Texas was the 14-point, Red River underdog last season. It was supposed to accept its beating from Oklahoma and move on.
Instead, Texas delivered the only beating at the Cotton Bowl that day.
It didn't come as a surprise to the Longhorns. They didn't need magic or luck to beat the Sooners. They drew up a plan and carried it out.
Could it happen again this year?
"Our game plan was to take care of the ball and let our defense play," former Texas quarterback Case McCoy told FOX Sports Southwest this week, "and that's exactly what happened."
Texas had rebounded from a 1-2 start, two head injuries to quarterback David Ash and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz's firing with wins over Kansas State and Iowa State. The road win over the Cyclones had been marred by a controversial call just before a go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes, but McCoy, playing in place of Ash, still helped push Texas to a win and stave off talk of Mack Brown's shaky future in Austin.
Nine days later, Texas took the field at the Cotton Bowl confident and expecting what wouldn't feel like an upset.
The offensive line boasted three seniors - guards Trey Hopkins and Mason Walters and left tackle Donald Hawkins. Junior center Dom Espinosa had also emerged as a force and for the first time all season, all five were healthy. Running backs Johnathan Gray and Malcolm Brown were close to 100 percent, too.
"We were peaking at that time," McCoy said. "If we could have stayed healthy, I think we could have played like that a lot more that season."
The Longhorns defense - led by Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jackson Jeffcoat, was talented but had been inconsistent. Oklahoma was new defensive coordinator Greg Robinson's fourth game in charge and Brown trusted a strong performance was in store for the Cotton Bowl.
They put the plan in place quickly.
"We were going to run the ball. We thought we had some advantages with matchups wide receiver-wise," McCoy said. "We were going to hit some play action and take some shots."
It couldn't have worked any better. Brown's trust in his defense paid off. The Longhorns held Oklahoma to a field goal on its first drive and on its second, defensive lineman Chris Whaley returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown.
Running backs Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray averaged 5.2 and 4.2 yards per carry, respectively. Both topped 120 yards on the day.
When Texas did take shots, McCoy connected. He played one of his best games as a Longhorn, finding Marcus Johnson for a 59-yard touchdown to put Texas up 17-3 and give them a valuable early lead that allowed them to zero in on the game plan and lean on its running game loaded with experience.
Five of McCoy's 13 completions were for 18 yards or longer and a 38-yard touchdown to Mike Davis assured the rout was on, putting Texas up 36-13 in the third quarter on the way to a 36-20 win.
So with Texas again a two-touchdown underdog, could it happen again?
Expect a similar gameplan from the Longhorns this week, but the offensive line will need its best game of the season to duplicate last year's results on the scoreboard. It won't have Espinosa, who is out for the season with a fractured ankle. Starting tackle Kennedy Estelle was dismissed from the team last month. Texas' other starting tackle, Desmond Harrison, is still suspended and new coach Charlie Strong had no update this week on his status.
"We're still trying to develop an offensive line," co-offensive coordinator Shawn Watson told reporters this week. "We're still working with those guys, and we're developing our quarterback."
If Harrison does return, he'll do so in an atmosphere unlike anything else in college football. It's something game plans have to account for, too. Texas did last season.
Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes will have to manage his emotions in his first-ever Red River start, but the same is true for Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight.
"Guys are so hyped up, a lot of times they can't play to their best," McCoy said. "It's hard to play your A game when the magnitude is so high."
Oklahoma's secondary gave up 318 passing yards to TCU's Trevone Boykin a week ago, his second-highest career total against an FBS opponent. Boykin attacked Sooners cornerback Zack Sanchez, who is dealing with a shoulder injury, for much of the first half. Swoopes might try a similar approach.
Running backs Brown and Gray are mostly healthy but Gray is still waiting to return to form from a torn Achilles tendon a year ago.
We have confidence in the running game and passing game," running back Johnathan Gray told reporters this week. "We just have to work out a few kinks and get back out on the field."
For 60 minutes last season, whatever kinks had ailed Texas were nonexistent. The defense harassed Blake Bell into a horrific 12-of-26 day for 133 yards and two interceptions. The offense dominated the line of scrimmage. For McCoy, it was the culmination of a year's worth of work following his third loss in three seasons in 2012.
McCoy he knew the questions that inevitably come for decades when people find out you played for Texas.
"What was your record against Oklahoma?"
McCoy and the rest of the senior class didn't want to have to say 0-4.
"Most people counted us out, a lot of our fans counted us out. We rallied together," McCoy said. "When you start counting out a group of 19-20 year olds, that's when they become really dangerous. They can rally around each other. They can find a reason to play. They can go out and execute. They can find a way."
