranked for the fifth straight year and looking for some consistency.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma second-year coach Gary Gibbs—coaching in the shadow of OU legend Barry Switzer—was armed with a new offensive coordinator, Larry Coker, who for the past seven seasons had served the same capacity at rival Oklahoma State. Ranked #22 in the AP preseason poll, with two convincing victories to open the season over ranked teams, #19 UCLA and #13 Pittsburgh, and with three more over unranked teams, it looked like the No.4 Sooners (5—0) were quickly back among the nation's elite.
They featured a high-scoring offense that came in averaging 40 PPG, steered by freshman QB Cale Gundy. Home grown out of Midwest City, OK, he was a high school Parade All-American who threw for more than 7,000 yards and 53 touchdowns in his HS career, possibly the most sought-after quarterback in the history of the state, and the crown jewel of the '90 recruiting class in Norman.
Oklahoma could also boast a defense that had permitted an average of 13.6 PPG, and not yielded more than 17. Up front, OU was led by senior tackle Scott Evans and junior tackle Stacy Dillard. Behind them were a pair of good linebackers, senior Frank Blevins and junior Joe Bowden, while junior defensive back Jason Belser led the secondary.
(Preview courtesy of Jeff Linkowski of SoonerStats.com)
