Big-play defense lifts Texas past Cowboys

Curtis Brown and Earl Thomas each returned interceptions for touchdowns, and Cody Johnson had two short TD runs as the No. 3 Longhorns routed No. 13 Oklahoma State 41-14 on Saturday at Stillwater, Okla., to establish themselves as the clear frontrunner in the Big 12 South.

McCoy had an efficient 171-yard performance and threw his 100th career touchdown pass, and the Longhorns avoided the kind of letdown on Halloween weekend that cost them a chance to play for the Big 12 and national championships a year ago.

Texas (8-0, 5-0) came in with the nation's toughest defense against the run, then played havoc with Zac Robinson and the Oklahoma State (6-2, 3-1) passing attack. Robinson came in as the conference's top-rated passer after breaking the Cowboys' record for accuracy in a game last week, but threw a career-high four picks against the Longhorns.

Texas scored 28 points off of Oklahoma State's five turnovers, with Brown and Thomas cashing in immediately and Johnson scoring on runs of 2 and 1 yards after two other takeaways.

TexOkSt

Firstdowns1715

Rushes-yards32-9943-134

Passing176143

Comp-Att-Int17-24-015-28-4

ReturnYards13911

Punts-Avg. 4-39.33-45.0

Fumbles-Lost1-12-1

Penalties-Yards4-305-53

Time of Possession26:4433:16

Texas32117 0 — 41 Oklahoma St. 070 7 — 14

First Quarter

Tex—FG Lawrence 25, 3:47.

Second Quarter

Tex—C.Johnson 1 run (Lawrence kick), 10:35.

Tex—Cu.Brown 77 interception return (Lawrence kick), 6:21.

OkSt—B.Johnson 1 run (D.Bailey kick), 2:18.

Tex—M.Williams 11 pass from McCoy (Lawrence kick), :09.

Third Quarter

Tex—FG Lawrence 40, 10:27.

Tex—Thomas 31 interception return (Lawrence kick), 9:31.

Tex—C.Johnson 2 run (Lawrence kick), 2:49.

Fourth Quarter

OkSt—Blackmon 6 pass from Z.Robinson (D.Bailey kick), 9:14.

A—58,516.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing—Texas, McCoy 11-34, C.Johnson 9-31, Whittaker 6-15, Newton 5-12, Goodwin 1-7. Oklahoma St., Toston 19-70, Z.Robinson 11-32, T.Miller 4-20, B.Johnson 7-12, Hunter 1-1, Team 1-(minus 1).

Passing—Texas, McCoy 16-21-0-171, Gilbert 1-2-0-5, Team 0-1-0-0. Oklahoma St., Z.Robinson 15-28-4-143.

Receiving—Texas, Shipley 6-64, Kirkendoll 3-20, M.Williams 2-55, Goodwin 2-10, Chiles 1-16, Buckner 1-10, G.Smith 1-5, Whittaker 1-(minus 4). Oklahoma St., Anyiam 5-62, Blackmon 4-38, Toston 2-10, T.Moore 1-23, Horton 1-9, Conner 1-4, B.Johnson 1-(minus 3).

Nebraska 20, Baylor 10 _ Cody Green guided Nebraska to points on its opening three drives in his first career start while Jared Crick paced the defense with a school-record five sacks as the Huskers ended a two-game losing streak, beating Baylor in Waco, Texas.

Green was 12 of 21 for 128 yards passing and rushed for 43 yards as the Huskers (5-3, 2-2 Big 12) jumped out to a 20-0 lead.

Crick broke Mike Rucker's school record for sacks. Rucker had four against Texas Tech in 1996.

NebBay

Firstdowns1118

Rushes-yards38-14532-54

Passing128222

Comp-Att-Int12-21-119-38-2

ReturnYards52146

Punts-Avg. 7-42.16-29.2

Fumbles-Lost1-12-1

Penalties-Yards6-654-25

TimeofPossession29:5230:08

Nebraska10100 0 — 20 Baylor0010 0 — 10

First Quarter

Neb—Blatchford 25 blocked punt return (Henery kick), 13:31.

Neb—FG Henery 45, 5:43.

Second Quarter

Neb—FG Henery 22, 12:16.

Neb—Robinson 1 run (Henery kick), 9:28.

Third Quarter

Bay—FG Parks 41, 9:22.

Bay—Odom 45 interception return (Parks kick), 3:27.

A—31,702.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing—Nebraska, Robinson 13-61, C.Green 8-43, Helu 7-24, Ward 7-16, A.Jones 2-4, Team 1-(minus 3). Baylor, Finley 8-19, Wright 4-15, Ganaway 2-10, Florence 16-8, Salubi 2-2.

Passing—Nebraska, C.Green 12-21-1-128. Baylor, Florence 19-38-2-222.

