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

Sooners stumble


TCU's Quincy Butler levels Oklahoma running back Kejuan Jones in the Horned Frogs' upset victory on Saturday.
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press

Texas Christian came up with its biggest upset in 45 years, stifling Heisman hopeful Adrian Peterson and beating No. 7 Oklahoma 17-10 Saturday in Norman, Okla.

Tye Gunn threw for 226 yards and a touchdown as the Horned Frogs (1-0) handed the stunned Sooners (0-1) their first home loss since 2001 and the only loss in September under coach Bob Stoops.

The decisive score came on a 2-yard run by Robert Merrill with 11:56 left after the Horned Frogs took advantage of a fumble by Oklahoma backup quarterback Rhett Bomar. Bomar, who lost a quarterback competition to Paul Thompson but did well enough in Stoops’ eyes to earn playing time, fumbled while retreating and trying to spin away from Jamison Newby. David Hawthorne picked up the ball at the TCU 17, and Merrill took an option pitch from Gunn and scored untouched four plays later.

The Sooners had one final chance with 2:05 left, but Thompson – who replaced 2003 Heisman winner Jason White this season – fumbled on a fourth-down play with 1:03 left and the Horned Frogs recovered and ran out the clock.

The Horned Frogs last beat a team so highly ranked on Oct. 29, 1960, when they defeated No. 7 Baylor 14-6. TCU also upset No. 2 Texas 14-9 on Nov. 14, 1959.

Peterson had 63 yards on 22 carries and left the game briefly late in the third quarter with an apparent injury to his right ankle. He returned early in the fourth quarter after having the ankle heavily taped, but lost yardage on three of his five carries.

(2) Texas 60, Louisiana-Lafayette 3

Vince Young threw for three touchdowns, ran for another and the Longhorns opened the season with a romp over the Ragin’ Cajuns in Austin, Texas.

Jamaal Charles set a Texas freshman debut record with 135 yards rushing and scored a touchdown for the Longhorns, who next travel to Columbus, Ohio for a matchup with No. 6 Ohio State.

(3) Tennessee 17, Ala.-Birmingham 10

The Volunteers survived a late scare against the Blazers and came away with a victory before a crowd of 107,000 in Knoxville, Tenn.

With the Volunteers clinging to seven-point lead, the Blazers were at the Tennessee 12 with less than four minutes left. On fourth down, Darrell Hackney’s pass sailed over Lance Rhodes’ head in the end zone and the Vols took over and ran out the clock.

The game did not bode well for Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge, who won the starting job over senior Rick Clausen. Ainge threw an early touchdown pass, but was intercepted twice by Brandon Register, the second one setting up UAB’s last chance. Clausen threw a TD pass and an interception.

(4) Michigan 33, Northern Illinois 17

Mike Hart ran for 117 yards and a touchdown and had a 34-yard TD reception to lead the Wolverines past the Huskies in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines led just 14-10 early in the second quarter before scoring 19 straight points.

(6) Ohio State 34, Miami (Ohio) 14

Ted Ginn Jr. caught a 42-yard touchdown pass and Donte Whitner returned an interception 26 yards for a score as the Buckeyes tuned up for next week’s matchup with Texas by beating the RedHawks in Columbus, Ohio.

Justin Zwick completed 17 of 23 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown with one interception, tailback Antonio Pittman gained 100 yards on 14 carries and Ginn had five catches for 75 yards and his score for OSU.

(10) Florida 32, Wyoming 14

Chris Leak answered all those questions about whether he could run Urban Meyer’s spread offense.

Leak completed 26 of 34 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns, set a school record with 17 straight completions and led the Gators to a victory over the Cowboys in Gainesville, Fla., in Meyer’s debut.

The offense sputtered at times, but scored touchdowns on three passes from Leak to Chad Jackson. The receiver finished with 10 catches for 138 yards and added a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

(11) Iowa 56, Ball State 0

Drew Tate threw two first-half touchdowns and the Hawkeyes scored on each of their possessions in the first half in rolling to a victory in Iowa City, Iowa, over the Cardinals, a team depleted by the suspension of 13 players.

The Hawkeyes held the Cardinals to 22 yards oftotal offense before most of Iowa’s starters turned the game over to second and third stringers midway through the second quarter.

(13) Georgia 48, (18) Boise State 13

D.J. Shockley threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead the Bulldogs to a stunningly easy victory over the Broncos in Athens, Ga.

Jared Zabransky and the high-scoring Broncos were totally overwhelmed by Georgia.

Shockley completed 16 of 24 passes for 289 yards. He also rushed five times for a team-leading 85 yards.

Contrast those numbers with the ones put up by Zabransky: four interceptions and two fumbles before he was benched just before halftime.

Georgia Tech 23, (16) Auburn 14

Georgia Tech intercepted Brandon Cox four times in the second half and P.J. Daniels ran for 111 yards and a touchdown to help the Yellow Jackets end Auburn’s 15-game winning streak with a victory in Auburn, Ala.

The loss ended the nation’s third-longest winning streak, hours after both Southern California (23) and Utah (17) kept their streaks going.

Reggie Ball passed for 174 yards and a touchdown for Georgia Tech.

Clemson 25, (17) Texas A&M 24

Jad Dean kicked his school record sixth field goal with 2 seconds left to lift the Tigers over the Aggies in Clemson, S.C.

The Aggies looked like they would grab an opening night win after versatile star Reggie McNeal led a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that ended with his 31-yard touchdown pass to Chad Schroeder for a 24-22 lead.

But the Tigers, playing the final quarter without injured starting QB Charlie Whitehurst, drove to Texas A&M’s 25 on eight straight carries by freshman tailback James Davis.

After a time out by the Aggies, Dean nailed the 42-yard field goal.

(22) Boston College 20, BYU 3

Quinton Porter passed for 232 yards and two touchdowns in his first game in nearly two years and the Eagles stymied the Cougars in Provo, Utah, spoiling the debut of new BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall.

Porter, who redshirted last year after starting 10 games in 2003 before missing the end of the season with a hand injury, completed 27 of 35 passes. Both his touchdowns came on passes to Chris Miller.

(25) Virginia 31, W. Michigan 19

Marques Hagans threw one touchdown pass and ran for another score and the mistake-prone Cavaliers did most of their scoring in the first 17 1/2 minutes in beating the Broncos in Charlottesville, Va.

Western Michigan (0-1), playing its first game under coach Bill Cubit, looked nothing like a team on a 10-game losing streak, even though its starting QB sat the game out. Ryan Cubit, the coach’s son, has a leg fracture and was replaced by Robbie Haas, who passed for 271 yards.