TEXAS LOSES SECOND IN A ROW; LSU GOES TO 5-0

From the AP via ESPN:

DeMarco Murray runs for two scores as Oklahoma hands Texas second straight loss

Knocked flat on his back, Landry Jones took a swipe at the ball he'd just fumbled and did his best to keep it -- and the Red River Rivalry -- from getting away.

Linebacker Jared Norton came rushing in with a chance to put No. 21 Texas in prime position for a tying touchdown, only to see the ball roll out of bounds. In control from the beginning, No. 8 Oklahoma was just happy to survive with a 28-20 win over its main rival Saturday.

"It was pretty lucky on our part to get that ball out of bounds and not have a big turnover right there," said Jones, who threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns.

In a game in which they benefited from one untimely Texas mistake after another, the Sooners (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) caught another break two plays later when Aaron Williams muffed a punt that would have given the Longhorns (3-2, 1-1) one last chance for a tying drive in the final 62 seconds.

More here.

And again from the AP via ESPN:

LSU stays unbeaten after Tennessee's penalty gives Tigers second chance to score

LSU made the types of mistakes that lose games and drive fans nuts. Then one critical lapse by Tennessee in the frantic final seconds let the 12th-ranked Tigers off the hook.

LSU remained unbeaten with a 16-14 victory Saturday after a Volunteers penalty for too many players on the field rescued the Tigers from a botched play as time ran out. Stevan Ridley then bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out, and fans who only moments earlier had begun to file out of Tiger Stadium in disgust were suddenly jumping for joy in the aisles.

Click here for the rest.

I don't get it. Texas plays like LSU, sloppy with lots of screw-ups, and loses. Okay, that part makes sense. Play badly against a good team and you lose. The part I don't get is that LSU, being LSU, plays the same way, game after game, and continues to win. They're fucking unbeaten nearly halfway through the season. It's like they're drunk driving through the SEC with a blood alcohol content well above the legal limit, but they somehow manage to keep the yellow lines on the left and the white lines on the right.

The final seconds against the Volunteers were a horrific scene. I was flipping back and forth between Texas and LSU and saw the now usual bizarre clusterfuck as the clock was winding down to zero. I saw the snap go over Jefferson's head while time ran out and changed the channel. Back to Texas which wasn't doing much better, but at least it wasn't quite as embarrassing. A few minutes later, I flipped back to LSU and saw Les Miles' inexplicably smiling face chatting it up in a post-game interview. WTF?!? They did it again. Like a little pyromaniac drenched in gasoline playing with matches who never quite seems to burst into the flaming agony he deserves.

Meanwhile, West of the Sabine, Texas just can't catch a break no matter how much they seem to deserve it.

This is, like I keep saying, a rebuilding year. I saw a bunch of shit against OU on Saturday, but I also saw some stuff I like--I mean, they were in position to tie it up at the last minute, in spite of everything, after all. The Longhorn mistakes, which are nowadays a defining characteristic of Les Miles' LSU Tigers, will eventually go away, and Texas will be all the better for dealing with humiliating defeat. Mac Brown will fix it.

But I'm becoming increasingly curious how long the Tigers can play like this and continue to win. Luck is a poor substitute for discipline.

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