Southwest Roundup : No. 10 Arkansas Rolls to 41-0 Win Over TCU

Arkansas sophomore quarterback Greg Thomas dazzled Texas Christian Saturday, guiding the 10th-ranked Razorbacks to a 41-0 Southwest Conference victory at Fort Worth, Tex.

Thomas ran for a touchdown, threw for another and set up Carl Miller’s touchdown runs of four and seven yards with his passing before 40,112 fans in Amon Carter Stadium.

But he still didn’t think he had a great day. “They presented a lot of problems for me, and I missed a wide-open receiver once,” he said.

Arkansas’ victory avenged a one-point loss a year ago to TCU. It was the Horned Frogs’ worst beating by Arkansas since the Razorbacks shut them out, 49-0, in 1974.

Arkansas, playing in its SWC opener, increased its overall record to 4-0, while TCU fell to 2-2, with both losses coming in conference play after seven players were kicked off the team for receiving cash payments from alumni.

“We just died out there,” TCU Coach Jim Wacker said. “We’ve got to find some leadership from somewhere--hopefully from the head coach.”

Texas 44, Rice 16--Todd Dodge threw for three touchdowns, including a school-record 96-yard play to wide receiver Donovan Pitts and an 80-yard bomb to Eric Metcalf, to lead No. 20 Texas to an easy win at Austin.

The loss extended Rice’s Southwest Conference losing streak to 26 games. The Owls’ last SWC victory came against Baylor on Nov. 14, 1981. Rice has not beaten Texas since 1965--losing 20 straight to the Longhorns.

Texas (3-0) came back from a slow start and an early six-point deficit to dominate the Owls (1-3) behind an attack led by Dodge, who was booed by Texas fans when he started two weeks ago against Missouri.

Dodge completed 11 of 19 passes for 359 yards, also a school record, surpassing Donnie Little’s 306-yard performance against Rice in 1980. Dodge was intercepted once.

The Longhorns set a record for team passing, racking up 387 yards, to better the mark set against Temple in 1949.

The 96-yard touchdown to Pitts broke a school record set in 1977, when Jon Aune hit Alfred Jackson on an 88-yard touchdown pass play against Boston College. It also equaled the second-longest touchdown pass in Southwest Conference history.

Texas A&M; 28, Texas Tech 27--Texas Tech gambled and lost on a last-minute two-point conversion attempt at Lubbock, Tex.

Texas A&M; cornerback Terrance Brooks broke through to hit Tech quarterback Aaron Keesee on the pass attempt that would have been nullified anyway by a motion penalty.

The victory, a SWC opener for A&M;, boosted the Aggies’ record to 3-1, while Texas Tech fell to 3-2 and 0-2.

Trailing 28-21, the Raiders drove 30 yards for their final touchdown. Bouvier Dale spun across from the eight with 42 seconds left.

Tech first lined up as if to kick the extra point but, in the confusion, wound up with a delay penalty that pushed them back to the eight. The Raiders then chose to gamble, but the potential winning play never had a chance.

Fullback Roger Vick scored two touchdowns for Texas A&M; and rushed for 135 yards in 37 carries.

Baylor 24, Houston 21--Quarterbacks Tom Muecke and Cody Carlson took turns putting 24 straight points on the scoreboard at Houston, but it was the Baylor defense that won the game, Baylor Coach Grant Teaff said.

“We held them on fourth-and-one twice,” Teaff said, “and when you do that, you deserve to win.”

Carlson and Muecke each directed two scoring drives as the Bears improved their record to 4-1 and 2-0 in Southwestern Conference games.

Houston dropped to 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in the SWC.