Texas Longhorns Trail Oklahoma Sooners at Halftime After Wild First Half

The Texas Longhorns recovered from a sloppy start, but still trailed the Oklahoma Sooners at halftime of the Red River Rivalry on Saturday.

DALLAS, Texas -- The Red River Rivalry already has enough emotion as it is. But combine that with the high mid-season stakes that Saturday's meeting between the No. 3 Texas Longhorns and No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners is bringing to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and you get one of the most highly-anticipated games of the college football season.

And after one half of play on Saturday, both teams proved that the hype leading up to game was warranted. Behind some wild special teams plays and offensive production from both sides, the Sooners held a 20-17 lead over Texas at halftime.

The Longhorns got off to a less-than-ideal start after receiving the opening kickoff. On the second play from scrimmage, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers tossed a ball into heavy traffic that was picked off by Gentry Williams. The Sooners quickly cashed in on the takeaway as quarterback Dillon Gabriel ran it in for a nine-yard score to give OU an early 7-0 lead.

The Longhorns set themselves up in a prime position to respond, as the second drive was sparked by a 20-yard run from Jordan Whittington on a fake punt. This led to another fourth-down conversion off a jump-pass play from running back Savion Red to tight end Gunnar Helm for a 25-yard gain that set Texas up in the red zone.

Texas Longhorns defensive back Kitan Crawford (21) blocks a punt by Oklahoma Sooners place kicker Josh Plaster (36) during the first half at the Cotton Bowl / © Jerome Miron, USA TODAY

But Ewers pass to the goal line for Ja'Tavion Sanders got tipped in the air and into the hands of Kendal Dolby. After throwing  his first interception of the season last week, Ewers already had two in the first quarter.

Two early turnovers from the offense hardly impacted the momentum for the Longhorns. After forcing a three-and-out following the interception, Texas defensive back Kitan Crawford blocked the punt in the end zone, which was recovered by true freshman cornerback Malik Muhammad for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.

The Sooners answered with a field goal to take a 10-7 lead, but then Ewers started to catch a rhythm. Highlighted by a 31-yard run from running back Jonathon Brooks, the Longhorns used a 10-play, 85-yard drive to take a 14-10 lead after Ewers found Helm for a 22-yard touchdown on 4th and 1.

The back-and-forth play continued. Gabriel led a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown from running back Tawee Walker to give the Sooners the lead back at 17-14.

The two sides then traded chip-shot field goals in the final two minutes.

The Sooners will receive the second-half kickoff,