By Mario Carrillo
For Reporting Texas
What a birthday for Longhorn Joe Bergeron. The freshman running back, who got the start because starter Malcolm Brown was out with a toe injury, lit up Texas Tech for 191 yards on 29 carries and three touchdowns in a 52-20 win. The Longhorns, 6-2, are now bowl eligible after missing the post-season last year. Texas, which hasn’t lost to Tech in Austin since 1997, also moved to No. 16 in the latest BCS standings. Texas next travels to Missouri (4-5), which lost to Baylor but officially announced that it would join the SEC.
In other Big 12 action, Oklahoma scored 28 unanswered points in the third quarter to put away Texas A&M, 41-25. The loss dropped the Aggies to 5-4 and 3-3 in the Big 12 in what will be their final season in the conference. The loss has left people asking whether coach Mike Sherman is the right man to lead the Aggies as they get ready to switch to the tough SEC. And on a related note, while it’s clear that Texas and Texas A&M may not meet on the gridiron for a while, Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle writes that Texas A&M’s move the SEC may have burned bridges with other Longhorns sports as well.
The Dallas Cowboys climbed back to .500 yet again after an effective if not entirely convincing 23-13 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. The Cowboys, 4-4, used another effective performance from rookie running back DeMarco Murray, who had 22 carries for 139 yards, and some are now calling for him to be the lead back even when starter Felix Jones comes back from injury.
In Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, Sam Farmer had a great Q&A with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on how he made the Dallas franchise the richest in the NFL.
The Houston Texans continued their hot streak by getting their third consecutive double-digit win, beating the Cleveland Browns, 30-12. The win moved the Texans to 6-3, the first time in franchise history that they find themselves three games above .500. The Titans’ loss to the Bengals means that the Texans now have a two-and-half-game lead in the AFC South.
Staying in Houston and switching to fútbol, the Houston Dynamo have reached the MLS Cup final after defeating Sporting KC, 2-0, in the Eastern Conference finals. Houston is in the title match for the first time since 2007, when it won its second consecutive MLS Cup.