Texas A&M; Defeats Colorado, 16-10

Sirr Parker scored a touchdown, Kyle Bryant kicked three field goals and No. 21-ranked Texas A&M; withstood a fourth-quarter rally to beat No. 16 Colorado, 16-10, Saturday at Boulder, Colo.

Texas A&M; (4-0) opened the Big 12 season for both teams with a dominating running game that generated 260 yards and produced a 16-3 lead late in the third quarter.

Herchell Troutman scored for Colorado (2-2) early in the fourth quarter, and the Buffaloes had three subsequent possessions, one of which reached the the A&M; 23-yard line. But John Hessler, under pressure from blitzing cornerback Sedrick Curry, hurried a pass that was intercepted by Rich Coady with 2:15 left.

“These kids are fighting hard, we’re just not playing well,” Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel said. “I’m an offensive coach and I’m disappointed in our offense.”

The Aggies overcame seven fumbles, two of which they lost, and an interception to avenge losses to Colorado the last two years.

“The big difference this year was being able to run the ball against them,” Aggie Coach R.C. Slocum said.

Dante Hall rushed for 123 yards and Parker for 89. Slocum continued to alternate quarterbacks Branndon Stewart and Randy McCown, but McCown was at the controls on all four A&M; scores.

A&M;’s three turnovers occurred on their first four possessions, but there was no panic.

“Everyone pulled together,” McCown said. “When you have turnovers it’s easy to say ‘Hey, let’s turn it in.’ We didn’t worry about them.”

Added Stewart, “We held our composure, and that’s hard when you go into someone’s house like Colorado’s.”

In its last three games, Colorado has lost twice and had to rally from a 19-10 deficit in the final four minutes to achieve the win, over Wyoming 20-19 last week.

Oklahoma State 42, Texas 16--Freshman quarterback Tony Lindsay played like a veteran, running for 126 yards and three touchdowns and the Cowboys’ defense shackled the Longhorns’ Ricky Williams at Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma State (5-0, 2-0) scored 22 first-quarter points and quickly showed that things would be different than a year ago, when the Cowboys lost 71-14 at Texas. The Cowboys are 5-0 for the first time in a decade and 2-0 in league play for the first time since 1972.

Williams, who gained 259 yards against Rice last week, had four at halftime and finished with 79 in 16 carries against the nation’s second-ranked rushing defense.

Oklahoma State hadn’t scored more than 14 points in 11 previous meetings with Texas, but surpassed that total after two drives. The Cowboys finished with 424 yards compared with 240 for Texas (2-2, 0-1).

Kansas 20, Oklahoma 17--Eric Vann ran 99 yards and Tony Blevins returned a punt 56 yards as the Jayhawks got two big-play touchdowns and blocked a late field goal to beat the Sooners at Lawrence, Kan.

Oklahoma (2-3, 0-1) had moved from its 22 to the Kansas 10 with less than a minute left. Steve Daniels made an apparent 27-yard field goal to make it 20-20, but the Sooners were called for illegal procedure. Defensive end Dewey Houston then blocked Daniels’ subsequent 33-yard attempt, and the Jayhawks (4-1, 2-0) held on for the win.

Kansas had taken a 20-10 lead on Vann’s 99-yard run from scrimmage. That followed an interception by Jamie Harris that stopped an Oklahoma drive which started on the Sooners 20.

Missouri 45, Iowa State 31--Corby Jones ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in his best passing day as a Tiger in a victory over the winless Cyclones at Columbia, Mo.

Missouri (3-2, 1-1) has beaten Iowa State four of the last five meetings. The exception was last year, when Troy Davis ran for 358 yards in a 45-31 Iowa State victory.

Davis’ younger brother Darren had 130 yards in 18 carries for the Cyclones (0-5, 0-2). Iowa State has lost 12 in a row since last year’s victory over Missouri--tied with Northern Illinois for the longest losing streak in Division IA--is 0-22-1 on the road since a 23-2 victory at Missouri in 1991.