When Texas football enters the Cotton Bowl on Saturday for the 122nd Red River Rivalry, it will be met with overwhelmingly loud cheers — and boos.
Because Dallas is three hours from both Austin and Norman, Oklahoma.
Neither of these fanbases could fathom the idea of a singular empty seat on their respective side of the stadium’s 50-yard line. It simply wouldn’t be right.
While each team’s players will be primarily focused on the 60 minutes of football ahead of them as they run out of the tunnel, head coach Steve Sarkisian made it clear that the pageantry of the matchup and the passion of the fans are things he doesn’t take lightly.
“It’s the most special setting in college football,” Sarkisian said in a media availability on Monday. “This thing’s split at the 50, and half the game is a home game, and the other half of the game is a road game.”
This format differs from typical neutral site games in that most of them seat all of a team’s fans behind its respective bench. Instead, half of Oklahoma’s fans will sit behind Texas’ sideline and vice versa.
Another element of the neutral-site environment is that the noise will be consistent throughout the matchup. The usual lull that falls over a home crowd while the home team drives on offense won’t exist, which could have an impact on both teams. Fifth-year defensive lineman Hero Kanu spoke to the constant volume in a media availability on Monday.
“That adrenaline is staying on,” Kanu said. ”It’s just an exciting feeling. And you just look up, see one side is burnt orange, the other one is what, crimson, or whatever. What is it?”
Kanu might have had a difficult time identifying exactly what kind of red the Sooners and their fans wear, but he understands the energy they’ll bring to the table come Saturday. Having played in his first Red River Rivalry last year, Kanu will likely be in charge of helping some of his younger teammates and transfer players prepare for the environment.
The veteran player’s advice echoes that of Sarkisian.
“Coach Sark says it all the time — ‘Hey, take it in,’” Kanu said. “That’s why a lot of us walk around the stadium before the game.”
The excitement of this rivalry can be felt inside the stadium and out of it: something Texas players and coaches are embracing instead of blocking out. The sounds, scents and scenes at the Cotton Bowl are meant to be fully experienced.
“I love all of that that this thing comes with,” Sarkisian said. “I love that it’s at the State Fair — the smell of corndogs, the funnel cakes and all that. It’s so special. It’s so unique, and I do not take it lightly, but I would not change it for anything. I think being there at the old Cotton Bowl is very, very special.”
