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Column: Texas capitalizes on Oklahoma linebacker's injury

By JJ Stankevitz
Oct. 13, 2008

For those who watched the annual Oklahoma vs. Texas Red River Shootout tilt on Saturday, you may have a tough time understanding how Oklahoma ended up losing the game.

The Sooners outplayed the Longhorns in the first half but only held a one-point advantage. However, it certainly looked like Oklahoma was playing the game they wanted to - Sam Bradford was throwing the ball at will against the Texas defense, and Oklahoma's defense was doing a good job putting the wraps on the Texas running game, which consisted almost entirely of quarterback Colt McCoy scrambling out of the pocket.

Oklahoma opened up the second half with a touchdown, putting them up 28-20. Everything looked like it was shaping up nicely for the No. 1 team in the nation to defeat Texas for the second year in a row. But then, an important ACL decided to tear, changing the game's entire complexion.

On Texas' first possession after the Sooners scored, Oklahoma middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds appeared to injure his knee. He stayed in for a few plays but was unable to continue, finally having to be helped off the field. It turns out that Reynolds, who took over for graduate Curtis Lofton as "that really good Oklahoma linebacker" this year, tore his ACL. Not only is that a blow to the rest of the season for the Sooners, since Reynolds will be out for the rest of the year, but it dealt them a debilitating blow in their game against Texas.

To say Reynolds and the Oklahoma defense are just friends is an understatement. Reynolds drove the Oklahoma defensive Van Wilder than his predecessor. He was the Smokin' Ace when it came to stopping the run. (Sick of these Ryan Reynolds movie references? I know I am.) So when he went down, it opened the door for Texas' offense to move from just McCoy, Jordan Shipley and Quan Crosby to include running back Chris Ogbonnaya.

McCoy (28/35, 277 yards, one TD), Shipley (11 receptions for 112 yards, one TD) and Crosby (nine receptions for 122 yards) all had good games, but none were as important as Ogbonnaya, who rushed 15 times for 127 yards on the day. He didn't end up scoring a touchdown, but that wasn't his job (that duty went to Cody Johnson, who had three carries and three touchdowns on the day).

Texas' running backs weren't expected to do much in this game, which was billed as a battle of the quarterbacks. For the most part, it was, but Texas does not win the game without Ogbonnaya, especially given his 62-yard run in the fourth quarter that set up Texas to score the go-ahead touchdown with more than seven and a half minutes remaining.

Ogbonnaya wasn't expected to do much in the game, either, because of Oklahoma's stout run defense, which was headed by Reynolds. When he went down, all of a sudden the Longhorns were able to utilize their running backs, giving Oklahoma one extra dimension of offense to worry about. Ultimately, it was that extra dimension that led to the Sooners' downfall in the Red River Shootout.

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