Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • A6

6CC Sunday, October 12, 2008 www.star-telegram.com OKLAHOMA I OFFENSE Sooners fail to find that consistent beat offense, as Texas won this years Red River Rivalry 45-35 on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. We pretty much had an idea of what they were going to do and they did it, said OU quarterback Sam Bradford, who threw for 387 yards and five touchdowns. We just didnt execute. Oklahoma excelled when Bradford and the Sooners got into a rhythm like they did on their first two touchdown drives. They pushed the tempo on us a little bit, Texas defensive coordinator Will Mus- champ said of Oklahomas early run.

We did not have very much communication on the field, and we kind of got tired. You cant get tired, and you have to continue to chop the wood and play well and get it done. Oklahoma players and coaches werent surprised by Texas man-to-man defense, but figured that would open up one-on-one matchups inside for receiver Ryan Broyles and tight end Jermaine Gresham. That should have allowed for third and fourth receivers to get involved, explained Oklahoma offensive coordina tor Kevin Wilson. The Longhorns caused problems, though, with their blitzes and run defense.

If Oklahoma tried to go to an I-formation, a two-back or two-tight end set, Texas switched to a 3 -4 scheme and loaded up with big players, with defensive end Brian Orakpo standing up at outside linebacker and Sergio Kindle on the other side. We have a good defensive front, and Coach Muschamp felt that we could bring some pressure with just rushing four guys, Orakpo said. That was the philosophy and game plan coming in: Dont rush more if we dont need to, because they have great wide receivers and tight ends that make plays. Oklahoma finished with 48 yards rushing, averaging 1.8 yards per carry. It was their second-lowest output this season; in a 35-10 win over TCU, Oklahoma rushed for 25 yards.

The Sooners were also unable to control the clock and had the ball for almost 14 fewer minutes than Texas. I dont think we ran hard, Wilson said. Theyre too fast a defense to be standing around flat-footed. We were trying get some things on the perimeter, but they were heavy-set on the edge and eliminating some things. When it mattered late, the Sooners offense couldnt come through.

After Texas took a 38-35 lead in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma returned to the field but gained 8 yards on three plays before punting. When you play a game thats four quarters youre going to have times when its going well and times when it isnt, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. They did abetter job down the stretch when they had to. Oklahoma is unable to develop its normal rhythm against Texas stout defensive scheme. By TRAE THOMPSON DALLAS Just when it seemed like a drive would get going, the Oklahoma Sooners would be stopped by Texas or have a three-and-out.

Were not used to that, wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias said. The Sooners finished with 435 total yards but were unable to develop a ground game or a consistent rhythm in their TEXAS ROUNDUP NO. 22 NORTH CAROLINA 29, NOTRE DAME 24 TEXAS TECH 37, NEBRASKA 31 (OT) Carolina well-heeled against Notre Dame Tulsa 6-0 for first time since 1942 Michael Crabtree, left, and Texas Tech celebrate their win against Jacob Hickman, right, and Nebraska. Crabtrees two touchdowns helped the Red Raiders stay undefeated, apgeoffrey mcallister Red Raiders get pushed to the limit, but survive seven years, and playing at home as a ranked team for the first time in a decade, a sign of how badly things have gone since Mack Brown departed for Texas after the 97 season. It was also Notre Dames first game in the state of North Carolina since unheralded sophomore Joe Montana led a comeback win in 1975.

The teams certainly provided a memorable finish, with Notre Dame reaching the North Carolina 7 in the final seconds before officials ruled after a review that receiver Michael Floyd fumbled the ball in what appeared to be a frantic attempted lateral. Trimane Goddard recovered, giving the ball back to North Carolina for a joyous kneel-down with 3 seconds remaining. Clausen threw for a career-best 383 yards his third consecutive career game and touchdowns to Golden Tate and Floyd that helped the Irish take a 17-9 halftime lead. Notre Dame had 472 yards, but couldnt overcome two interceptions and two lost fumbles in the second half. I told them its a different team than Ive seen in the last year and change, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said.

