Fast start key in Red River Rivalry

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — The Red River Rivalry has all the pageantry of one of college football’s greatest games, with a stadium filled to the rim with half the fans in crimson and the others in burnt orange. Big Tex will be there, along with the marching bands and the Golden Hat Trophy.

Maybe they should install starting blocks, too.

The team that has scored first has won the last five Oklahoma-Texas games and seven of the last eight, and both teams have shown early dominance on their way to the top five this season.

The top-ranked Sooners (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) have taken control immediately in every game, outscoring opponents 103-3 in the first quarter and never trailing. Not only has Oklahoma scored on all five of its opening possessions, the defense is playing a part, too.

In the three games when the Sooners’ opponents got the ball first, each one went three-and-out.

“When you start off on defense and you show a team that you can stop them on the first series and then your offense can turn around and score on their first series, I think that just takes the life out of you,” cornerback Dominique Franks said Tuesday. “You’re already like, ‘Man, what did we just get ourselves into?’ ”

The classic case played out last week, when Oklahoma stopped Baylor on its first possession and then got a 53-yard touchdown pass from Sam Bradford to Manuel Johnson on its third play from scrimmage. It was 7-0 in the first 70 seconds and 28-0 by the end of the first quarter.

“It sets the tone and it shouts something out that we’re ready to play. If you’re not, I think that’s what happens — 28-0 — because we’re going to try to play every week as soon as the kickoff,” receiver Juaquin Iglesias said.

No. 5 Texas has done its part in staying out of those situations. The Longhorns (5-0, 1-0) hold a 52-9 first-quarter scoring edge and a 132-29 mark in the first half. They’ve only trailed for 63 seconds, when Rice hit a field goal for a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter.