Longhorns no match for No. 3 Sooners

DALLAS -- Landry Jones threw three touchdown passes, Dominique Whaley ran 64 yards for a touchdown and three defensive players found their way into the end zone, too, powering No. 3 Oklahoma to a 55-17 victory over No. 11 Texas yesterday -- the kind of whipping that could help the Sooners return to the top of the poll.

OU was No. 1 from the preseason until two weeks ago. The Sooners slipped to second after struggling at home against Missouri, then to third after routing lowly Ball State.

The Sooners (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) scored the first four times they had the ball and cruised to leads of 24 at halftime and 45 midway through the fourth quarter. Texas' only touchdown on offense came in the final minutes, long after Oklahoma was on its way to the most lopsided win over its Red River rival since 2003, when it won by a series-record 52 points.

"It was an excellent day," OU coach Bob Stoops said. "To come down here in this situation and win like that is really pretty special."

Jones was 31-for-50 for 367 yards and no turnovers. He improved to 2-0 against the Longhorns, and gave Oklahoma its third win over Texas in five years.

Oklahoma's most impressive feat was the three defensive touchdowns: an interception returned 55 yards from Demontre Hurst, a sack-fumble returned 19 yards by David King and a vicious strip of a receiver taken 56 yards by Jamell Fleming. It was the first time in the school's history that its defense has scored three times in one game, and only the second time a pair of fumbles were returned for TDs. Oklahoma matched another school record with eight sacks.

"To me there is nothing more fun than a defensive touchdown when you're on that side of it," Stoops said.