updated 7:16 p.m. ET Oct. 8, 2005

DALLAS - Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson spent most of the game on the sideline watching Texas pile on the points. Rhett Bomar spent much of it on his back.

After beating Texas for five straight years, the Sooners found out what it’s like to be on the wrong side of a Red River rout.

By the time the Sooners walked off the field after Saturday’s 45-12 loss to No. 2 Texas, the Oklahoma section of the Cotton Bowl had fallen silent, many of their fans had already left for the exits and the Sooner band was silent instead of blaring “Boomer Sooner!”

“It stings,” said senior left tackle Davin Joseph, who had never lost to Texas. “It stings bad.”

“It was never in our mind to come out here and get a loss,” senior wide receiver Travis Wilson said. “It’s unfortunate for us seniors to end on this kind of note.”

Held out of most of the game with a sprained ankle, Peterson turned his back and walked off the field as Longhorns fans sang “The Eyes of Texas” during the Longhorns’ celebration. A single grass stain on his right shoulder was the only indication he had even played in the game.

After rushing for 225 yards against Texas last year, he carried just three times for 10 yards, all in the first half as the Sooners’ offense bogged down against a Longhorns defense that teed off on Bomar with hit after hit.

The worst came in the fourth quarter when Bomar fumbled on a blind-side hit by Texas’ Brian Robison. With Bomar gasping for breath, Rod Wright scooped up the loose ball and the 315-pounder rumbled 67 yards for the TD in the Sooner end of the stadium.

That play pretty much summed up the day, Bomar said.

“It was seven more points and a sign of how we played,” Bomar said. “Next year, I’m going to come out and play much better.”

Sensing blood in the water with Oklahoma already struggling at 2-2 coming in, Texas exposed the Sooners’ weak spots the way it used to happen to them.

A redshirt freshman from the Dallas area, Bomar was playing his first game in the Cotton Bowl. He was sacked three times and knocked down numerous others by an intense pass rush. He finished with 94 yards on 12-of-33 passing. And with Peterson sitting out, the offense managed just 77 yards on the ground.

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Joseph said he sensed frustration that Oklahoma couldn’t use its best player, but added “we’ve never been about just one guy.”

Perhaps the biggest difference between this Sooner team and the recent past was that Oklahoma couldn’t come up with the big play when Texas stumbled.

After Texas coughed up a fumble in the first quarter, the Sooners managed only 17 yards on six plays before settling for a field goal. Instead of a potential go-ahead touchdown that might have seized momentum, the Sooners still trailed 7-6.

On Texas’ next offensive play, the Longhorns’ Jamaal Charles went 80 yards for a touchdown through the middle of the Oklahoma defense.

“Poor tackling,” said OU linebacker Clint Ingram, who was one of those who missed a shot at Charles. “We had guys in position. We’ve just got to make that play.”

Then, when the Sooners had an apparent interception waived off by a penalty, they couldn’t stop Texas from driving for a field goal. And when Texas hit a 64-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the half to make it 24-6, it was clear the Sooners weren’t going to be able to rally.

“They capitalized on our mistakes,” Joseph said. “They had the big plays. That was something we weren’t able to do.”

Now Oklahoma finds itself in the unfamiliar position of trying to play catch-up to Texas in the Big 12 in October.

At 1-1 in the conference, the Sooners will need Texas to lose twice if they hope to win the South division they have dominated the last few years.

At least it’s something to fight for, Joseph said.

“Hopefully we’ll get a bid in the Big 12 championship game,” he said. “For these young guys, live and learn.”

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