By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big 12 Sports.com Correspondent

STILLWATER, Okla. -  Before most of us turned back our clocks to keep up with Daylight Savings Time, Texas turned back the clock 364 days.

A day short of a year after a the unforgettable forgettable loss at Texas Tech that kept the Longhorns out of the national championship game, Texas made sure to treat themselves to some Halloween redemption.

Third-ranked Texas (8-0, 5-0) dressed up like a national championship contender and turned Oklahoma State into pumpkins with a 41-14 Big 12 Conference victory Saturday night. The Longhorns returned two interceptions for touchdowns and regained momentum with a clutch two-minute touchdown drive at the end of the first half.

"We feel much better than we did a year ago," said Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who passed for 171 yards and led the Longhorns with 34 rushing yards. "It was a bad feeling (after losing to Texas Tech) and it was up to the seniors to make sure it didn't happen again."

The Longhorns have four regular-season games remaining - Central Florida, at Baylor, Kansas and at Texas A&M. Texas controls their destiny in the Big 12 South Division with tiebreaker edges over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State - the two South teams with only one loss.

"We have a chance to be really good here at the end," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "We have a four-game season left. We're continuing to play for Big 12 South championship and we've got a lot at stake in the national scene."

A year ago, Texas was victimized by the tiebreaker because it lost at Texas Tech, 39-33, last Nov. 1. In the last two plays by the Red Raiders, the Longhorns' Blake Gideon let an interception slip through his fingers while Curtis Brown and Earl Thomas let Michael Crabtree slip away for the game-winning touchdown.

All three UT defensive backs had interceptions with Brown returning his pick 77 yards for a touchdown and Thomas taking his 31 yards to the house. Maybe those highlights will be in the same heavy rotation and replace the Crabtree play.

"We were a young secondary last year and we've matured as a group," said Brown, a junior cornerback. "This game was like the Tech game last year. If we had gotten past that last year we could have won the championship. We just tried to grind, we played like it was a championship game."

The two teams combined for 552 yards in total offense - a number that one might have expected to come from either team. Defense was the reason UT edited any drama out of the script. The Longhorns created five turnovers. In addition to the two pick six plays, a fumble and Gideon's interception led to 14 points.

The momentum play of the game riled up the Oklahoma State fans in the Boone Pickens Stadium record crowd of 58,516.

After the Cowboys scored to make it 17-7 with 2:16 remaining in first half, Texas wasn't content to run out the clock. McCoy hit James Kirkendoll for a four-yard gain. Kirkendoll was gang tackled and Oklahoma State linebacker Andre Sexton stripped the ball away for an apparent turnover.

The officials, though, ruled that Kirkendoll's forward progress had been stopped. By rule, the play was not eligible for an instant replay review.

Instead of possession at the Texas 20, Oklahoma State couldn't get the Longhorns off the field. Executing the two-minute drill to perfection, McCoy completed four-of-six passes for 47 yards and ran three times for 23 yards. The capper was an 11-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Williams at the back of the end zone. He made a spectacular grab, reaching high and keeping his feet inbounds.

"It's not something you can really question and that was a big momentum swing," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "When you turn the ball over and make that many mistakes against a team with that much ability, it's very difficult to win."

Brown is now 12-0 against Oklahoma State but past victories in Stillwater have typically required huge rallies. Texas went to the locker room with a 24-7 lead.

"We didn't know what to do at halftime with a lead here, we kind of laughed about it," Brown said.

Texas took the second-half kickoff and got in position for a 40-yard Hunter Lawrence field goal and a 20-point lead. On Oklahoma State's ensuing possession, Thomas stepped in front of a Robinson pass and returned the interception for a 34-7 lead.

At that point, all the game needed was Don Meredith singing the turn-out-the-lights song.

Texas players and coaches are wearing dog tags with the words "Texas Swagger." Linebacker/defensive end Sergio Kindle came up with the phrase.

"The message is we want to play with a swagger and confidence," Brown said. "We don't want to walk in to another team's stadium and think we might get beat. It started against Missouri and it grew this week.

"We can get so much better than this team has played. This team realizes there are areas where we can improve."

Non-conventional scoring
Texas had two interception returns for touchdowns against Oklahoma State Saturday night. For the season, the Longhorns have nine non-offensive touchdowns.

Player	Type of TD	Opponent
D.J. Monroe	89-yard kickoff	Louisina-Monroe
Jordan Shipley	46-yard punt return	Texas Tech
D.J. Monroe	91-yard kickoff return	UTEP
Ben Wells	3-yard blocked punt	Colorado
Earl Thomas	92-yard interception return	Colorado
Jordan Shipley	74-yard punt return	Colorado
Malcolm Williams	Blocked punt	Missouri
Curtis Brown	77-yard interception return	Oklahoma State
Earl Thomas	31-yard interception return	Oklahoma State