Longhorns begin post-McCoy era with win over Rice
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09/04/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sophomore running back Tre' Newton rushed for a career-high three touchdowns, as the fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns bounced back from a slow start to defeat the Rice Owls, 34-17, in the season opener for both schools.
Newton rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries for the Longhorns (1-0), fresh off yet another Big 12 Conference title and an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game, which it lost to Alabama (37-21).
Sophomore Garrett Gilbert started the post-Colt McCoy era, connecting on 14- of-23 passes for 172 yards. Malcolm Williams caught four passes for 77 yards.
Taylor McHargue completed 6-of-11 passes for 90 yards, one touchdown, and an interception for the Owls (0-1), who went just 2-10 last year. Randy Kitchens caught a TD pass and Charles Ross ran for a score.
Rice put together an impressive 14-play drive to begin the game. The Owls got down to the 13 of Texas, but a sack on third down forced the field goal unit to come on. Chris Boswell made a 42-yard field goal to make it 3-0.
The Longhorns responded with a long drive of their own, but it resulted in zero points. Faced with a 3rd-and-goal from the one, Cody Johnson was stuffed at the line for no gain. Johnson lost four yards on fourth down for a turnover on downs.
McHargue was picked off by Keenan Robinson just two plays into Rice's ensuing possession. On the first play of the second quarter, Justin Tucker made a 51- yard field goal to tie the contest.
The Owls marched down the field before Boswell failed to make a 48-yarder. That proved to be a turning point in the game, as Texas put together a nine- play, 69-yard drive. Newton capped it with a one-yard TD run for a 10-3 Longhorns lead.
McHargue fumbled while being sacked on Rice's ensuing drive. Robinson picked up the loose ball and ran 11 yards into the end zone. Newton added a two-yard rushing touchdown on Texas' next drive to make it a 24-3 game.
The Owls were able to record a touchdown right before the half when Kitchens hauled in a deflected pass for a 47-yard score. The play was reviewed and upheld, making it 24-10 at the break.
Tucker missed a pair of field goals in the third frame, but Newton scored on a one-yard run to make it 31-10 heading to the fourth.
A 26-yard Tucker field goal midway through the fourth quarter extended Texas' margin to 34-10. Ross added a TD late for Rice to account for the final score.
Game Notes
Texas owns a 70-21-1 record against Rice in the all-time series, which dates back to 1914. The Longhorns have won the last 11 meetings, and 39 of the last 40 encounters between the two overall...Head coach Mack Brown is 12-1 in openers at Texas, including 11 in a row...The Longhorns had 369 yards of total offense, compared to 219 yards for the Owls...Johnson rushed for 59 yards on 15 carries.
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
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The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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