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No. 4 Texas Shaky In Edging Arkansas State

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The Associated Press

Published: September 2, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas - Colt McCoy threw two first-quarter touchdown passes and No. 4 Texas stumbled through a sloppy 21-13 season-opening win against Arkansas State on Saturday night, narrowly avoiding yet another huge upset on the day.

Most considered the Longhorns overwhelming favorites but they didn't have this one wrapped up until Brandon Foster recovered an onside kick with less than a minute to play, and that came after the Indians were forced to rekick because of a penalty that negated an onsider they recovered.

Texas hopes to contend for the Big 12 and national titles, but will first have to shore up a defense that allowed Arkansas State to grind out long drives and break off big plays. The Longhorns' short-yardage running game that all but disappeared last season is still missing.

About the only thing that looked solid for Texas was the normally reliable pass-catch combination of McCoy to Limas Sweed. But even they cooled off after a 35-yard TD pass on Texas' first drive.

OKLAHOMA 79, NORTH TEXAS 10: Freshman DeMarco Murray became the first Oklahoma player to score five touchdowns in his debut, and redshirt freshman Sam Bradford threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns in his first start as the No. 8 Sooners beat North Texas.

Bradford needed only 32 seconds to notch his first career touchdown pass, a 15-yarder to tight end Jermaine Gresham as he slinged the ball along the line of scrimmage for three straight plays and allowed his receivers to run for big gains.

Murray added four touchdown runs by the end of the first half, and Coach Bob Stoops called time out with under 2 minutes remaining to preserve time for one last score. Bradford's 24-yard lob to Malcolm Kelly made it 49-0 as the Sooners received a standing ovation for hanging Barry Switzer's proverbial 'half a hundred' on the Mean Green before halftime.

NEBRASKA 52, NEVADA 10: Marlon Lucky upstaged the debut of quarterback Sam Keller by running for a career-high 233 yards and three touchdowns and catching a pass for another score as No. 20 Nebraska routed visiting Nevada.

The Cornhuskers found immediate success running at the outmanned Wolf Pack. They rushed for 413 of their 625 total yards, held a 35-9 advantage in first downs and won their nation-leading 22nd straight season opener.

Nebraska led 21-10 at the half and broke open the game with three touchdowns and a field goal in the third quarter.

Lucky, whose previous high was 156 yards against Troy last year, turned in the biggest rushing performance for Nebraska since Jammal Lord ran for 234 against Texas in 2002. Lucky didn't play after the third quarter.

COLORADO 31, COLORADO STATE 28: Kevin Eberhart's 35-yard field goal in overtime gave Colorado the win.

Eberhart, a senior finally getting his chance following the departure of two-time All-American Mason Crosby to the NFL, sent the game into OT with a 22-yarder with 13 seconds left.

The Rams won the coin flip, but Terrence Wheatley intercepted Caleb Hanie's pass in the end zone and Eberhart calmly hit his game-winning kick.

TEXAS A&M 38, MONTANA STATE 7: Stephen McGee had 112 yards passing and added 121 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead No. 25 Texas A&M past visiting Montana State.

The Bobcats scored first but the Aggies scored 38 straight points to improve to 5-0 in home openers under Coach Dennis Franchione.

The Bobcats, of the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA, outgained the Aggies and controlled the clock, but couldn't finish drives, missing three field goals and losing a fumble deep in Aggies territory.

KANSAS 52, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 7: Todd Reesing threw four touchdown passes in his debut as Kansas quarterback and six different Jayhawks scored touchdowns in a rout of defending Mid-American champion Central Michigan.

Reesing, a sophomore who beat out incumbent Kerry Meier after appearing in only three games last year, was 20 of 29 for 261 yards and no interceptions as the Jayhawks rolled up 538 total yards.

Brandon McAnderson, a senior who'd never carried for more than 41 yards in a game, had 110 yards on 16 carries and Jake Sharp rushed for 106 yards, including a 3-yard TD.

TCU 27, BAYLOR 0: Andy Dalton threw for 205 yards and a touchdown in his first college start, and Justin Watts and Ryan Christian ran for scores as No. 22 TCU won its ninth straight game.

Chris Manfredini kicked two field goals after missing wide right on a 29-yard attempt the opening drive.

The Frogs had three of their four interceptions and held Baylor to only 78 yards after halftime. Baylor had 204 yards in the first half.

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