Sooners Hook ‘Em Good

The Oklahoma Sooners have the drill down pat. They stomp rival Texas, send the Sooner Schooner circling the Cotton Bowl turf, then gather around the 20-yard line for a team photo with the scoreboard in the background.

This one read 65-13, and it provided the No. 1 Sooners with plenty to celebrate.

Jason White threw four touchdown passes, Mark Clayton set a school record with 190 yards receiving and the defense came up with six turnovers as Oklahoma handed No. 11 Texas the most lopsided loss in the 98-game history of their Red River rivalry.

Oklahoma, 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12, also scored its most points in the series while scoring at least 50 for the fourth straight game, something never done in their long, proud history -- not even when Barry Switzer used to rave about “hanging half-a-hundred” on opponents.

“With only a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, we’re still moving the ball. I told the coaches over the headset, ‘Yeah, we’re pretty good,’ ” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said.

Pretty good? How about pretty dominant: Oklahoma had two touchdowns in every quarter and stretches of 20 and 38 unanswered points.

“They whupped us,” Texas linebacker Derrick Johnson said.

At times, the Longhorns made it easy.

Texas (4-2, 1-1) hadn’t thrown an interception all season, then starter Chance Mock and backup Vince Young each had one in the first quarter. The Sooners scored touchdowns off both.

Young also lost a fumble that led to a first-quarter field goal, and in the second quarter threw an interception that Jonathan Jackson returned 21 yards for a touchdown.

The Longhorns also missed an extra-point kick -- with Dusty Mangum’s school-record streak ending at 121 -- and paired an 18-yard punt with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the final minute of the first half, leading to a 36-yard field goal from Trey DiCarlo as the clock ran out.

Oklahoma players celebrated by flooding off the sideline as they headed to the locker room leading, 37-13. They ran right past Texas players, many of whom stood slumped with hands on hips or bent at the waist, dejectedly waiting for their turn in the tunnel.

“We just couldn’t do anything right,” Texas Coach Mack Brown said. “We didn’t respond. That’s what’s disappointing. We had our chances.”

The Sooners continued making big plays throughout the second half.

White opened the third quarter with an 80-yard drive, capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jejuan Rankins. Renaldo Works had a 54-yard touchdown run after Texas turned the ball over on downs late in the third, then Clayton had a 38-yard scoring catch early in the fourth.

Oklahoma failed to convert a fourth down at the Texas 10 later in the quarter, then got the ball back after Mock fumbled. The Sooners drove 23 yards, with Kejuan Jones taking it the final yard for the points that surpassed their 63-14 victory over the Longhorns in 2000.

“They kept fighting the whole game, they kept trying and trying and trying. It just felt like we brought more to the table,” Oklahoma defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek said.

White completed his first eight passes and finished 17 for 21 for 290 yards. Works had 112 yards in 15 carries.

Young was 11 for 21 for 135 yards and ran 15 times for 127 yards, including a dazzling 59-yard run. It went for naught, though, as his fumble came three plays later. Of all the turnovers, that was the most devastating to Texas because it came at the Oklahoma three with the Longhorns down only 14-7. He also had a 27-yard touchdown run.