Oklahoma tries to pick up pieces after stunning loss

Oklahoma took the field in Norman without its usual pregame ritual of charging out the tunnel at the conclusion of an introduction video that gets the crowd and players pumped up.

The atmosphere was quite literally dampened, with thousands of fans taking off early because of a storm that brought strong winds, rain and enough lightning to cause a delay of 1 hour 35 minutes.

Then the performance was anything but normal.

The Sooners’ 39-game home winning streak — the longest in the Football Bowl Subdivision and ninth-longest in FBS history — was halted Saturday night by Texas Tech’s 41-38 victory. Along with it, an Oklahoma season that started with national title aspirations and a preseason No. 1 ranking suffered a significant blow.

The Sooners, 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12 Conference, tumbled to No. 11 in the Associated Press rankings Sunday — the fourth-highest one-loss team — while Texas Tech (5-2, 2-2) moved into the rankings for the first time, at No. 19.

“Every team’s going to face adversity and it’s the good teams that deal with it the best,” said linebacker Travis Lewis, a defensive captain. “So, hopefully we’ve got strong guys that are going to deal with it the right way.”

Tommy Tuberville notched his most significant win yet in his second year as Texas Tech’s coach, saying afterward that he didn’t think Oklahoma’s defense had been tested yet this season by a strong passing opponent.

Seth Doege threw for 441 yards and four touchdowns against a unit that was missing three starters — cornerback Jamell Fleming (knee), defensive tackle Casey Walker (left thumb) and linebacker Tom Wort (concussion).

The Red Raiders picked on Fleming’s replacement, Gabe Lynn, until he finally got benched in the third quarter. Safety Aaron Colvin, a converted cornerback, moved outside and Sam Proctor took over deep. By then, the damage was already done.

The Sooners rallied late to cut a 24-point deficit to three, but Tech recovered an onside kick and became just the third opponent in Bob Stoops’ 78 home games at Oklahoma to celebrate on Owen Field.

“Inside of the locker room, it was pretty much no one talking to each other, no one looking at each other. People had their heads down, some people crying,” said Oklahoma running back Roy Finch, who started in place of Dominique Whaley (illness).

“It was just emotional because we knew how hard we worked all summer and how hard we worked all year, and to lose this game was pretty hard for us.”

Oregon State rolls

Sean Mannion threw for a career high 376 yards and four touchdowns, Malcolm Agnew added 103 yards rushing and Oregon State routed Washington State, 44-21, in a Pacific 12 Conference game in Seattle that ended late Saturday night.

Mannion, a redshirt freshman, threw for two scores in the first half, then connected with Joe Halahuni on a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter as the Beavers (2-5, 2-3) ran off 20 consecutive points. Mannion completed 26 of 34 passes and threw another scoring pass in the fourth quarter.

Washington State lost quarterback Jeff Tuel at halftime with an apparent injury. He was replaced by Marshall Lobbestael, but the Cougars (3-4, 1-3) never stopped the Beavers’ offense.

Police stun players

Police say officers used stun guns to subdue two University of Montana players Sunday morning after the team returned to Missoula following a game Saturday at Northern Arizona.

Sgt. Collin Rose says quarterback Gerald Kemp and cornerback Trumaine Johnson scuffled with police officers who responded to a noise complaint at about 2:40 a.m.

Rose says one player struck an officer in the chest with an open hand and the second player grabbed the officer to prevent the arrest of his teammate.

Both players bonded out of the Missoula County Jail on Sunday on misdemeanor charges that include obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest.

Hawaii wins

Bryant Moniz threw for two touchdowns and ran for another two to lead Hawaii to a 45-34 win over New Mexico State in Honolulu in a late Saturday game. The Warriors (4-3, 2-1 Western Athletic Conference) had 503 yards of offense and never trailed against the Aggies (3-4, 2-1).