Oklahoma routs Texas again in Red River Rivalry

DALLAS (AP) - Just when it seemed the Red River Rivalry couldn't get much worse for No. 15 Texas, a meaningless fourth-down play became a critical point in the Longhorns' season.

Facing a 41-point deficit, starting quarterback David Ash was smashed by Oklahoma's Chuka Ndulue after releasing an incomplete pass and didn't return in the Longhorns' 63-21 loss to the rival Sooners on Saturday.

Coach Mack Brown provided no update on Ash's status, but he had a bruised welt on his injured left wrist when he came off the field pointing to the sky with his right hand.

"It's just unacceptable for Texas to lose like that to Oklahoma, much less anybody, and especially two years in a row," said Brown, whose team has lost by a combined 118-38 margin the past two Red River Rivalries.

"I'm disappointed for our coaches, our fans and our players because that's not who we are."

Damien Williams broke off a 95-yard touchdown run for the longest rush in the rivalry's history, Blake Bell powered his way in for four TDs as Oklahoma rolled.

Bob Stoops is now 9-5 against Brown and responsible for three of Oklahoma's five most lopsided wins over Texas - and that doesn't include last year's 55-17 clobbering.

Put this one right up there with 65-13 in 2003 and 63-14 in 2000, both seasons when the Sooners played for the national championship.

"It's in the same ballpark," Stoops said, trying to rank his glut of triumphs against Texas. "If we'd have left our (starting) defense out there, I don't think the end would have been like it was. It would have been right there with those.

"Those are pretty special ones, and this definitely is right there with them."

Case McCoy relieved Ash and threw late touchdown passes to Mike Davis and John Harris against the Sooners' backups, the last one coming after the Longhorns called timeout to run one last play.

Brown called his offense "inept" and questioned why his defense didn't make as many plays as he's used to seeing from them. Texas was outgained 677-289 and gave up 343 yards rushing. A defense expected to be a strong point for the team has now given up 1,186 yards rushing in the past five weeks.

"We couldn't stop the run. When you can't stop the run, things get ugly real quick," said Alex Okafor, the Longhorns' defensive end and NFL prospect. "It's been like that all season. We've got to find a way to stop it."

Carrington Byndom provided the lone defensive highlight by returning an interception for a touchdown just after halftime, but it didn't create a spark for the Longhorns. Brown warned that Baylor, the nation's No. 2 offense, comes to Austin next week.

"We can't sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. We're sitting here exactly where we were this time last year, but we've got to go finish better than we did last year," Brown said.

The Longhorns had been off to a promising start and Ash had shown marked improvement as the entrenched starter, completing at least 70 percent of his passes in every game this season. He went 13 for 29 in this one with 113 yards passing and two interceptions.

Counterpart Landry Jones threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns, and for the third straight time got to slap on his head the Golden Hat trophy that goes to the winner. He entered rare territory, breaking Steve Davis' record for wins at the school and becoming just the fourth Sooners QB to beat Texas three times.

"Just the game of football is great, but this game in particular, there's something about it," Jones said.