First he makes them sit through nearly four hours of shockingly bad football on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon in the Cotton Bowl. Then he emptied the gun on himself, leaving Longhorns fans little ammunition he knew would be fired his way anyway.

'I want to apologize to all Texas fans, players and assistant coaches, because obviously I did a poor job,' Mack Brown said.(AP)

"I want to apologize to all Texas fans, players and assistant coaches, because obviously I did a poor job this week" Brown said, throwing himself on the grenade after a record-smashing 63-14 thumping at the hands of century-long archrival Oklahoma. "That's as poor a performance as I've ever seen from a football team that I was responsible for.

"That's not the way we represent the university. We didn't do a thing right all day. ... Not to take anything away from Oklahoma, but they were playing against air today. It's frustrating. It's embarrassing to play this poorly in a game like that. Nobody can screw it up as bad as I did today."

Top that, Texas fans. Let's see some of that vitriol you served up to run poor John Mackovic out of a job.

OK, OK. It might not be that bad yet, but clearly the honeymoon is over between Brown and alumni who expect better than a 49-point loss to the Sooners from a team that began the season with Bowl Championship Series aspirations.

That was the goal of both teams coming into Saturday's game. Only one remains a serious contender for BCS consideration, and all that could change for 5-0 Oklahoma when it plays at No. 4 Kansas State next Saturday. Still, if they play even remotely close to the way they manhandled Texas, the No. 10-and-moving-up Sooners can make life interesting atop the polls as the college season hits the halfway point.

Just how good was Oklahoma in this game?

The offense, engineered by quarterback Josh Heupel, netted 534 yards and averaged 6.4 yards per play. Heupel's passing (17 of 27 for 275 yards and a touchdown) helped set up a school-record six touchdowns by diminutive sophomore Quentin Griffin, who erased the names of OU giants Steve Owens and Jerald Moore, who shared the school record with five touchdowns in a game.

The defense limited Texas to minus 7 yards rushing and a total of just 154 yards and an average of 2.7 yards per carry. It also produced four turnovers, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions, bringing the total to 21 in five games this season.

The 63 points were the most against Texas in the 95 meetings between the two programs dating to 1900. It was the Sooners' biggest margin of victory over Texas since a 50-0 win in 1908, and their biggest point total since 1989, when they beat New Mexico State, 73-3.

By game's end, shivering Sooners fans were alternately chanting "Rudy! Rudy!" -- like they did in the movie of the same name when Notre Dame fans urged the last man on the football squad to get sent in for the only play of his career -- and "Over-rated! Over-rated!"

With just under five minutes to play, Oklahoma had a fourth-and-one on the Texas 41-yard line, and Sooners fans urged Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops to go for the first down. In a decision that is sure to add even more spice to this rivalry, he went for it with his team leading my nearly 50 points. Oklahoma fumbled, but few Texas fans will remember that.

Did they honestly think they were capable of such a lopsided win in a game in which Texas was even favored by three points?

"Yeah," Stoops said.

"I'm not surprised, no," said linebacker Rocky Calmus, a junior who picked off a Chris Simms pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown that gave Oklahoma a 35-0 lead with 11:30 to play in the second quarter.

In this rivalry, anything is possible," Heupel said.

And they proved it Saturday.

Who really could have dreamed that a 5-foot-6 running back would slice through the Texas line so easily to score six times? Not even Griffin, that's who. He'd never scored that often in a game in his life. Not at Mimitz High in Aldine, Texas, near Houston, where he grew up idolizing great A&M backs like Greg Hill and Rodney Thomas. Griffin didn't even score that many in Pop Warner football, though he did score five once for his team, the Dolphins.

"I never expected this, but they kept calling my number," Griffin said. "It's an honor, especially knowing all the great backs OU has had. But being from Texas, all you ever think about is playing for Texas or playing against them, and to come here and be able to compete like we did against them in the Cotton Bowl says a lot about our team."

At the very least, it suggests the Sooners might be a tad underrated. It screams that Heupel deserves more consideration for the highest honors bestowed up collegiate football players. And it offers beyond reasonable doubt that Stoops, in just his second season, has transformed Oklahoma back into a national power with a 5-0 record, beating opponents by an average score of 48-13.

It also says Brown has a lot of politicking to do among the high-roller alumni at Texas. He knows how that game is played, too.