Defense wreaks havoc for Texas in this blowout win

A greedy Texas defense is making Colt McCoy’s life so much easier.

Curtis Brown and Earl Thomas each returned interceptions for touchdowns, and Cody Johnson had two short touchdown runs as the No. 3 Longhorns routed No. 13 Oklahoma State, 41-14, on Saturday night to establish themselves as the clear front-runner in the Big 12 South.

McCoy had an efficient 171-yard effort and threw his 100th career touchdown pass, and the Longhorns avoided the kind of letdown on Halloween weekend that cost them a chance to play for the Big 12 and national championships a year ago.

Texas (8-0, 5-0) came in with the nation’s toughest defense against the run, then played havoc with Zac Robinson and the Oklahoma State (6-2, 3-1) passing attack. Robinson came in as the conference’s top-rated passer after breaking the Cowboys’ record for accuracy in a game last week but threw a career-high four interceptions against the Longhorns.

Texas scored 28 points off of Oklahoma State’s five turnovers, with Brown and Thomas cashing in immediately and Johnson scoring on runs of two and one yards after two other takeaways.

That left McCoy, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy last season, needing to do nothing spectacular in front of a Boone Pickens Stadium record crowd of 58,516.

He had a 44-yard pass to Malcolm Williams to set up Hunter Lawrence’s 40-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half. Two plays later, Thomas jumped in front of Hubert Anyiam to intercept Robinson’s pass and race 31 yards untouched into the end zone for a 34-7 lead.

Earlier, Brown scored on a 77-yard return after stepping in front of a pass intended for Dameron Fooks and racing down the sideline. Defensive end Sergio Kindle toppled Robinson to eliminate the final offensive player chasing him.

It was the first time since the 2003 season opener against New Mexico State that Texas returned two interceptions for touchdowns. Future NFL players Derrick Johnson and Michael Huff did it in that game.

Blake Gideon and Chykie Brown also had picks as Robinson exceeded his interception total from the first seven games of the season and doubled the amount he’d had in a single game.

Robinson finished 15 for 28 for 143 yards and one touchdown, a meaningless six-yard toss to Justin Blackmon after the Longhorns led 41-7.

For the second straight week, McCoy was able to spend most of the fourth quarter watching freshman Garrett Gilbert run the offense.