Dallas – Hang on, folks. You can take the “For Rent” sign out from in front of Texas’ national championship throne. Yeah, the Longhorns were packing their bags a month ago. But after Saturday, they suddenly are in no hurry to leave. They also may have a shot, however distant it once looked, to play for a chance to sit on the throne another year.
Texas’ convincing 28-10 win over then-No. 14 Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl makes the Longhorns’ 24-7 loss to top-ranked Ohio State in Week 2 seem so very long ago. Don’t look now, but Texas is back in the national title hunt.
Texas moved up to No. 6 in The Associated Press top 25 poll Sunday. The carnivorous Southeastern Conference also helped out by continuing its feeding frenzy on its own kind, with top-10 teams Auburn, Louisiana State and Georgia losing. Look around the country and a scenario of Texas moving into the Bowl Championship Series title game by December isn’t far-fetched.
Third-ranked Southern California is exposed offensively, No. 5 West Virginia visits No. 7 Louisville on Nov. 2, No. 2 Florida visits fallen but obviously angry 11th-ranked Auburn on Saturday, and No. 4 Michigan goes to Ohio State in those teams’ regular- season finale Nov. 18.
Texas still has a high-profile game at No. 21 Nebraska on Oct. 21 to help in the BCS computer rankings but likely won’t get challenged after that until the Big 12 title game. Could the BCS keep out a 12-1 Texas team with wins over three ranked teams, assuming the North Division champ is ranked? It depends on how many unbeatens remain.
But the Longhorns definitely are worthy again. The questions about a defense that looked conservative and confused against Ohio State and about a redshirt freshman quarterback no longer are being asked. The defense forced five turnovers Saturday and Colt McCoy, now tabbed “Colt .45” for his new gunslinger image, threw two touchdown passes while playing mistake-free.
“Really good teams answer,” Texas coach Mack Brown said. “To these guys’ credit, that’s what they did.”
Life in the SEC
Tommy Tuberville can get off his soapbox. While his yearly sermon about the injustices of the BCS is valid, it no longer applies to his Auburn Tigers. The formerly second-ranked Tigers’ 27-10 pratfall against Arkansas, at home, drop-kicked them not only out of the national title hunt but likely out of the SEC title game as well.
This once-vaunted Auburn defense let Arkansas outrush the Tigers 279-60.
“We don’t have to hear the whispers or who is ranked where or where we are going to be ranked, the predictions and this and that,” Auburn safety Eric Brock told reporters after the game. “Now we just have to focus on ourselves. It was clear today that sometimes you are not as good as you think you are.”
But maybe Florida is. Could any team besides Ohio State be more complete on defense (five LSU turnovers), special teams (blocked a punt and scored a safety off a kickoff return) and offense (backup quarterback Tim Tebow threw for two TDs and ran for another, and there is no quarterback controversy)?
Senior Chris Leak still is in charge, but who couldn’t love Tebow’s “jump pass” to tight end Tate Casey for a 14-7 halftime lead? If you didn’t notice, Tebow double-pumped. Why? He had the presence of mind to delay his pass while Casey struggled to get off his block.
“I sort of floated one in the lane,” Tebow said.
Speaking of the SEC, I’ll accept apologies from all Georgia fans who harpooned me last week after I called the then- 10th-ranked Bulldogs overrated. Should a top-10 team give up 44 points in 31 minutes as they did in Tennessee’s 51-33 spanking?
And that doesn’t begin to address the quarterback issues. Questionable starter Joe Tere- shinski returned from three weeks out with an ankle injury to throw two interceptions that set up Tennessee touchdowns.
Wild about new Wildcats
Ron Prince is starting to prove he’s a prince of a recruiter in his first year as Kansas State coach.
First, he comes in late on Josh Freeman of Kansas City, Mo., and takes him away from Nebraska. In Saturday’s starting debut, Freeman hit 10-of-15 passes for 177 yards and ran 21 yards for a touchdown in the Wildcats’ 31-27 win over Oklahoma State.
Second, he unearthed Leon Patton from the piles of Division I-A bodies stacking up in Texas high schools. Ranked only 63rd in the Dallas area by The Dallas Morning News out of W.T. White High in Cedar Hill, Texas, Patton ran for 151 yards and a touchdown and returned a kickoff 95 yards for another TD.
Footnotes
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops felt instant replay burned him again when it failed to reverse the Sooners’ botched lateral pass to Adrian Peterson that Texas returned for a touchdown. “It was explained to me the ball was thrown at the 12 and landed at the 12, but they never said where it hit him in the hands,” Stoops said. … Add Al Groh to the growing list of Atlantic Coast Conference coaches in trouble. Virginia has lost to Western Michigan and East Carolina and is 2-4 for the first time since 1988. The Cavaliers’ 31-21 loss at East Carolina makes them 10-21 on the road under Groh – three wins coming at Duke.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
