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Oklahoma Blasts Texas Tech

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 23, 2008

Updated: 11/23/2008 12:44 am

NORMAN, Okla. - Make way for a Sooners surge.

San Bradford and Oklahoma are on their way up in the national championship race, and Texas Tech sure came down with a mighty fall.

Bradford threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns, and DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown combined to run for five more scores as the fifth-ranked Sooners brought an unceremonious end to No. 2 Texas Tech's run toward perfection in a 65-21 blowout Saturday night.

The question now is this: Did the Sooners (10-1, 6-1 Big 12) do enough to make up for that loss to Texas?

The Longhorns have held a trump card since the annual Red River Rivalry game in October, having beaten Oklahoma 45-35 on a neutral field at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

But the Sooners came up with as resounding a statement as they could by stifling Graham Harrell, who came into Norman as the Heisman Trophy favorite but may have reliquished that title to Bradford.

"It wasn't easy," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "They're a great team. They really are."

The Red Raiders (10-1, 6-1) fell into a three-way tie atop the Big 12 South with Texas and Oklahoma, with only one week left in the regular season. If the three finished tied, the BCS standings would determine which team plays No. 12 Missouri in the Big 12 championship game in Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 6.

So the Bowl Championship Series controversy could come early this season.

It's not over yet, though. There's still the matter of the Bedlam rivalry, and this time it's Oklahoma's turn to go on the road to face No. 11 Oklahoma State. The Longhorns will face their in-state rival and will need to break a two-game losing streak against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day.

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