Another one bites the dust
OU is out.
Graham Harrell and Texas Tech knocked No. 3 Oklahoma out of the national title chase Saturday night with a 34-27 victory in Lubbock, Texas.
Harrell threw for 420 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Red Raiders (8-4, 4-4 Big 12), and for the 11th time this season a top-five team lost to an unranked team.
Tech fans stormed the field after the win, the second straight in Lubbock for coach Mike Leach over Sooners coach Bob Stoops, his former boss at OU.
"It's unbelievable," said Harrell, who completed 47 of his career-high 72 passes. "We came out and executed. Coach Leach told us if we executed we could move the ball. That's exactly what we did."
With Oregon losing on Thursday, the Sooners, who were fourth in the latest BCS standings, appeared to be in good shape to play for a national title if they could have won out.
Who benefits from the Sooners' slip, combined with the Ducks' fall? Ohio State can start thinking national title again as it watches other contenders play out the rest of the season. The Buckeyes are in the clubhouse at 11-1 after beating Michigan 14-3 early Saturday. West Virginia also has fewer teams to jump over, too.
But the Sooners (9-2, 5-2 Big 12) failed to get on track after quarterback Sam Bradford left the game in the first quarter with an apparent concussion. He did not return.
Oklahoma offense came up feeble on all fronts, falling short of its season averages in rushing and scoring.
The loss put OU in a tie with No. 12 Texas for the Big 12 South title, but the Sooners have the head-to-head edge, having beaten the Longhorns in October, and can clinch a spot in the conference championship game with a victory next week against Oklahoma State.
LSU 41, Mississippi 24: Trindon Holliday returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and top-ranked LSU forced 2 turnovers during goal-line stands to slip past host Mississippi.
The Tigers (10-1, 6-1 SEC) didn't play well on offense, but Craig Steltz and the nations' top-ranked defense helped set a school record with three straight seasons of 10 wins or more.
It was LSU's fourth straight win and the sixth straight against Ole Miss (3-8, 0-7), which is in danger of a winless conference season for the first time since 1982.
Kansas 45, Iowa St. 7: Todd Reesing passed for 253 yards and 4 touchdowns, and No. 4 Kansas remained undefeated, beating visiting Iowa State to set up a showdown with sixth-ranked Missouri for the Big 12 North title.
The Tigers and Jayhawks (11-0, 7-0 Big 12) will meet in Kansas City, Mo., on Saturday in a game that could launch the winner into the national championship game.
Missouri 49, Kansas St. 32: Jeremy Maclin scored 3 touchdowns for No. 6 Missouri (10-1, 6-1 Big 12), and had 252 total yards to set the NCAA single-season freshman record for all-purpose yards. He returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and caught 2 scoring passes, giving him 2,201 all-purpose yards for the season -- 175 more than Terrell Willis of Rutgers had in 1993. Maclin finished with 9 catches for 143 yards.
Kansas State fell to 5-6, 3-5.
Georgia 24, Kentucky 13: In Athens, Gal, Knowshon Moreno ran for 124 yards, Matthew Stafford added a 10-yard TD run, and No. 8 Georgia (9-2, 6-2) overcame 4 turnovers to keep alive its chances of playing for an SEC championship. No. 22 Kentucky (7-4, 3-4) was trying to win out and claim at least a share of the division crown.
Virginia Tech 44, Miami 14: Branden Ore ran for 2 touchdowns and No. 10 Virginia Tech (9-2, 6-1 ACC) dominated visiting Miami (5-6, 2-5) in its final tuneup for a huge game against rival Virginia next weekend.