Stampeding back

Down 17-0, UT overtakes OU, 38-28

10/10/1999

By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

Oklahoma threw passes from formations only a mad scientist could dream up. Five wides. Three receivers stacked in a triangle on either side of a three-man line. It looked like BYU instead of OU.

For a quarter, big-game jitters or the shock of so many balls flying overhead left Texas scattered, stunned and on the brink of season collapse.

But the 23rd-ranked Longhorns captured their biggest comeback victory in 34 years by erasing a 17-0 deficit and defeating Oklahoma, 38-28, on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. They did it the way Darrell Royal and Barry Switzer used to collect wins in this series - with defense and do-or-die running.

"This game was critical for a team trying to find a personality with Nebraska coming up," said Texas coach Mack Brown, whose team has next week off before the undefeated Cornhuskers come to Austin. "We told our kids there's a defining point in every season, and we hope this is a defining point for us."

Facing first-and possibly the fate of their 1999 season from their own 1, the Longhorns defied a 10-man Oklahoma front with a 35-yard run by Hodges Mitchell of Skyline, who poked and powered his 5-7, 190-pound frame for 204 yards on 30 carries.

The play seemed to swallow any morsel of momentum that the Sooners had collected after scoring on a perfectly executed fake field goal. Holder Patrick Fletcher hit kicker Tim Duncan for a 4-yard touchdown pass, narrowing UT's lead to 31-28 at the end of the third quarter.

Texas (5-2, 2-1 Big 12) followed Mitchell's run by consuming 64 yards thanks to three third-down conversions, none of them bigger than a 35-yard pass from Major Applewhite to Montrell Flowers of Skyline on third-and-15. The drive was punctuated with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Nunez with 8:16 left that gave Texas its final margin.

It was the second week in a row the Sooners (3-2, 1-1) gave up a length-of-the-field drive under dire circumstances. Notre Dame pulled out a 34-30 victory over OU last week by going 98 yards in 11 plays for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"In both of those drives, we got in third-down situations and had opportunities to make a play, and we don't do it," first-year Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said.

It was the biggest comeback victory for Texas since erasing a 17-0 first-half deficit against Texas A&M in 1965 en route to a 21-17 win. UT's 553 yards of offense also were its most against OU.

Mitchell, who also had a key 18-yard run on third-and-17 with 1:20 left to help kill the clock, surprised even himself with his durability.

"I never thought I'd carry the ball 30 times being the type of back I am," said Mitchell, who had trouble breaking tackles early in the season but is now doing it regularly. "I try to make every game a breakout game. But if I can get over 100 yards, that's good."

Texas sophomore quarterback Major Applewhite gave Mitchell his offensive MVP vote. But Applewhite, who suffered six turnovers in a protection-less loss against Kansas State last week, was in the running, completing 22 of 47 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns.

An unusually feisty Applewhite got in the face of OU safety Rodney Rideau after connecting with Nunez on an 11-yard touchdown pass and two-point conversion pass to tie the score at 17 before halftime.

Applewhite taunted OU fans in the sellout crowd as he went into the tunnel at halftime and even got into a shouting match with students who drive Oklahoma's Sooner Schooner after the game.

"I saw the headlines last week after our loss to Kansas State. They said "Apple Turnover' and "Major Screwup.' I had something to prove out there today," Applewhite said.

Oklahoma scored on a 44-yard pass from Josh Heupel to a wide open Antwone Savage on the second play of the game, and shot to a 17-0 lead with 4:18 left in the first quarter by using crossing patterns that set picks on UT defenders and left Sooners receivers wide open.

But the Longhorns, who used six defensive backs the entire game, adjusted by blitzing a linebacker and safety nearly every play to get more pressure on Heupel and held OU scoreless until the 8:49 mark of the third quarter.

Texas had 12 tackles for losses, including three by Cedric Woodard, who along with Aaron Humphrey each registered a sack.

A fumble by Mitchell with 2:50 left in the game gave Oklahoma possession at its 39 and a last gasp to get back in the game. But cornerback Ahmad Brooks came up with the Longhorns' fourth turnover of the game by laying out to snare a pass by Heupel at the UT 15.

Heupel was 31-of-48 for 311 yards passing and two touchdowns but suffered three interceptions as OU mustered 315 yards of offense - just 15 on the ground.

Texas still hasn't solved its special teams woes, giving up 158 yards on kickoff returns, and both teams were error-prone. UT was flagged 14 times for 125 yards in penalties compared with OU's 13 flags for 102 yards.

"It would have been crushing for us to lose this game," UT defensive tackle Casey Hampton said. "In the only games we've lost this year, we didn't play well in the fourth quarter. Today, we changed all that."