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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sooners Shock Texas

Associated Press

John Blake will never forget his first win as coach of Oklahoma - one of the biggest upsets in the 91-year history of the Red River classic with Texas.

Reserve tailback James Allen scored on a 2-yard run in overtime Saturday as Oklahoma rallied from an 11-point deficit to stun No. 25 Texas 30-27 in Dallas and trigger a wild celebration.

“This win is really unexplainable,” said Blake, an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys last season. “All I could think about is what we went through.

“It’s a tremendous relief in one sense because of my feeling for my kids. They needed to see some success for all the hard work.”

The win ended the Sooners’ seven-game losing streak, longest in school history, and gave Blake his first victory. Blake broke down and was in tears as he left the field with his joyous team.

The Sooners (1-4, 1-1 in the Big 12) were 22-point underdogs to the Longhorns (3-3, 2-1).

Oklahoma rallied from a 24-13 deficit to tie the game on Jeremy Alexander’s 44-yard field goal with 2:26 left. The Sooners had struck with 6:44 to play when freshman Jarrail Jackson scored on a 51-yard punt return.

Texas and Oklahoma last met in a conference game in 1919, when the Sooners won 12-7 in a Southwest Conference game.

Southwest

Tulsa 20, Colorado St. 14: Defensive back Brian Self made two interceptions and Reggie Williams rushed for 106 yards as the Golden Hurricane (3-2, 2-1 Big 12) defeated the Rams (3-4, 2-1) at Tulsa, Okla.

Arkansas 38, Louisiana Tech 21: Pete Burks hooked up with Anthony Eubanks on a 35-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter as the Razorbacks (2-3) rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat the Bulldogs (3-4) at Little Rock, Ark.

Texas Christian 18, Texas-El Paso 0: Texas Christian ended a turbulent week and a three-game losing streak as Fred Taylor, making his first start at quarterback, guided the Horned Frogs (2-3, 1-1 WAC) past the Miners (2-4, 0-3) at Fort Worth, Texas.

Taylor, a junior college transfer, took over quarterbacking duties this week even before Jeff Dover, who started the first four games, was suspended with two other players for causing a disturbance early Thursday at Southern Methodist University.

West

(9) Colorado 35, Oklahoma St. 13: At Boulder, Colo., Koy Detmer passed for 402 yards and Steve Rosga returned an interception 105 yards as the Buffaloes (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) overcame the absence of several suspended players to beat the Cowboys (3-3, 0-3).

Of the 12 Colorado players suspended either one or two games for misusing long-distance telephone access codes, nine sat out the game. The remaining suspensions must be served next week.

(19) Brigham Young 63, UNLV 28: At Provo, Utah, Steve Sarkisian threw four TD passes in the first half as BYU (6-1) kept UNLV (0-7) winless.

Although BYU and UNLV are members of the WAC, the game did not count in league standings because the game was scheduled before the Rebels joined the WAC.

(24) Wyoming 42, Western Michigan 28: At Laramie, Wyo., Josh Wallwork passed for 319 yards and four TDs as the Cowboys (7-0) ran their winning streak to 10 - the longest among major schools.

Navy 20, Air Force 17: At Air Force Academy, Colo., Tom Vanderhorst kicked a 25-yard field goal with 9 seconds left, giving the Midshipmen (4-1) the victory over the Falcons (3-2) in the first game of this season’s Commander-in-Chief Trophy series.