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Longhorns likely to gorge Sooners

Vince Young of the Texas Longhorns runs for a touchdown against the Missouri Tigers in their NCAA Division I-A contest at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri, on Oct. 1. Texas defeated Missouri 51-20. The Longhorns face the Oklahoma Sooners today. PHOTO: AFP

In the days leading up to Oklahoma's game with Texas last season, the sign on the Texaco station in Adrian Peterson's hometown, Palestine, Texas, read, "Run A.D. Run."

A.D. is the nickname that Peterson, Oklahoma's star running back, was given for his ability to run all day.

With unranked Oklahoma (2-2) in the throes of rebuilding and No. 2 Texas (4-0) a favorite to play for the national title, that message will resonate more as a plea than a cheer today.

Oklahoma's offensive line is in shambles, its secondary leaky and its swagger dissipating. Peterson's resplendent talent represents perhaps the only chance the Sooners have to extend their five-year winning streak in this series.

"Kind of a different feel this year, isn't it?" Steve Eudey, a close friend of Peterson's, said in a telephone interview this week from Palestine. "All of us Oklahoma fans are still in shock from the drop-off."

That decline began with Oklahoma's blowout loss to Southern California in the national title game in January and continued this fall with September losses to Texas Christian and UCLA.

Despite its recent mastery in this series, Oklahoma brings the inferior unit to Dallas, the traditional neutral site halfway between the universities. To compound Oklahoma's problems, Peterson may be limited by an ankle injury. He mis-sed two days of practice this week.

Even though he will not likely be 100 percent, Peterson still has the kind of punishing running style that can take control of a game. Last season against Texas, as a freshman, he ran for 225 yards on 32 carries.

But since coming in second in the Heisman Trophy balloting last season, a lot has changed for Peterson. He became a father, was forced into a leadership role on the team and found a spot in coach Bob Stoops' doghouse for missing class.

On the field, Peterson's production has waned. He is averaging 4.6 yards a carry, down from 5.7. (Because he did not practice Monday and Tuesday, Peterson did not speak to members of the news media this week.)

"He's been a little bit frustrated," said Eudey, who was Peterson's legal guardian at times during his childhood.

"But when we talked on Sunday, he didn't want to talk about his injury. He was excited about how the team as a whole was improving."

That improvement has come about largely because of the maturation of the redshirt freshman quarterback Rhett Bomar, another Texan who, like Peterson, was considered the top recruit at his position and jumped the Red River for Oklahoma.

Bomar won the starting job from Paul Thompson after the loss to TCU. Things seemed to click for Bomar in Oklahoma's 43-21 victory last Saturday against Kansas State. He completed 12 of 22 passes, ran for 67 yards and threw his first touchdown pass, showing flashes of the skills that made him the country's most sought-after high school quarterback two years ago.

"I think he will be one of the great quarterbacks to ever play at Oklahoma before he finishes," Texas coach Mack Brown said.

Texas, of course, has a quarterback who is considered among the all-time Longhorns greats. Vince Young has led Texas to exhilarating victories over Michigan in the Rose Bowl and at Ohio State in early September, when the Buckeyes were ranked No. 4. Since the loss to Oklahoma last season, Young has led Texas to 11 straight victories.

Young played poorly in the 12-0 loss last season, connecting on just 8 of 23 passes for 86 yards. He did not complete a pass to a wide receiver until late in the third quarter. Young also took two sacks that knocked Texas out of field-goal range.

"I felt I was real uptight," Young said of previous losses to Oklahoma. "That was a time of being young, not taking charge."

But Young has taken over this season, and the team has been emboldened by his confidence. Young dances around before games, singing in the locker room and keeping his teammates loose. He is aware that the most dangerous opponent the Longhorns face this weekend may not be the Sooners, but their own recent history.

Young has taken charge so that the ghosts of past failures do not reappear on the field.

"Now it's my team," he said, "and I just get to be me."

This Oklahoma team is still searching for an identity. Its season-opening loss to TCU in Norman remains the most surprising upset of the season. The Sooners struggled to beat Tulsa the next week, then got blown out at UCLA.

Though Oklahoma is vulnerable, recent history will be the Sooners' best ally on Saturday. But to pull off an upset, they will need Peterson to run all day long.

No. 5 Georgia (4-0) at

No. 8 Tennessee (3-1)

Georgia has the top offense in the SEC and will be well rested after a week off following a 23-10 victory against Mississippi State on Sept. 24. Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley is a talented scrambler, but has begun to show poise in the pocket. Tennessee will be facing its third top-10 opponent of the season -- the Volunteers lost by 16-7 to Florida and came from behind to defeat LSU by 30-27 in overtime. This game has big implications in the SEC East standings as Tennessee has one conference loss and Georgia has none. Vanderbilt is the other team in the division without a conference loss and plays LSU tonight.

