Young, Longhorns torture Cowboys again

STILLWATER, Okla. – At the very least, second-ranked Texas could offer to pay for Oklahoma State’s therapy bills.

For the third straight year, the Cowboys raced to an early lead against Texas, only to watch Vince Young overcome his own early mistakes and lead the Longhorns back.

Texas scored 38 unanswered points to erase a 19-point deficit in Vince Young’s eighth career second-half comeback – a 47-28 UT victory Saturday night.

“To come back the way we did and score like we did, I think this team still deserves to be the top team in the BCS,” said Texas coach Mack Brown, whose team won its 15th straight game.

In their last three meetings, Texas has outscored the Cowboys 118-0 in the second half and has finished each game with obscene scoring streaks. UT scored 48 unanswered points in a 55-16 victory in 2003; 49 unanswered points in a 56-35 victory in 2004; and 38 unanswered points Saturday night.

With his team No. 1 in this week’s Bowl Championship Series poll, Brown challenged Texas all week to play to its own standard rather than relaxing to the level of the competition.

But the Longhorns came out flat, and an Oklahoma State team that opened the Big 12 season 0-4 took advantage in front of a homecoming crowd including Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas.

“We needed this to wake us up. That first-half performance on defense was not us,” said UT safety Michael Griffin, referring to Cowboys running back Mike Hamilton’s ability to run at will on the Longhorns (194 yards).

After the Cowboys raced to a 19-point first-half lead, Texas needed the same dramatics used to overcome a 28-point deficit against Oklahoma State last year – and Young was up to the task, making some Barry Sanders-like runs. Young also helped erase a 16-7 deficit in Stillwater in 2003.

Young ran 21 times for a career-high 267 yards, including touchdown runs of 80 and 8 yards in the third quarter as Longhorns fans – fearful for their national title hopes – resumed breathing.

At halftime, Brown told his team, “We’re in better shape than we were in this game last year,” referring to a 21-point halftime deficit in 2004.

Brown also said Young needed to start making plays.

“He (Brown) wanted a little bit more out of me,” Young said. “But you didn’t see anyone on our sideline thinking we were going to lose.”