COLLEGE FOOTBALL RECAP

Oklahoma holds off late Texas rally

The Sports Xchange

October 11, 2014 at 12:38 pm.

DALLAS — Factors seemed to be coming together for Texas to pull off a second consecutive upset of rival Oklahoma on Saturday.

The Longhorns’ defense played well yet again, Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight struggled for much of the game and Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes kept his composure for the most part against the Sooners’ rush.

But the No. 11 Sooners still were too much for the Longhorns, winning, 31-26, in a Cotton Bowl evenly split between Oklahoma crimson and Texas burnt orange.

Oct 11, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Alex Ross (28) runs back a kick-off for a touchdown against the Texas Longhorns during the Red River showdown at the Cotton Bowl. Photo Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma’s offense was dormant until well into the second half. The Sooners had fewer than 80 yards of total offense with under six minutes left in the third quarter.

Even so, Oklahoma (5-1, 2-1 in the Big 12) led by that point and the lead continued to grow as the Sooners defense finally started to get off the field on third downs and the offense finally got something going.

Knight finally started finding receivers and a rhythm when Oklahoma turned up the pace late in the third.

Knight hit Durron Neal for a 22-yard gain in a stretch of three completions, then after a run hit Sterling Shepard for a 24-yard touchdown that gave the Sooners their first offensive touchdown of the game to go up 24-13.

On their first drive of the fourth quarter, the Sooners took advantage of good field position to quickly move down the field with some help from the ground game for the first time.

Samaje Perine, who had seven touchdowns over Oklahoma’s previous two games, capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown to put the Sooners up 31-13.

Texas stayed in the game, however, as Swoopes moved the ball down the field twice in the fourth quarter after the Sooners forced the Longhorns (2-4, 1-2) to punt on their first five drives of the second half.

Texas had a last chance, getting the ball at their 25 with 18 seconds left, but an incomplete pass and a holding penalty ended any chance for a Texas miracle and the Sooners celebrated with the Golden Hat trophy at midfield.

Swoopes completed 27 of 44 passes for 329 yards, surpassing 300 for the first time in his career, with two touchdowns and an interception.

Despite their offensive problems early, the Sooners managed to build a 17-13 lead by half without an offensive touchdown.

After Texas settled for a field goal on the opening drive, Alex Ross returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown — his second kick return score of the season.

After struggling in his last two starts, Swoopes stayed composed for the most part, especially early when he regularly found Jaxon Shipley downfield.

Shipley had seven catches for 84 yards in the first half.

NOTES: Oklahoma kicker Michael Hunnicutt became the 20th player in NCAA history to score 400 career points with his first extra point of the game. … Texas wide receiver/running back Daje Johnson missed the game because of a hamstring injury, a week after returning from a suspension. … Oklahoma linebacker Dominique Alexander was injured on Zack Sanchez’s interception early in the second quarter and was taken to the locker room. He returned — with his right hand heavily wrapped — after missing a series. … Texas was called for four false-start penalties in the first quarter. … Oklahoma started Adam Shead and Dionte Savage at the guard spots. Savage, who started in place of Shead in last week’s loss to TCU, started in place of Nila Kasitati this week. … Oklahoma hosts Kansas State next Saturday. Texas hosts Iowa State.