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Gameday Instant Analysis: Red River edition
Published: 10/14/2012 4:04 AM
Last Modified: 10/14/2012 4:04 AM

Gameday Instant Analysis: Red River edition

It was a fun trip to Dallas for Saturday's Red River Rivalry.

It was only my second time to visit the Cotton Bowl for Oklahoma-Texas, and I had forgotten how much fun it is.

The mixture of a heated rivalry with two passionate fan bases and the sights and sounds of the State Fair midway is something to behold.

As for the game, it was another surprise as far as I was concerned.

I counted on a close game the Sooners might hang onto at the finish. Instead, it was total OU domination -- maybe even more so than last season.

The early kickoff combined with some weather delays on the trip home made for a long day.

Here are a few more quick observations from Saturday in Dallas. We'll dig into Oklahoma State and Tulsa football early next week.

1. Is there anything better than beating a rival?
As a sports fan, is there anything -- short of a championship -- that tops beating your arch rival?

The feeling is probably even more pronounced in Red River, with so many fans of both teams attending the game. You saw the normal half-empty stadium shot in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game, further visual proof of the Sooners' domination.

OU defensive lineman David King talked about how much better the bus ride home to Norman is after a win over Texas. How tough is it after a loss? So tough King could feel sympathy for the Texas players who had to make that difficult ride through the fairgrounds and back to Austin on Saturday.

2. So what did 63-21 say about Oklahoma?
After the blip against Kansas State, the Sooners seem to be back to where many predicted they would be at the start of the season. This OU team has the offensive skill players and enough defensive talent to be a Big 12 Championship contender.

But while the Sooners may be good enough, contending for the league title at this stage will be a tall order. OU must win out and hope Kansas State loses twice, or it must find itself involved in a winnable three-way tie with the Wildcats and another two-loss team.

Those seem like long shots at the moment, but...

3. ...Anything can happen in the Big 12
As we walked out of the Cotton Bowl press box Saturday night, John Hoover, Eric Bailey and I tried to make sense of the Big 12 scoreboard.

It was another head-shaking Saturday. Kansas State escaped against Iowa State. One week after a big West Virginia win/big Texas Tech loss, the Moutaineers were trounced by the Red Raiders. Oklahoma State couldn't put away lowly Kansas, and TCU hammered Baylor a week after doing almost nothing in a loss to Iowa State.

Kansas State can solidify itself as a pretty clear favorite with a win against West Virginia next week.

But as the weeks go by, it seems like nothing will be a sure thing.

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The Editor's Desk

Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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