Updated: 11/10/03
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NORMAN, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- Top-ranked Oklahoma has another score to settle when it hosts Texas A&M on Saturday. The top-ranked Sooners posted a vengeful 52-9 victory over Oklahoma State last week, making amends for surprising losses to the Cowboys the previous two seasons. If coach Bob Stoops senses a letdown, he need only point to a visit to College Station last November. Reggie McNeal tossed four touchdown passes and ran for 89 yards as the Aggies stunned the top-ranked Sooners, 30-26. "It's (about) being prepared to put yourself into a position to win," Stoops said. "Recognizing this team took that opportunity away last year sends a strong signal that we need to be ready this year." Containing this year's version of the Sooners could be another matter. Oklahoma (9-0, 5-0 Big 12 South) has topped the 50-point barrier five times behind Heisman Trophy candidate Jason White, who has thrown 27 touchdown passes and just six interceptions this season. The Sooners, however, will be without tailback Renaldo Works, who is bothered by a sore back. Works leads the Sooners with 689 rushing yards and has scored eight touchdowns. The primary rushing duties will fall to sophomores Kejuan Jones and Donta Hickson, both of whom have played with the starting unit at times this season. The duo will try to take advantage of a Texas A&M defense than ranks 86th nationally against the run (178.2 ypg). On the other side of the ball, Oklahoma has allowed 13 points or less in four of its last five games. Special teams also are clicking on all cylinders as Trey DiCarlo has made 12 straight field goals. The Sooners are first in the latest BCS standings and will be assured of playing in the Sugar Bowl should they win their remaining games. Oklahoma plays Baylor and Texas Tech before a likely date in the Big 12 Conference title game on December 6. Texas A&M (4-5, 2-3) is struggling in its first season under Dennis Franchione. Freshman Courtney Lewis rushed for 120 yards and one touchdown as Texas A&M avoided its second three-game losing streak of the season with a 45-33 victory over Kansas last week. Lewis has five 100-yard rushing games this season. McNeal has just eight touchdown passes and six interceptions this season. The Sooners lead the all-time series, 11-10.
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White accounts for five TD's before half
NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma might have gotten the whole hundred had coach Bob Stoops not been so generous. The top-ranked Sooners scored touchdowns on 10 of their first 11 offensive possessions and their defense didn't allow a touchdown for a second straight week in a 77-0 rout of Texas A&M on Saturday. All of the Sooners' points came in the first three quarters and they were 3 yards away from another touchdown midway through the fourth. But Stoops called four straight runs into the middle of the line -- Oklahoma's offensive line all but fell to the ground -- to keep the score from getting even more lopsided. "It was an odd situation to be in," Stoops said. "I believe in being decent to people." The Sooners (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) exacted a brutal revenge against the team that derailed their national title hopes in a 30-26 upset last season, remaining on the fast track to the Big 12 title and the national championship game -- the Sugar Bowl. The win also put the wraps on a Sooners' payback tour that included last week's 52-9 win over Oklahoma State, the only other team to defeat them last season. Oklahoma scored more than 50 points for a school-record sixth time, a feat that would have impressed even Barry Switzer, who used to boast about "hanging half-a-hundred" on people. "They kicked us last year, and we knew they were a good team," Oklahoma defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek said. "We usually don't let people get us twice." It was Oklahoma's most lopsided victory since a 77-0 win over Missouri in 1986 and was A&M's worst loss in 108 years of football. The margin of victory set a Big 12 record and the Sooners tied another conference mark for points scored in a game. In a season full of blowouts and impressive wins, the Sooners established a standard of dominance with this latest victory. Jason White tied a school record with five touchdown passes -- in the first half -- as Oklahoma scored touchdowns on all but one of its possessions in the first three quarters. The Sooners got their final score of the day when cornerback Derrick Strait scooped up a fumble and returned it 17 yards to the end zone late in the third quarter. The Sooners plugged reserves into the game and still kept churning up yards -- they averaged 7.8 yards a play -- and, in the shadow of A&M's goal line, finally resorted to a series of dives into the heart of the Aggies' defense. The crowd of 83,461 booed lustily when several A&M defenders celebrated after stuffing Oklahoma running back Donta Hickson on fourth down. "We're not sitting here thumping our chests at all," Stoops said. "That's not our style and that's not for us to do." The 77 points and 636 yards of offense were both the most in Stoops' five years in Norman. White completed his first 15 passes and finished 16-of-18 for 263 yards. Mark Clayton caught seven passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns, extending his own single-season record for touchdowns to 12. Hickson ran for 131 yards and a touchdown, Kejuan Jones rushed for 120 and two scores and reserve quarterback Paul Thompson added 79 yards rushing and two touchdowns. White and most of Oklahoma's offensive starters spent much of the second half on the sideline with their helmets off. Meanwhile, the Sooners' defense put together one of its most dominant performances since the Switzer era. Texas A&M had more penalty yards (63) than offensive yards (54) and more punts (12) than first downs (3), none in the second half. The Aggies (4-6, 2-4) didn't even cross their own 40 all game. "They were fast last year, and they are fast this year," said quarterback Reggie McNeal, who threw four touchdown passes in A&M's upset of Oklahoma last season. "I guess they had a year to learn how to play against us." Dennis Franchione, who nearly engineered an upset of Oklahoma in Norman last season when he was at Alabama, suffered the worst loss of his 21-year head coaching career. He spent most of the chilly, drizzly afternoon stalking up and down the sidelines, rarely looking up from his clipboard. If Saturday is any indication, A&M looks destined to have its first losing season since 1982. The Aggies were clearly overmatched against the faster, stronger Sooners -- they probably couldn't have won even if they'd had the 12th man on the field. "They played well and we couldn't get anything going," Franchione said. "That's a bad combination. We just didn't have any answers today. No matter what we tried it didn't seem to work." The Aggies are 1-11 against No. 1 teams, with the lone victory coming against Oklahoma last year. Oklahoma's win doesn't bode well for Baylor, which visits Norman next week. The Bears lost 73-10 to A&M earlier this season. The Sooners have defeated three Big 12 South Division opponents -- Texas, Oklahoma State and A&M -- by a combined score of 194-22.
