Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 309

C13 BIG 12 CONFERENCE NEBRASKA 48, TEXAS 12 Austin American-Statesman SPORTS Sunday, October 19, 2003 AGGIE NOTEBOOK 8-iumov er loss ds ms bowl chances jy V' 1 4 4 (rl Career game for Carter Not since Sirr Parker went 78 yards against Iowa State in 1997 had Texas returned a kickoff for a touchdown. That six-year drought came to an end Saturday in the fourth quarter when junior Jason Carter returned one 89 yards against Nebraska. Although Carter exited the field after the touchdown shouting." Aggies never give up," his effort was obviously in vain. That touchdown brought the score to 48-12. It was the most productive game of Carter's career.

Besides the kickoff return, he ran twice for 49 yards and caught a 23-yard pass. He also returned another kickoff 24 yards. Waiting on a record Senior receiver amaar Taylor, who needed just 36 receiving yards to set an school record for career receiving yards, was held without a catch for the first time in his career. Scates sits punter Cody Scates, who was slowed by a hernia earlier in the season, did not play against Nebraska. In Scates' absence, junior Jacob Young averaged 45.6 yards on five kicks, including a career-best 69-yarder.

Scates also missed the first two games of the season. Like father, like son Nebraska linebacker Barrett Ruud had a memorable day against Texas He recorded his first career interception which he returned for a touchdown and his 202nd career tackle. The tackle stat wouldn't be that exciting except that Ruud tied his father, Tom, for 23rd place on Nebraska's career tackle list. His father played for the Cornhuskers from 1972-74. Etc.

The eight turnovers were the most by an team since the Aggies committed eight in a 29-22 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana) in 1996. 109 passing yards were a season-low and marked the lowest passing output since 2001, when the Aggies managed just 58 against Oklahoma. Olin Buchanan By Olin Buchanan American-statesman staff LINCOLN, Neb. The sun shone bright, temperatures reached into the 80s, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Except, of course, for the black one that appeared to hover above Texas quarterback Reggie McNeal and seemingly changed the weather at least on the Aggies' sideline to rain and snow.

McNeal was responsible for five of the eight turnovers that Nebraska turned into 35 points on the way to a 48-12 Big 12 Conference victory before 77,604 fans Saturday at Memorial Stadium. "That's part of football," McNeal said. "You have good days and bad days. Ups and downs." There was no doubt which category this one fell under. "I almost felt like we were playing with a wet ball out there," Coach Dennis Franchione said.

"It's not like our offense to turn the ball over as many times as we did. It was a snowball effect out there." The loss leaves the reeling Aggies (3-4, 1-2 in the Big 12) in jeopardy of sitting out the bowl season for the second straight year. They must win three of their final five games to be eligible for a postseason game, so they must bounce back quickly. "We'll do it," Franchione said. 'fWe rebounded a couple of weeks ago.

The defense had to respond and we did. The offense will have to respond." 1 The Aggies followed a 59-28 loss to Texas Tech two weeks ago with a 73-10 win over a second-tier Baylor team. I But the Aggies' remaining schedule includes games against four nationally ranked teams Oklahoma State, Missouri, two Todd Pegram field goals and Jason Carter's 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. "You can't beat anyone, let alone Nebraska, when you make eight turnovers," tackle Alan Reuber said. "Everything you can't do to win a game, we did." Of course, Nebraska had a major role in that happening.

"I thought they were forced turnovers," Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said. Although Nebraska rushed for 364 yards with quarterback Jammal Lord supplying 109 and two touchdowns the Aggies defense put in a respectable performance. surrendered just one long scoring drive in the first half, but Ruud's interception return and an interception by Josh Bulluck that set up a 22-yard touchdown run by Lord staked the Cornhuskers to a 20-3 halftime lead. Twice the Aggies moved deep into Nebraska territory only to come away with nothing. They reached the Nebraska 25 on their first possession, but Derek Farmer could not reel in a McNeal pass on fourth-and-6.

Another and more costly near-miss ended at the Cornhuskers' 11-yard line early in the second quarter. The Aggies had marched 76 yards in four plays on their most impressive drive. On first down at the 11, McNeal's option pitch sailed behind Farmer, and Dembrrio Williams recovered for Nebraska. Ruud forced a fumble while sacking McNeal, and Nebraska recovered at the 12 with 10 minutes and 48 seconds to play in the third quarter. Less than three minutes later, Lord ran 31 yards for another touchdown for a 34-3 lead.

obuchananstatesman.com; 445-3952 ft-- -f 1 A J. NatiHamik associated PRESS Nebraska's Daniel Bullocks, left, Barrett Ruud, right, and Josh Bullocks pull down quarterback Reggie. McNeal. McNeal threw three interceptions. Oklahoma and Texas.