Receiving—Nebraska, Robinson 3-22, Cooper 3-12, Paul 2-54, Reed 1-22, Kinnie 1-10, Damkroger 1-5, Helu 1-3. Baylor, Gettis 7-124, Wright 4-49, E.Smith 2-21, Finley 2-14, Salubi 2-(minus 5), B.Taylor 1-12, Akers 1-7.

Texas A&M 35, Iowa State 10 — Jerrod Johnson threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score in an easy 35-10 win over the Cyclones at College Station, Texas.

Cyrus Gray rushed for 119 yards and Christine Michael had a touchdown run for A&M (5-3, 2-2 Big 12), which gained 501 yards and went 10 for 13 on third-down conversions and didn't punt once.

ISUTAM

Firstdowns1931

Rushes-yards34-16949-267

Passing155234

Comp-Att-Int18-27-223-28-0

ReturnYards019

Punts-Avg. 2-30.50-0.0

Fumbles-Lost2-02-2

Penalties-Yards3-283-25

Time of Possession27:3632:24

Iowa St. 0307—10 Texas A&M147014—35

First Quarter

TAM—J.Johnson 1 run (Bullock kick), 4:55.

TAM—Fuller 32 pass from J.Johnson (Bullock kick), 1:00.

Second Quarter

TAM—Gray 7 pass from J.Johnson (Bullock kick), 3:27.

ISU—FG Mahoney 29, :01.

Fourth Quarter

TAM—Morrow 7 pass from J.Johnson (Bullock kick), 13:59.

ISU—Tiller 4 run (Mahoney kick), 12:15.

TAM—Michael 7 run (Bullock kick), 9:44.

A—72,530.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing—Iowa St., Robinson 20-76, Jo.Williams 2-50, Tiller 12-43. Texas A&M, Gray 21-119, Michael 10-63, J.McCoy 3-52, J.Johnson 11-33, K.Brown 1-5, Team 3-(minus 5).

Passing—Iowa St., Tiller 18-27-2-155. Texas A&M, J.Johnson 23-28-0-234.

Receiving—Iowa St., Lenz 7-63, Darks 4-65, Catlett 4-19, Hamilton 2-9, S.Johnson 1-(minus 1). Texas A&M, Morrow 6-49, Fuller 5-67, Nwachukwu 2-36, B.Jackson 2-24, Swope 2-13, Tannehill 2-12, Michael 1-11, J.McCoy 1-8, Gray 1-7, McNeal 1-7.

Missouri 36, Colorado 17 —Behind a 33-0 start and a swarming defensive unit that had eight sacks and forced four turnovers, Missouri held off Colorado at Boulder, Colo., to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Tigers' (5-3, 1-3 Big 12) defense came up big in the final quarter, ending three Colorado (2-6, 1-3) drives on fourth-down stops and another on an interception.

MoCol

Firstdowns2014

Rushes-yards45-18424-(-14)

Passing216190

Comp-Att-Int18-30-222-36-1

ReturnYards2691

Punts-Avg. 5-42.04-36.5

Fumbles-Lost2-03-3

Penalties-Yards8-897-45

TimeofPossession36:2423:36

Missouri211203—36 Colorado03140—17

First Quarter

Mo—D.Washington 1 run (Ressel kick), 10:33.

Mo—Alexander 73 pass from Gabbert (Ressel kick), 6:47.

Mo—Alexander 2 pass from Gabbert (Ressel kick), 2:40.

Second Quarter

Mo—FG Ressel 29, 8:42.

Mo—Harrison Safety, 8:32.

Mo—J.Smith 24 pass from Shock (Ressel kick), 4:03.

Col—FG Goodman 48, 1:07.

Third Quarter

Col—Stewart 3 run (Goodman kick), 11:37.

Col—Burney 78 interception return (Goodman kick), 7:02.

Fourth Quarter

Mo—FG Ressel 33, 3:57.

A—45,634.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing—Missouri, D.Washington 22-99, D.Moore 8-58, Gabbert 6-26, Lawrence 7-4, Team 2-(minus 3). Colorado, Simmons 1-15, Stewart 10-3, Sumler 2-2, Hansen 11-(minus 34).

Passing—Missouri, Gabbert 17-29-2-192, Shock 1-1-0-24. Colorado, Hansen 22-36-1-190.

Receiving—Missouri, Alexander 8-123, Perry 4-38, D.Washington 2-2, J.Smith 1-24, Kemp 1-12, D.Moore 1-12, J.Jackson 1-5. Colorado, McKnight 9-104, Sumler 3-25, Simas 3-15, Geer 2-19, Stewart 2-10, J.Behrens 1-7, Devenny 1-5, Jefferson 1-5.