Oklahoma Blasts Texas A&M
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – Texas A&M gave No. 7 Oklahoma all it wanted. Then a familiar hurdle got in the way – halftime.
The Aggies’ second-half troubles continued Saturday, as they stumbled through the third quarter in a 41-25 loss.
Their seven third-quarter possessions resulted in two interceptions, four punts and a missed field goal, and Oklahoma took advantage by scoring four touchdowns to break open what was a 13-10 game at the half.
“Turnovers. You can’t throw interceptions, it’ll kill your drive,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “I looked up at one point in the fourth quarter and we had more yards than them. That just goes to show what turnovers will do to you.”
Oklahoma scored on the first play after one of the interceptions. The Sooners also scored on the first play after a punt into the 30-mph wind gave them the ball at A&M’s 31-yard line.
The Aggies, who gave up comfortable halftime leads in its previous three losses, kept Oklahoma’s high-powered offense to 180 yards in the first half, and Tannehill’s 79-yard scoring pass to Ryan Swope made the score 13-10. Texas A&M did wind up outgaining the Sooners 527-404 thanks in part to two fourth-quarter TD drives.
“Like coach said, in the first half we responded,” defensive lineman Tony Jerod-Eddie said. “In the second half, we didn’t.”
The victory was costly for Oklahoma (8-1, 5-1 Big 12). All-American Ryan Broyles, the NCAA’s career leader in receptions, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will miss the remainder of the season. He got hurt while cutting to make his second catch of the game, a 30-yarder that set up a touchdown.
“It’s just a bad deal,” quarterback Landry Jones said. “You hate for something like that to happen to such a good guy.”
Broyles left the field in tears. He entered the game averaging 13.2 yards on 81 catches. His two catches Saturday went for 57 and 30 yards.
“He’s such a special, special player,” coach Bob Stoops said. “It’s deflating for him and for all of us. … Your heart drops when you first hear it.”
The Aggies (5-4, 3-3) won’t miss Norman once they move to the Southeastern Conference. They’re now 0-7 on Owen Field during the Stoops era; the previous six losses had come by an average of 41 points.
“We knew we were facing a very good defense, but the bottom line is you just can’t turn the ball over like we did today and expect to win a football game,” coach Mike Sherman said. “Take no credit away from Oklahoma, but we gave them 14 points there in the third quarter and then we had a short punt, and you can’t play football that way.”
Jones threw third-quarter touchdown passes of 31 yards to Jaz Reynolds – Reynolds beat tight coverage with a nifty one-handed grab – and 39 yards to Kenny Stills. Each came one play after an interception. Tailback Roy Finch and backup quarterback Blake Bell added short touchdown runs.
After Reynolds’ TD made the score 20-10, A&M’s next drive ended with an interception by defensive end Ronnell Lewis, who caught a tipped ball and returned it 11 yards to the Aggies’ 28. Finch scored five plays later. The Sooners needed one play to score after an interception by Jamell Fleming – Jones’ long pass to Stills down the left sideline to make it 41-10.
Oklahoma was playing at home for the first time since its 39-game home winning streak ended with a loss to Texas Tech two weeks ago. The Sooners’ potent offense struggled throughout the first half whether moving into or with the strong wind.
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