Austin News >> UT Longhorns Defeats OU Sooners
10/8/2006 Austin — Colt McCoy probably doesn't realize how quickly things have changed in the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry. Not long ago, the No. 7 Longhorns were the ones getting outhustled, outcoached and flat-out beat.
Now, it's the No. 14 Sooners who are finding ways to lose -- like having their best player give up on a loose ball near his end zone with the game still on the line in the fourth quarter.
Adrian Peterson thought the ball bouncing off his hands meant an incomplete pass, not a fumbled lateral. Texas cornerback Aaron Ross wasn't sure, but scooped it up and scored just in case, and wound up with the touchdown that sealed a 28-10 victory Saturday in the 101st edition of the Red River rivalry.
"I'm just sitting there like, `What the, you know, is going on?'" Peterson said after the game, still puzzled by what happened.
Such confusion was typical for the Longhorns (5-1, 2-0 Big 12) from 2000-04 in their annual meeting with the Sooners. Between blowout losses and tight finishes, Oklahoma (3-2, 0-1) always made all the right moves.
Vince Young turned things around for Texas last year. McCoy kept it going this year. McCoy overcame a slow start by throwing two perfect touchdown passes in the third quarter to turn a 10-7 halftime deficit into a 21-10 lead.
"When we've come out of this game with a huge deficit, it's usually been because of turnovers," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "Today, they lost five and we lost none. And that's why the game got to where it is."
Texas has now won 17 straight conference games. This one puts the Longhorns in the lead for the Big 12 South and a spot in the conference title game, which could then yield a BCS berth.