Sooners Continue Title Hunt In Matchup With Aggies

Nov 6, 2001

For the first time in more than a year, Oklahoma has work to do to get to the top of the national title hunt.

The No. 3 Sooners look to continue their push toward that goal Saturday when they face Texas A&M.

Oklahoma (8-1, 4-1 Big 12) fell to third in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings released Monday. That puts the Sooners' chances of defending their national title in jeopardy for the first time.

The Sooners aren't used to being in position to miss the national title game. They had little to worry about last season after beating Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska in October to move to the top of the polls, and had been No. 1 or 2 in the BCS standings this season.

There is still time for Oklahoma to make up its deficit. If the Sooners win the Big 12 South, they would likely get a rematch in the conference championship game with Nebraska, which is atop the BCS standings.

The Sooners tuned up for their stretch run last Saturday with a 58-0 rout of Tulsa. Nate Hybl threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns in his return to the starting lineup as Oklahoma had 541 yards of offense.

"Tulsa's a team that's going through some difficulties. We understand that," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "But still it's good to build on this and take us through going into the A&M game here next week."

The Sooners should face a much tougher test against the Aggies (7-2, 4-2), who will be looking to rebound from a 12-0 loss to Texas Tech last week that knocked them from the AP poll.

Texas A&M nearly knocked off Oklahoma last year, falling 35-31. The Sooners have won the last two meetings and lead the series 10-9.

The Aggies will try to put pressure on Hybl, who was the starter early in the season before losing his job after playing poorly following a couple of hard hits. Texas A&M had six sacks last week, one off its season high set in a victory over Notre Dame.

The key could be whether Texas A&M can run the ball against Oklahoma and open things up for quarterback Mark Farris. The Aggies rushed for 166 yards last Saturday after getting a season-high 190 the week before against Iowa State.

It won't be easy against Oklahoma. The Sooners allow only 104 rushing yards per game and limited Tulsa to just 1.4 yards per carry. That was the third time this season they held an opponent to fewer than 2.0 yards per rush.

Oklahoma will be trying to extend its 18-game home winning streak, second-longest in the country.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Continue Title Hunt In Matchup With Aggies

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