COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Southwest Roundup : Texas Has Easy Time With Tech

David McWilliams is 2-0 in the Texas-Texas Tech series from both sides of the field.

At Austin, Tex., Saturday, the new Texas Longhorn coach led his Southwest Conference leaders to a 41-27 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders, his former employers. Last year, he coached the Red Raiders to a 23-21 victory over the Longhorns.

McWilliams said Texas broke the game open in the third period when Tech was punting against a 22 m.p.h. wind.

“Punting against that strong wind had a lot to do with the outcome,” McWilliams said. “It hurt Tech.”

Tech Coach Spike Dykes, who was defensive coordinator under McWilliams last year, agreed.

“The wind did hurt, but it wasn’t as much a factor as the strong Texas defense,” he said. “We felt we were in good shape at halftime, but Texas just dominated.”

Safety John Hagy returned an intercepted pass 19 yards and a punt 39 yards for touchdowns in the victory.

Hagy had badgered McWilliams earlier in the week, saying he would score if given the chance to return a punt.

“He (McWilliams) yelled at me to get in there and score,” Hagy said. “And that’s what I did.”

Texas increased its SWC record to 3-0 and 4-3 overall, while the Red Raiders dropped to 2-3 and 5-4.

TCU 35, Houston 7--Texas Christian Coach Jim Wacker made a Heisman Trophy pitch for running back Tony Jeffery after the Horned Frogs’ SWC victory over Houston at Fort Worth, Tex.

Jeffery broke the TCU touchdown record on an 82-yard run and topped the 1,000-yard mark for the year.

“What an amazing running back,” sighed Wacker after watching Jeffery rush 28 times for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns and catch 2 passes for 28 yards. “I was tempted to put him back in at the end of the game to see if he could get that 200 yards.”

Maintaining that Jeffery should be in the running for the Heisman, Wacker said: “He’s having a great year, and he finally has a good ballclub surrounding him. He gained a lot of his yards the last three years without the help of a great team. A lot of people don’t realize that.”

With a career total of 3,498 yards, Jeffery took over eighth place on the all-time SWC rushing list.

Jeffery, who had 149 yards in the first half, increased his season total to 1,102 as TCU improved to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the Southwest Conference. Houston fell to 1-6 and 0-4.

Texas A&M; 32, Louisiana Tech 3--Key first-half defensive plays helped get Texas A&M; going as the Aggies routed Louisiana Tech at College Station, Tex.,

The A&M; offense, held to 75 yards in the first half, scored its first touchdown from scrimmage with 7:33 remaining in the third quarter as reserve fullback Melvin Collins capped a 51-yard drive with an 11-yard run.

The victory raised A&M;’s record to 6-2 and dropped Tech, a Division I-AA independent, to 3-6.

Arkansas 38, Rice 14--It took the Razorbacks three quarters to get warmed up but when they did, they scored 21 fourth-quarter points and wore down the Owls at Houston.

The Razorbacks, favored by 22 points, went into the fourth quarter with only a 17-14 lead.

James Rouse scored three touchdowns for the Hogs.