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Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
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Texas A&M........... 0 0 0 0 - 0 Record: (4-6-0,2-4)
Oklahoma............ 14 35 28 0 - 77 Record: (10-0-0,6-0)
Scoring Summary:
1st 11:40 OU - Clayton, Mark 40 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 5-59 2:19, TAMU 0 - OU 7
04:16 OU - Jones, Kejuan 6 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 12-66 4:17, TAMU 0 - OU 14
2nd 12:42 OU - Clayton, Mark 42 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 3-65 1:11, TAMU 0 - OU 21
06:59 OU - Rankins, Jejuan 7 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 8-82 3:02, TAMU 0 - OU 28
05:05 OU - Jones, Kejuan 7 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 2-22 0:30, TAMU 0 - OU 35
02:46 OU - Clayton, Mark 28 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 4-41 1:19, TAMU 0 - OU 42
00:31 OU - Wilson, Travis 12 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 5-50 0:42, TAMU 0 - OU 49
3rd 13:39 OU - Thompson, Paul 29 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 4-41 1:13, TAMU 0 - OU 56
08:35 OU - Thompson, Paul 3 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 8-65 3:04, TAMU 0 - OU 63
02:13 OU - Hickson, Donta 2 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 10-68 4:45, TAMU 0 - OU 70
01:58 OU - Strait, Derrick 17 yd fumble recovery (DiCarlo, Trey kick), , TAMU 0 - OU 77
TAMU OU
FIRST DOWNS................... 3 33
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 28-22 61-342
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 32 297
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 14-4-0 21-18-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 42-54 82-639
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 1-17
Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 5-11
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 4-66 1-49
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 12-35.1 1-37.0
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards............... 6-63 7-60
Possession Time............... 23:09 36:51
Third-Down Conversions........ 0 of 12 9 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 2 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 0-0 6-7
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-5 4-24
RUSHING: Texas A&M-Farmer, Derek 7-21; Lewis, Courtney 8-16; Joseph, Keith 1-4; Long, Dustin
1-minus 1; McNeal, Reggie 11-minus 18. Oklahoma-Hickson, Donta 24-131; Jones, Kejuan 24-120;
Thompson, Paul 6-79; Townsend, Dan 4-10; White, Jason 2-3; TEAM 1-minus 1.
PASSING: Texas A&M-McNeal, Reggie 4-13-0-32; Long, Dustin 0-1-0-0. Oklahoma-White, Jason
16-18-0-263; Thompson, Paul 2-3-0-34.
RECEIVING: Texas A&M-Van Zant, Tim 2-20; Taylor, Earvin 1-6; Murphy, Terren. 1-6.
Oklahoma-Clayton, Mark 7-166; Rankins, Jejuan 4-51; Wilson, Travis 3-44; Runnels, J.D. 2-20;
Bradley, Mark 1-15; Hickson, Donta 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS: Texas A&M-None. Oklahoma-None.
FUMBLES: Texas A&M-Lewis, Courtney 1-1. Oklahoma-None.
SACKS (UA-A): Texas A&M-McDaniel, Arch. 1-0. Oklahoma-Allen, Gayron 1-0; Pool, Brodney 1-0;
Thibodeaux, Cal 1-0; Harris, Tommie 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Texas A&M-Jolly, Johnny 6-4; Appel, Jaxson 4-4; Stickane, Scott 5-0;
McDaniel, Arch. 3-4; Jones, Ronald 4-0; Thompson, TaTa 4-1; Montgomery, M. 3-2; Warren, Justin 3-1;
Jones, Byron 3-1; Weston, Sean 3-0; Ross, David 3-0; Jackson, Keelan 2-3; Bullitt, Melvin 2-2;
Manning, Nurah. 1-5; Leone, Brandon 1-2; Jasmin, Marcus 1-0; Smith, Linnis 1-1; Van Zant, Tim 1-0;
Kendrick, Blake 1-0; Reed, Bryce 1-1; Mangum,Kevin 0-1. Oklahoma-Allen, Gayron 3-3; Nicholson, Dont
2-3; Jackson, Jonath 2-1; Dvoracek, Dusty 2-1; Thibodeaux, Cal 2-1; Cody, Dan 2-1; Lehman, Teddy
1-3; Strait, Derrick 1-1; Carter, Jason 1-1; McGruder, Lynn 1-1; Harris, Tommie 1-0; Bradley, Mark
1-0; Dennison, Russe 1-0; Pool, Brodney 1-1; Baker, Lewis 0-2; Perkins, Antoni 0-1; Jackson, Pasha
0-1; Everage, Brando 0-1.
Attendance: 83,461
Updated: 11/10/03