By Kevin Jefferies
commerce – The Cowboys did not bounce back Sunday after a week full of bad news, as they were rocked by the St. Louis Rams, 34-14. Head Coach Wade Philips summed up the loss.
40 year old backup quarterback Brad Johnson threw three interceptions while stepping in for Tony Romo.
The Cowboys defense had no answer for Rams running back Steven Jackson, who had 160 yards and three touchdowns on the day.
Cowboys linebacker Demarcus Ware.
Owner Jerry Jones said Wade Philips' job is safe, but the team needs to sit down and look at what they're doing. With big expectations early this season, the boys have stumbled to a 4-3 record with poor play and a slew of injuries.
The Tampa Bay Rays will host the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series opener Wednesday night at Tropicana Field. The Rays beat Boston 3-1 in the decisive seventh
game of the American League Championship Series as Matt Garza held the Red Sox to one run on two hits in seven-plus innings for the win.
Closer to home, the A&M-Commerce Lions shined at the Harvey martin Classic in the Cotton Bowl Saturday, taking down East Central Oklahoma 27-14. Lions running back Nabil El-Amin put up a career rushing day on the big stage with 194 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Lions maintain a perfect 7-0 all-time Cotton Bowl record and improve to 4-4 on the season with just one loss in Lone Star Conference North play. The defense stepped up, too, with 15 tackles for a loss and forced five turnovers.
The Lions are off this week and return to Memorial Stadium November 1st for Homcoming.
Texas celebrated its first home game as a number-one team since 1977 in a big way. The Longhorns scored touchdowns on their first five possessions and routed 11th-ranked Missouri 56-31 in a game that might have gone a long way to
clinching the Heisman Trophy for quarterback Colt McCoy.
The game was supposed to be a battle between two national title contenders and Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterbacks in McCoy and Missouri's Chase Daniel.
It wasn't close. Not even for a little while as Texas improved to 7-and-0. Missouri is 5-and-2.
When it was over, McCoy enhanced his Heisman Trophy credentials with an outstanding night, completing 29-of-32 passes for 337 yards and four TD passes.
In other Big 12 action
- Sam Bradford passed for an Oklahoma record 468 yards and had three touchdown passes to help the number-four Sooners bounce back from their first loss by beating number-16 Kansas 45-31.
- Graham Harrell threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more in seventh-ranked Texas Tech's 43-25 victory over Texas A&M. At 7-and-0, the Red Raiders are off to their best start in 32 years. Harrell completed 44 of 56 passes for 450 yards.
- Oklahoma State played its first game as a top-10 team since 1985 and beat up on Baylor 34-6. The eighth-ranked Cowboys made quick work of the Bears, scoring on four straight first-half possessions while improving to 7-and-0 on the season. Two dominating defensive performances make this week's match between Texas and Oklahoma State much more interesting.
- Colorado over Kansas State, 14-13
- And Nebraska Downs Iowa State, 35-7
And the Commerce Tigers were unable to find victory in a Rivalry game against the Bonham Purple Warriors Friday, falling to 0-7 with a 21-14 loss. Head coach bryan Price said there's still a slim playoff hope, however, if the Tigers can beat Van Alstyne by 14 or more points this week.
In other area scores
- Greenville falls to Newman Smith, 34-14
- Lone Oak dominates Cooper, 47-0
- Bole spoils Homecoming for Celeste with a 41-0 win
- Caddo Mills downs Como-Pickton 65-0
- Rockwall-Heath over Royse City, 42-28
- Cumby downs Gateway, 51-26Farmersville over Rains, 48-26
- and Paris takes home the Crosstown Showdown trophy, defeating North Lamar 12-7.