Tuesday, October 23, 2001

UT still in BCS contention
By Jim Verteno
Associated Press

AUSTIN — If the loss to Oklahoma two weeks ago was supposed to send Texas into a tailspin, it didn’t work.

After two straight victories, including Saturday’s impressive 41-7 domination of No. 25 Colorado, the No. 7-ranked Longhorns find themselves right back in the mix of the Bowl Championship Series.

Erich Schlegel/Dallas Morning News University of Texas head coach Mack Brown celebrates with his team after defeating Colorado 41-7 Saturday in Austin.

“We proved that we’re still a Top 10 team,” Texas wide receiver B.J. Johnson said.

“People questioned us after we lost to Oklahoma. But we’ve bounced back. We wanted to make this a statement game and show the nation that Texas is still one of the best teams around,” he said.

The Big 12 championship is still an unlikely long shot for Texas (6-1, 3-1), which would need No. 2 Oklahoma to lose twice before the Longhorns could even think about the league title game.

But the signs are there that Texas is good enough to stay in the Top 10 at least until a Thanksgiving weekend game at rival Texas A&M.

Since scoring just a single field goal in the defensive battle with the Sooners, Texas has reeled off 86 points in its last two games.

Chris Simms has eight touchdown passes in that span, including three against Colorado. Freshman tailback Cedric Benson has recharged the Longhorns’ ground game with 231 yards in two starts and scored twice on Saturday.