Nebraska (6-1, 2-1) rebounded from last week's 41-24 upset loss to Missouri to remain in a first-place tie with Kansas in the Big 12 North Division. In six previous games, the Aggies committed 15 turnovers, but against Nebraska they lost three fumbles and five interceptions. Two of the interceptions were thrown by Dus-tin Long, who was brought in to replace McNeal. Linebacker Barrett Ruud and defensive end Titus Adams returned interceptions for Nebraska touchdowns, while another interception and two fumbles set up Cornhusker scoring drives that covered 40 yards or fewer. Two more miscues fumbles inside the Nebraska 20-yard line thwarted scoring chances for The Aggies could manage only COWBOYS: Oklahoma St.

holds off Texas Tbch Sooners wake up just before half to beat Tigers fi t- Oklahoma. He scored on a 26-yard run early in the second quarter to make it 10-10 only the second time Oklahoma has been tied all season. The homecoming crowd of 83,327 which broke the OU attendance mark for a fourth-straight game sat in stunned silence as the Tigers (5-2, 1-2) looked poised to knock off their second consecutive Top 10 team following last week's 41-24 upset of Nebraska. At that point, Smith had 192 yards of offense against the nation's third-ranked defense. But the Sooners eventually caught up with Smith and the Tigers, holding them to just 84 yards and five first downs in the second half.

Kansas St. 49, Colorado 20: Ell Roberson scored one more touchdown than he was supposed to. Roberson threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more scores including a 1-yard sneak with 38 seconds left and the game well in hand as Kansas State broke a three-game losing streak. Roberson was under orders to take a knee and let the clock run out after he failed to score from a yard out on the previous play. He apologized to Colorado coach Gary Barnett after the game and acknowledged that he ignored instructions not to score.

Rashad Washington blocked two punts for Kansas State (5-3, 1-2 Big 12) the first time since 1958 that Colorado had surrendered two blocked punts in one game. ASSOCIATED PRESS NORMAN, Okla. Jason White threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns and Antonio Perkins tied a Division I-A record with his seventh career punt return for a touchdown as No. 1 Oklahoma beat No. 24 Missouri 34-13 on Saturday night.

The Sooners (7-0, 3-0 Big 12) looked a little sluggish at the start, a week after their 65-13 dismantling of Texas. Many of Oklahoma's early struggles were caused by Brad Smith, the multitalented Missouri quarterback who rolled up nearly 400 yards of offense and three touchdowns against the Sooners last year as the Tigers nearly pulled off the upset in a 31-24 loss. But Oklahoma scored three touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the first half to turn the game into a rout. Perkins' touchdown with 1:02 left in the first half gave Oklahoma a 31-10 lead. The score left Missouri noticeably deflated as the Sooners whooped their way into the locker room for halftime while many of the Tigers slowly jogged off the field.

The 69-yard punt return was Perkins' fourth this season and seventh of his career, both equaling Division I-A records. The junior cornerback broke a single-game mark against UCLA earlier this season with three returns for scores. The record-breaking and back-breaking return came near the end of the half. Perkins caught the ball off a hop, juked a couple of John F.Rhodes DALLAS MORNING NF.WS Texas Tech's B.J. Symons finished 42 for 67, passing for 552 yards and five TDs, but he was sacked five times and intercepted twice.

Big 12 standings Corrf. Over. Continued from CI would seem. "It was almost too perfect a storyline," sighed Symons, referring to a Raider revival that saw their 28-3 outburst in the fourth quarter pull them from a 48-21 deficit to within two tantalizing yet heartbreaking points. Stuffing a Cowboys' fake punt with 2 minutes, 8 seconds left, Tech had all the elements in its favor as it set up for a possible winning drive.

The OSU defense seemed as rattled in the fourth quarter as the Raiders' defense had been for the first Tech got the ball at its 35 and only needed a field goal to pull off the biggest comeback in the eight-year history of the Big 12 Conference. But the Raiders' rally died on a1 third-and-25 play, when Symons' desperation pass to Tau-rean Henderson was intercepted by free safety Jon Holland. The pick came after Symons was sacked for a 15-yard loss by Antonio Smith on the previous play. The Cowboys finally ran out the clock it took 4 hours, 20 minutes to complete the game to avenge lopsided losses to Tech the past three years. More important, they improved their record to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12.

The Raiders fell to 5-2 and 2-1. "We understood this would be a four-quarter game," OSU Coach Les Miles said. "The clock just doesn't seem to run when you play Texas Tech." The contest, televised by ABC in its first visit to Stillwater in 20 years, had been billed as a potential offensive carnival. It certainly lived up to that. Besides the 100 points, the two teams combined for 1,334 yards of total offense (OSU 673, Tech 661) and 67 first downs (Tech 38, OSU 29).