That team in there today expected to win. They didnt come here hoping to win. The reason they feel really bad is because theyre starting to get it. This is not the same team that everyone saw at the beginning of the year. The Tar Heels went most of the way without big-play receiver and returner Brandon Tate, who sprained his right knee in the first quarter.

Nicks picked up the slack with another big day against the Irish after six catches for 171 yards and a score against them two years ago in South Bend. The Tar Heels prove they belong in the rankings with a comeback and defensive stand against the Irish. From wire reports CHAPEL HILL, N.C. North Carolina started the second half with an interception return for a touchdown and sealed the game with a last-second fumble recovery. In between the Tar Heels did just enough to beat Notre Dame for the first time in a generation.

Cameron Sexton scored on a leaping 4-yard keeper to start the fourth quarter and Quan Sturdivant had the momentum-changing 32-yard interception return to help the No. 22 Tar Heels beat the Fighting Irish 29-24 on Saturday, providing another boost to coach Butch Davis rebuilding effort. The Tar Heels (5-1), off to their best start since going 8-0 in 1997, beat the Fighting Irish (4-2) for the first time since 1960. Hakeem Nicks had nine catches for 141 yards and freshman walk-on Casey Barth kicked three field goals, helping North Carolina rally from an 1 1 -point first-half deficit. The Tar Heels offense failed to reach the end zone in the first half while their defense struggled to slow Jimmy Clausen and the Notre Dame passing game.

But their knack for forcing turnovers four after halftime was enough to help them hang on in a game that came down to a wild finish. It takes everybody buying in, Davis said. Our kids have got a lot of fight, a lot of perseverance and keep scratching to try and find a way to win. North Carolina came in ranked for the first time in Breakdown Why Texas Tech won: Eric Morris scored from the 1 on athird-and-goal end-around play in overtime, and CB Jamar Wall intercepted a pass to end the game. QB Graham Harrell connected with Michael Crabtree on a key fourth-and-4 play that led to a late fourth-quarter TD.

Tech averaged 8.8 yards per play, did not commit any turnovers and was only penalized twice for 20 yards. Notable With the two scores Saturday, Michael Crabtree set Techs all-time record for touchdown receptions with 32, passing the 30 TD receptions Jarrett Hicks had from 2003-06. Graham Harrell passed Houstons Kevin Kolb and is now the all-time passing leader in Texas college history with 12,993 yards. He is fifth all-time nationally. Up next: Texas Tech at Texas A8M, 1 1 a.m.

Saturday; Nebraska at Iowa State, 11:30 a.m. Saturday Staff and wire reports David Johnson threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns, A.J. Whitmore had the go-ahead score and Tulsa improved to 6-0 for the first time since 1942 witha37-31 victory over SMU on Saturday night. Tulsa (3-0 Conference USA) trailed 31-24 heading into the fourth quarter before scoring twice in just over a minute to take the lead for good. Johnson hit Trae Johnson, who hauled in the pass over SMU defensive back Keith Robinson, for a 33 -yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-21 to tie the game at 31 with 9:53 remaining.

Tulsas DeAundre Brown intercepted Bo Levi Mitchell on the first play of the ensuing drive to give the Golden Hurricane the ball at the Mustangs 26. Whitmore scored on an 8-yard run three plays later to put Tulsa on top 37-31 with 8:40 left. The Golden Hurricane, who came in leading the nation in scoring and total offense, had 602 yards of total offense to snap a six-game losing streak at SMU (1-6, 0-4) that dates back to 1991. SMU, whose only win is against FCS team Texas State, has lost 16 straight to FBS (formerly Division I-A) schools. The Mustangs have also dropped 13 consecutive games to conference opponents.

Tarleton State 37, Midwestern State 16: The Texans (6-1, 1-1 Lone Star) scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away from the Mustangs (4-2, 1-2). Travis Evans, who rushed for 1 13 yards, scored on two 3-yard runs in the third quarter and Scott Grantham had a 9-yard TD pass to Tanner Maher. Grantham passed for 209 yards. Garrett Lindholm kicked field goals of 24, 35 and 38 yards. The victory assured Tarleton State of its ninth consecutive winning season.

