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Editor’s Note: This is the final day of a three-part series on the OU-Texas rivalry

With a rivalry as intense as OU-Texas, fans on both sides of the Red River have developed a hatred of the opposing team.

But how do the players and coaches on the sidelines feel?

Many of the players and coaches know each other quite well, and at the heart of the rivalry is a healthy respect for one another.

Senior wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias has an interesting story that fuels his motivation to win against the ‘Horns.

Iglesias, from Killeen, Texas, spent the summer working out with Roy Miller, senior defensive tackle for the Longhorns, who is also from Killeen.

“He texted me after the Baylor game,” Iglesias said. “We’re really good friends, but he talks some trash. It’s one of those [things] that we know it’s all in good fun.”

Does Miller have the same type of motivation after growing up with Iglesias.

“Juaquin Iglesias went to Killeen High School, which was one of my rivals in high school,” Miller said. “It never stops. But we’re good friends. I was recruited with a lot of those guys on that team. I had a chance to sit and watch games with them while they were being recruited.”

That is the type of story that makes this rivalry special. The Red River Rivalry goes a long way toward determining who wins the Big 12 South.

Whichever team loses not only gains a game on the other team, but also owns the tiebreaker if the teams finish with the same record.

This means the winner will have to lose two games before the end of the season.

“It’s more than just bragging rights now,” said head coach Bob Stoops. “It’s an inside track or one up on the other guy on your way to a championship, hopefully. I think being in the same division has really escalated it.”

This year, the stakes are even higher because the winner could be on a path to a national title.

“We know that after this game one team will still be undefeated and have its hopes of a national championship alive,” Iglesias said.

Junior linebacker Keenan Clayton echoed those sentiments.

“With this being such a big rivalry, you got the No. 1 team and the No. 5 team in the country, it’s going to take things to a whole other level,” Clayton said.

Both programs have been so historically successful that the players involved are aware they will be involved in a dogfight every year.

“It’s a big game, I don’t think it really matters where you come from once you realize the history behind the series,” said junior defensive end Auston English.

English added that the environment is heightened because of the excitement of fans.

“It becomes a big deal for anybody that goes to your school,” he said. “This game is going to have national title implications most of the time. It’s two historically great teams, so it just sets the stage for a great game.”

Texas players don’t feel any differently. They value the game and its importance to a national championship and have respect for the north side of the Red River.

“[The game] means a lot,” said UT senior running back Chris Ogbonnaya. “It’s a tradition and rivalry game, and we have a lot of great respect for Oklahoma.”

Aaron Cooke/The Daily

Ogbonnaya added the OU-Texas game is an example of college football at its best.

“It’s just what college football is all about and what it should be like — two great teams vying to play one another,” he said.

UT junior quarterback Colt McCoy said the same thing.

“Two top five teams in the Cotton Bowl in a rivalry game. The atmosphere in the game is awesome,” McCoy said.

So while fans are going crazy in the stands and shouting chants back and forth, the players fully realize how good their opponent is and will be preparing accordingly.

Other Football Notes

Cotton Bowl flyover

Members of the Louisiana-based Air Force wing 2nd Bomb Wing will participate in a B-52 flyover at the Cotton Bowl Saturday.

Acccording to an Air Force press release, the flyover will be dedicated to the crew of Raider 21, a plane that crashed off the coast of Guam July 21. Two particular crewmembers who were killed in the crash will be honored.

Maj. Christopher Cooper, the aircraft commander, was a University of Texas alumnus and “avid Longhorn fan.” Maj. Brent Williams was an OU alumnus and Sooner football season-ticket holder.

There will be a tribute to the two men during the national anthem at Saturday’s game, and a family members and military friends of the two men will be at the game.

Sooners could be at full strength

All OU players were capable of taking part in practices this week, and all may be capable of playing Saturday.

The defensive line has been particularly damaged, with injuries to defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and DeMarcus Granger and defensive end Frank Alexander.

McCoy sustained a minor injury in last week’s game against Baylor, and should be able to start this weekend.

Granger and Alexander are bigger question marks. Granger tore ligaments in his foot against Washington and Alexander was stabbed during an altercation in late August.

“Right now our trainers are pretty optimistic and feel that everyone will be ready to play,” head coach Bob Stoops said. “Now, I’m not going to detail it the whole week on who is where, what percentage. I don’t know how to do any of that.”

— Daily Staff