Southwest Roundup : Longhorns Run Off With 34-24 Win Over Houston

The Texas Longhorns victimized the Houston Cougars with some explosive plays Saturday as they coasted to a 34-24 Southwest Conference victory at Houston.

The victory boosted the Longhorns to a 4-1 SWC record and 6-2 overall and kept them in the running for the Cotton Bowl. Houston dropped to 2-7 and 1-5.

Quarterback Bret Stafford, who completed 7 of 11 passes for 105 yards, directed the assault.

He ran one yard for a touchdown and hit Russell Hays on a 15-yard touchdown pass in a 21-point first quarter, en route to a 31-10 halftime lead.

Charles Hunter added 187 yards in 22 carries for the Longhorns.

Texas’ early surge nullified the three-touchdown performance by Houston’s Sloan Hood, who gained 107 yards in 23 carries.

Southern Methodist 40, Rice 15--SMU’s Brandy Brownlee tied a school record with four field goals, and the Mustangs broke open a close game at Irving, Tex., by converting three third-quarter Rice turnovers into points. The Owls turned the ball over eight times.

Brownlee’s field goals from 29, 45, 46 and 26 yards tied a SMU record set by Eddie Garcia against Arkansas in 1981.

SMU tailback Reggie Dupard went into the game as the nation’s leading scorer with 24 touchdowns, but was held without a touchdown for the first time in 14 games.

Dupard had 76 yards in 11 carries by halftime, but got only one more yard in six second-half carries. Teammate Jeff Atkins led all rushers with 81 yards in 12 carries.

Texas Tech 63, Texas Christian 7--At Lubbock, Tex., freshman Billy Joe Tolliver threw a school-record five touchdown passes, three of them to halfback Ansel Cole, as Texas Tech ended a five-game losing streak.

Tolliver, in his debut, connected on 26 of 43 attempts for 422 yards, breaking the SWC record of 417 yards set by Chuck Hixon of SMU in 1968.

The victory lifted the Raiders, 4-5 overall and 1-5 in the SWC, out of a tie with TCU (3-6, 0-6) for the SWC cellar and snapped a nine-game conference losing string.

TCU got its only touchdown on a five-yard run by Mitchell Benson, a 6-foot-5, 288-pound defensive tackle. The Horned Frogs call it their “igloo” play, a spinoff of the Chicago Bears’ William (the Refrigerator) Perry.