Dallas / Fort Worth Sports

DALLAS (AP) ― Crank up the deep fryers at the State Fair and turn up the volume on "Boomer Sooner!" and "Texas Fight!" The Texas Longhorns can finally start talking about the showdown with No. 1 Oklahoma.

No more of this taking the season "one game at a time" stuff. Texas-OU is THE game and up next with the Big 12 and national title chases in the balance when the teams meet Saturday in Dallas.

"We'll have everybody in America talking about the game," Texas coach Mack Brown said after the Longhorns whipped Colorado 38-14, "and that's what we want."

It will certainly be a change from last season when No. 5 Texas (5-0, 1-0) and Oklahoma (5-0, 1-0) both lost the week before their annual rivalry, deflating the buildup to the game.

This time, the State Fair of Texas will be rocking when the Longhorns and Sooners clash in front of about 92,000 in the refurbished Cotton Bowl. Ticket sales have been down for the State Fair this year, but expect a flood of fans to the midway for this one. Saturday's game marks the fourth time since 2001 both teams are ranked in the top five.

"We've been looking forward to this game," Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller said. "It's hard to go through the weeks focusing on (other) teams when you know you've got OU ... We're looking forward to playing them. We're going to come out energized."

Both teams started gearing up for the clash as they walked off the field after easy wins Saturday. The Sooners smashed Baylor 49-17 and the Longhorns were hearing chants of "Beat OU!" from the hundreds of Texas fans who traveled to Boulder.

Texas needed the first five games to answer a lot of questions, such as how would quarterback Colt McCoy be this season after a shaky 2007 and how good could the defense be with a new coordinator and a secondary with two freshmen starters.

McCoy has been great, passing for 16 touchdowns while completing 79 percent of this throws. He's also Texas' leading rusher with 317 yards and four TDs. He finally had a hiccup Saturday night with two interceptions against Colorado, but one was a dropped pass that bounced right through a receivers' hands.

"I should know the offense, and I should be playing well," said McCoy, a third-year starter as a junior who is 1-1 against the Sooners. "I want to win. I think quarterbacks are defined by wins, and that's our goal as a team."

Defensively, the Longhorns seem to get better each week under first-year coordinator Will Muschamp. After getting only two sacks in the first two games, Texas now has 19. The front four applied relentless pressure against Colorado, knocking down several passes at the line of scrimmage when they couldn't quite get to the quarterback.

A pass rush like that protects a young secondary that starts freshmen Earl Thomas and Blake Gideon at safety.

"We're much better up front, the secondary is growing up," Brown said.

If Texas had been lacking production anywhere, it was in the running game where a tailback-by-committee approach hasn't produced much. That may have finally changed after senior Chris Ogbannaya had 187 total yards rushing and two touchdowns against Colorado. Freshman tailback Cody Johnson, a 5-10, 250-pound wrecking ball, provided the muscle on the goal line with two short touchdowns

"Chris showed some things that we haven't had," Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis said. "He ran with vision. He broke tackles and made explosive plays."

Oklahoma beat Texas 28-21 in a thriller last season, sending McCoy and the Longhorns limping out of the Cotton Bowl down 0-2 in conference play and relegated to afterthoughts in the Big 12 and national title chases.

A win next weekend could make the Longhorns a favorite to win both titles, at least until No. 3 Missouri comes to Austin a week later.

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