Oklahoma Pushes Record to 12-0 with Victory at Texas Tech

November 22, 2003

Jason White threw for 394 yards and four touchdowns and Kejuan Jones scored five TDs, keeping No. 1 Oklahoma on track for a berth in the national championship game with a 56-25 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday.

The Sooners (12-0, 8-0 Big 12) finished off their 10th unbeaten regular season in 65 years and need only to win the Big 12 title game on Dec. 6 in Kansas City to assure a Sugar Bowl bid.

Oklahoma, which last went unbeaten during its national championship season in 2000, has won 14 straight games -- the longest current streak in Division I-A.

This was billed as a showdown between the nation's top-ranked offense (Texas Tech) against the stingiest defense (Oklahoma).

Whether it was the swirling West Texas wind or Oklahoma's relentless pass rush, Tech (7-5, 4-4) didn't have much of a chance of keeping pace with the high-scoring Sooners, who surpassed the 50-point mark for a school-record seventh time this season.

Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, who's rumored to be front-runner for the head coaching job at Arizona, put the clamps on Tech's pass-happy offense for the fourth-straight year.

Red Raiders quarterback B.J. Symons broke Ty Detmer's 13-year-old NCAA Division I-A single-season record for passing yards in the second quarter, but finished with a season-low 230 yards.

Symons, only a one-year starter at Tech, also threw five interceptions -- the second straight home game he's thrown that many.

He's not the only Red Raiders quarterback to have his troubles against Oklahoma.

Texas Tech has been held to an average of 16 points and 293 yards in four straight losses against the Sooners, well below its averages of 36 points and 465 yards over that four-year span.

Midway through the second quarter, Symons set the Division I mark on a 15-yard completion to Nehemiah Glover that set up his 5-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker three plays later.

The Red Raiders trailed 14-10, the crowd of 53,135 was buzzing over the potential for a huge upset and Symons had finally found his groove.

From then on, little else went right for Symons or Tech.

Oklahoma scored three touchdowns -- two following Symons interceptions -- in less than 2{ minutes to turn the game into yet another rout for the Sooners.

White threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jones to give the Sooners a 21-10 lead with 2:45 left in the half.

Then Symons was intercepted on consecutive plays deep in his own territory, with each turnover followed by Kejuan Jones touchdown runs to give Oklahoma a 35-10 halftime lead.

On Tech's first possession of the third quarter, the Red Raiders marched down the field on a 13-play drive before facing fourth-and-9 from the 13.

Symons was then picked off in the end zone by Derrick Strait, who zig-zagged his way through would-be tacklers for a 97-yard return down to the Tech 3.

A few plays later, Jones rushed for his third touchdown of the day.

Tech, however, got off to a surprisingly fast start against Oklahoma.

The Sooners were forced to punt on its opening possession, and the ball got caught up in the wind gusts swooping through Jones SBC Stadium, going out of bounds at the Oklahoma 45.

Tech went up 3-0 on Keith Toogood's 31-yard field goal about six minutes into the game, only the second time the Sooners have trailed this season.

But Oklahoma responded with an 80-yard, seven-play drive capped by White's 28-yard touchdown pass to Travis Wilson.

On the next possession, the Sooners extended their lead to 14-3 on Clayton's 14-yard over-the-shoulder catch from White.

This season, Oklahoma beat its five Big 12 South foes -- Texas, Texas A&M, Tech, Baylor and Oklahoma State -- by a combined score of 291-50.

Oklahoma Pushes Record to 12-0 with Victory at Texas Tech

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Oklahoma Pushes Record to 12-0 with Victory at Texas Tech

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