UTEP 24, Tulane 21: Trevor Vittatoe connected with Jeff Moturi on a 68 -yard touchdown pass with 4:22 remaining in the game, helping the Miners (3-3, 3-0 Conference USA) to a come-from-behind victory over the Green Wave (2-4, 1-2, The Miners trailed 21-14 in the seesaw game when Jose Martinez kicked a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 21-17. It stayed that way until Vittatoe, a Euless Trinity ex who passed for 296 yards and three TDs against Tulane, connected with Moturi. Central Arkansas 48, Sam Houston State 46: Nathan Brown passed for 269 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Bears (5-1, 1-0 Southland) over the Bearkats (2-2, 0-1). Grand Prairie ex Rhett Bo-mar passed for 461 yards and three touchdowns for Sam Houston State. Stephen F.

Austin State 49, Kentucky Wesleyan 0: Jeremy Moses passed for 386 yards and five touchdowns and the Lumberjacks (3-3) held the Panthers (2-4) to 147 yards of total offense. Nebraska 0 7 3 21 0 31 Texas Tech 7 10 7 7 6 37 cally just threw it right to me, Wall said. I thought he was going to throw it over me. I was getting ready to jump, and he threw it right to my chest. Walls interception ended a very long day for the Tech defense and got Carona off the hook.

Before missing the PAT in overtime his third miss of the season Caronas PAT for Techs 31st point hit the left upright and caromed over the crossbar. Were concerned, Leach said. I thought the kickoffs, he did good, I thought the extra points, some of them were ugly. We may look at backup kicker Cory Fowler and see how that works out. Besides the TD by Morris and interception by Wall, Techs other game-changing play occurred with less than 5 minutes remaining in regulation.

The score was tied at 24, and the Red Raiders went for it on fourth-and-4 from their 36. Tech wanted to draw Nebraska offsides, but the ball was prematurely snapped and Harrell found Michael Crabtree streaking behind the Nebraska defense for a 47-yard reception down to the Huskers 17. Five plays later, Harrell scored from a yard out for a 31-24 lead with 2:21 left. The thing about coach Leach is he has tons of confidence in his guys, and he takes more risks than anyone in the country probably on fourth down, said Harrell, who completed 20 of 25 passes for 284 yards and a pair of TDs to Crabtree. We were supposed to just try to draw them offsides, actually, and I tried to.

Following Harrells TD, the Huskers drove 79 yards in eight plays and tied it at 31 when Ganz tossed a 17-yard TD to Todd Peterson with just 29 seconds left. Morris and Wall then closed the deal for Tech in overtime. I thought we played really, really hard, and I thought we played against a really good team who did some really good things, Leach said. Despite Nebraska playing keepaway, Texas Tech is able to come up big when needed. By DWAIN PRICE LUBBOCK On the one hand, the Texas Tech Red Raiders were absolutely thrilled they were able to dig down and eke out a 37-31 overtime victory over the pesky Nebraska Cornhusk-ers on Saturday.

On the other hand, the Red Raiders know they came dangerously close to blowing a game in which they led by 14 points in the third quarter at Jones Stadium. But wide receiver Eric Morris scored on a 1-yard end-around in overtime, and cornerback Jamar Wall intercepted a pass on Nebraskas second play of the extra session to secure the game for Tech and push the seventh-ranked Red Raiders to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 play. Nebraska dominated in every major category of the game except the one that counts the most. The Husk-ers controlled the clock for more than 40 minutes, ran 80 plays (compared to just 48 for Tech), and kept the Red Raiders powerful offense chained to the sidelines. The Huskers (3-3, 0-2) just couldnt close the deal.

It was really a strange game, Tech coach Mike Leach said. I havent been in one like this where you have on both teams the highlights that you have, but yet no real rhythm to either side. After the overtime TD by Morris, freshman kicker Donnie Carona had his point-after blocked. That set the stage for the Huskers to possibly sneak out with a win. However, on Nebraskas second play of overtime, quarterback Joe Ganz was flushed out of the pocket and proceeded to toss the ball about 5 yards downfield directly to Wall.

