The unexpected happened today in Dallas. What was supposed to be a grudge match between quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford was anything but after Bradford was knocked out of the game in the first quarter. And what was supposed to be an offensive slug fest actually turned out to be a defensive struggle.

Some may say it wasn’t pretty, but Texas earned a hard-fought 16-13 victory over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday. Bradford only attempted six passes in the game, completing two for 77 yards before suffering another injury following a first-quarter sack. On the other side, McCoy was just 12 of 39 passing for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

This game turned on the first possession of the second half. After Oklahoma took a 6-3 lead into halftime, the Longhorns came out in the third quarter utilizing a hurry-up offense that allowed McCoy to finally get into a rhythm passing. While the drive only produced a field goal, it instilled confidence in McCoy after the Sooners had frustrated him in the first half. This was the second straight year in which OU’s defense got the best of McCoy.

Freshman receiver Marquis Goodwin also played a huge role in the Longhorns’ victory. Oklahoma completely took emerging Heisman candidate Jordan Shipley out of the game by blanketing him in coverage, but Goodwin hauled in three passes and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from McCoy midway through the third quarter to give Texas its first lead. With Shipley held in check, Goodwin came up huge.

Of course, you can’t talk about UT’s victory without mentioning how good its defense played. Bradford’s injury definitely helped keep OU in check, but the Sooners were limited to minus-24 yards on 19 carries today. I don’t care who was under center for Oklahoma – that’s an impressive feat for the Longhorns defense. UT also caused five turnovers, two of which came from defensive back Aaron Williams, who recovered a fumble that produced points for the Longhorns and also intercepted a pass to help seal the win.

This game certainly failed to live up to expectations in several areas, namely because of Bradford’s injury and the lack of scoring. Plus, outside of a couple of clutch third-down conversions on the Longhorns’ touchdown drive, McCoy’s performance was severely lacking for a Heisman candidate playing in a huge game. But it’s never easy to beat a rival with so much on the line and at the end of the day, that’s exactly what Texas did. They took another step today in becoming the undisputed champions of the Big 12 and stayed in BCS title contention.