No. 15 Texas Tech (4-0) at Nebraska (4-0)

Last season, Nebraska came into Lubbock and was routed by 70-10. This season, Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach has again assembled a potent offense that is the No. 1 in passing in the nation (449.3 yards a game) thanks to the strong play of quarterback Cody Hodges, who is a first-year starter.

The Red Raiders have never won in Lincoln, but they are slight favorites on the road this time around. Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor, also a first-year starter, threw for 431 yards (a school record) in a 27-20 victory last week against Iowa State, which was ranked 23rd.

No. 6 Ohio State (3-1) at

No. 16 Penn State (5-0)

Penn State, which had four losing seasons in the previous five, cracked the top 25 with a 44-14 victory last week against Minnesota, which was ranked 18th. In Penn State's path is a tough Ohio State team that had a week off after an impressive 31-6 victory against Iowa on Sept. 24.

Last week, Penn State amassed a season-high 364 yards rushing and shut down Minnesota's tough ground game. Freshman Derrick Williams ran for two scores as Coach Joe Paterno found ways to get him the ball. But Williams will be facing a tough defense that has one of the top linebacking corps in the nation.

Injuries have demoted the champion New England Patriots (2-2) from superstar status to a good but not overwhelming team. Their defense has lost too many good linebackers and defensive backs, especially safety Rodney Harrison, and linebacker Monty Beisel said, "You're going into the race without the racehorse."

After his San Diego Chargers beat the Patriots at Foxboro last Sunday, Coach Marty Schottenheimer said: "What they've done is remarkable. But at what point in time do you keep responding when you have to keep putting in new players? They've done it wonderfully over the last four years, but there comes a time where it has to catch up to you, even with a team as good as this one."

Maybe the Patriots won't win the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years, but they should dominate their division easily. Still, every game against a good team, and the Atlanta Falcons (3-1) are good, will be an adventure.

The Falcons overran the Minnesota Vikings, rushing for 285 yards and stunning Daunte Culpepper with nine sacks and three turnovers. As linebacker Keith Brooking of the Falcons said, "That would fluster any offensive line in the league."

The Falcons' offense revolves around Michael Vick, the agile quarterback. Vick says the strained ligament in his right knee will not slow him. He said of this game:

"We are going to get it on: two great coaching staffs, two great quarterbacks, two great teams. That's the way it should be."

Pittsburgh (2-1) at San Diego (2-2)

For the first time all season, the Steelers have their three running backs available: Willie Parker, Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley. They will face a tough defense, and they need their banged-up quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, to be healthy. In the last two weeks, LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers ran for 192 and 134 yards and his team routed the Giants by 45-23 and the Patriots by 41-17.

Philadelphia (3-1) at Dallas (2-2)

Despite a painful sports hernia and assorted other aches, quarterback Donovan McNabb of the Eagles passed for 369 yards and three touchdowns in beating the Chiefs. As Coach Andy Reid of the Eagles said, "He's tough, and the team feeds off that."

The Cowboys played two safeties deep to contain Randy Moss' receiving and still lost to the Raiders, who turned to the run. Now the Cowboys must deal with Terrell Owens, another upper-level receiver. The Cowboys are not a bad team, just outmanned here.

Washington (3-0) at Denver (3-1)

The Redskins have won their three games by 2, 1 and 3 points and are 3-0 for the first time since 1991, when they won the Super Bowl. As linebacker Marcus Washington said: "We get into those ugly, Rocky Balboa-type fights. We just keep banging, scratching and finding a way to pull this thing out. It's not always pretty, but a win is a win." The Broncos have won three straight games, and in this battle of division leaders they seem to have the edge because of a big running game and more effective defense.

Cincinnati (4-0) at Jacksonville (2-2)

Despite 11 penalties on offense alone, the Bengals got by the Texans, giving Cincinnati a 4-0 start for the first time since they went to the Super Bowl in 1988. But that record has come against teams that now have a 3-10 record.

Still, said defensive end Justin Smith, "A good team that's winning can overcome mistakes." After the Jaguars rushed for only 12 yards against the Broncos, a franchise low, offensive tackle Maurice Williams said, "It looked like a franchise low on everything." The Jaguars are better than that.

Tampa Bay (4-0) at NY Jets (1-3)

A year ago, the Buccaneers were 0-4. This season they are undefeated behind solid running and defense. The Jets, down to No. 3 quarterback Brooks Bollinger, gained only 152 yards against the Ravens, and now the job belongs to 41-year-old Vinny Testaverde.

Indianapolis (4-0) at

San Francisco (1-3)

The Colts' fearsome offense is alive again, witness Peyton Manning's four touchdown passes in routing the Tennessee Titans. The 49ers gained only 168 yards against the Cardinals, and quarterback Tim Rattay has been benched in favor of rookie Alex Smith.
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