I saw the quarterback trying to scramble and I went to charge him, and he basi First quarter TT Crabtree 35 pass from Harrell (Carona kick), 4:49. Second quarter Neb Castille 4 run (Henery kick), 11:46. TT-FG Carona 26, 8:13. TT Woods 4 run (Carona kick), 1:18. Third quarter Neb FG Henery 21, 8:00.

TT Crabtree 4 pass from Harrell (Carona kick), 4:47. Fourth quarter Neb Ganz 1 run (Henery kick), 12:10. Neb Young 2 pass from Ganz (Henery kick), 6:06. TT Harrell 1 run (Carona kick), 2:21. Neb Peterson 17 pass from Ganz (Henery kick), :29.

Hakeen Nicks had nine catches for 141 yardsfor North Carolina against Raeshon McNeil and Notre Dame. getty imagesscott halleran Overtime TT Morris 1 run (kick blocked). A 53,449. Notre Dame 7 10 7 0 24 North Carolina 3 6 13 7 29 First quarter ND Tate 19 pass from Clausen (B.Walker kick), 10:27. NC-FG Barth 41, 2:49.

Second quarter ND-FG B.Walker 42, 12:53. NC-FG Barth 34, 5:22. ND Floyd 7 pass from Clausen (B.Walker kick), :52. NC-FG Barth 42, :09. Third quarter NC Sturdivant 32 interception return (Barth kick), 14:48.

ND Aldridge 2 run (B.Walker kick), 10:43. NC Houston 1 run (pass failed), 5:14. Fourth quarter NC Sexton 4 run (Barth kick), 14:55. A 60,500. Breakdown Why North Carolina won: The Tar Heels were opportunistic, especially on defense, with Notre Dame committing four turnovers that helped swing the momentum to Carolina in the second half.

Notable Converted safety Shaun Draughn had his second consecutive solid game running the ball for North Carolina with 91 yards on 17 carries. Tar Heels QB Cameron Sexton, the one-time third stringer filling in for injured starter T.J. Yates, threw for 201 yards. Quan Sturdivants 32-yard interception return for a touchdown came on Jimmy Clausens first pass of the second half and cut Notre Dames lead to 17-16. Castille 3-6, Ganz 6-(minus 5).

Texas Tech, Batch 10-97, Woods 10-36, Britton 1-2, Harrell 1-1, Morris 1-1. PASSING Nebraska, Ganz 36-44-1-349, Wesch 1-1-0-8. Texas Tech, Harrell 20-25-0-284. RECEIVING Nebraska, Peterson 8-77, Lucky 7-80, Me. Holt 6-55, Swift 5-70, Paul 4-25, McNeill 3-24, Helu 2-15, Young 2-11.

Texas Tech, Crabtree 5-89, Lewis 4-47, Batch 3-53, Britton 2-67, Morris 2-16, Woods 2-1, Swindall 1-6, Leong 1-5. Now, did we miss some opportunities, and should some things have been different? Absolutely. Weve just got to pin-point some little things. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Notre Dame, Allen 11-60, Aldridge 4-23, Hughes 4-12, Clausen ll-(minus 6). North Carolina, Draughn 17-91, Houston 8-28, Little 2-7, Sexton 3-(minus 2), Team 2-(minus 3).

PASSING Notre Dame, Clausen 31-48-2-383. North Carolina, Sexton 18-32-0-201. RECEIVING Notre Dame, Allen 7-47, Floyd 6-93, Tate 5-121, Kamara 5-58, Grimes 4-19, Rudolph 3-30, Hughes 1-15. North Carolina, Nicks 9-141, Foster 3-28, Arnold 2-3, Ri. Quinn 1-15, Pianalto 1-5, Thornton 1-5, Elzy 1-4.

DWAIN PRICE, 817-390-7760.