For the Cowboys, tailback Tatum Bell ran for a career-high 238 yards and scored on runs of 48, 95 and 5 yards. Rashaun Woods, single-covered for much of the second half, caught six passes for 147 yards. Quarterback Josh Fields completed a modest 18 of 29 passes, but they went for 320 yards. Symons, after a slow start, looked like the Heisman Trophy candidate he's being touted as in the second half. He finished with 42 completions in 67 attempts for 552 yards and five TDs.

But he was sacked five times and intercepted twice. "I let the team down," he said. was right there for us to win. How could I not feel like that?" Symons said the 15-yard sack came when he waited for Henderson to break free of his coverage on an inside screen. "I should have known to throw it at his feet," he said.

"But I Jackson Laizure ASSOCIATED PRESS Oklahoma punt returner Antonio Perkins scores on a return in the second quarter to tie the NCAA record for career touchdowns with seven. defenders and sprinted down the left sideline and into the NCAA record book. White, the nation's leader in pass efficiency, also got the Sooners going with two touchdown throws in the second quarter. Before that, Smith raced all around Oklahoma's vaunted defense to complete long passes or rip off big runs. The sophomore's first-half performance was remarkably similar to last year's against North Nebraska 2 1 6 1 Kansas 2 1 5 2 Missouri .12 5 2 Kansas State 12 5 3 Colorado 12 3 4 Iowa State 12 2 5 South Oklahoma 3 0 7 0 Okla.

State 2 1 6 1 Texas 2 1 5 2 Texas Tech 2 1 5 2 Baylor 12 3 4 Texas 12 3 4 KANSAS 28, BAYLOR 21 thought there was a chance Taurean could slip away. Then the guy was on me." And the rally-killing interception on the next play, as OSU's Greg Richmond was bearing down on him for the senior defensive end's third sack of the day and Big 12-leading 10th of the season? "You can't force the ball," Symons said. "I should have known better." Of course, Symons and the Tech offense might not have been in such a desperate spot had the Tech defense put up even token resistance for the first part of the game. OSU scored on its first eight possessions before finally being thwarted on an interception at the end of the third quarter at the Tech 5-yard line, triggering the rally. Tech closed to 51-49 when Wes Welker, who caught 10 passes for 129 yards, hauled in an 11-yard scoring strike with 3:51 to go.

That set up the final dramatics. "I honestly don't think we slowed down in the second half," insisted Woods, whose Cowboys visit Texas this week. "We continued to move the ball." But not like they did in the first half. The Cowboys' early dominance was reflected in one telling statistic: Despite having two first-half plays that went for losses of 12 and 14 yards, their offense still averaged 8.8 yards per play by intermission. Oklahoma State had 397 yards of offense by halftime.

That almost equalled the per-game norm of 406.8 the Cowboys brought into the contest. It was Jayhawks rally in fourth to beat Bears Saturday Texas 40, Iowa St 19 Kansas 28, Baylor 21 Kansas St 49, Colo. 20 Oklahoma 34, Missouri 13 Nebraska 48, 12 Okla St. 51, Texas Tech 49 Next week Texas at Baylor, 6 p.m. Iowa St at NebM 11:30 a.m.

Kansas at Kansas 1 p.m. Oklahoma at Colorado, TBA Okla. St. at Texas TBA Texas Tech at Missouri, TBA Up next for Texas Who: Texas at Baylor When: 6 p.m. Saturday Where: Floyd Casey Stadium Karas connected with Marques Roberts on a 15-yard touchdown pass to bring the Bears (3-4, 1-2) within seven points with 5:10 to play.

The Bears had one last shot, but Floodman intercepted Karas' pass and the Jayhawks ran out the clock. Baylor held a 14-7 lead in the first quarter and went into the third period tied 14-all. It was the first time they had not trailed at halftime in a conference game since Oct. 6, 2001, at Texas Whittemore was 19-of-30 for 252 yards and two touchdowns and tied the school record with his 15th scoring pass of the season. ASSOCIATED PRESS LAWRENCE, Kan.

It's bound to happen one day. Baylor will win a Big 12 road game, ending a string of frustration that's now reached 30 losses in a row away from home. Kansas is just relieved the streak did not end at 29. The mistake-prone Jay-hawks scored twice in the fourth quarter and then got a big play from linebacker Banks Floodman to hold on and beat the Bears 28-21 Saturday. "Yeah, it was definitely in the back of our minds," linebacker Nick Reid said of Baylor's conference road drought.

"But they're a good team. They proved that when they beat Colorado. We didn't play a great game but we still came out and did what we needed to do to win, and that was important." Bill Whittemore hit Mark Simmons for the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter, then John Randle put Kansas (5-2, 2-1 Big 12) ahead 28-14 with a 12-yard touchdown run. Baylor quarterback Aaron more than the per-game averages of five Big 12 teams. Tech Coach Mike Leach said he was proud of the Raiders' fourth-quarter comeback, saying it showed the team's heart and resolve.

He just had one regret. "It would have been nice if we'd done that in all those other quarters, too, huh?" rriggsstatesman.com; 445-3957.