By ROBERT CESSNA
The Texas A&M football team has had great offensive balance in its victories, each time rushing for more than 200 yards while passing for at least another 200 yards.
The Aggies will be hard-pressed to have that kind of balance against the Oklahoma Sooners, who are one of the nation's best at stopping the run.
The most rushing yards OU has allowed in a game this season is 169 by Kansas State, and much of that came late after OU built a 28-6 lead. The Sooners are allowing only 86.8 yards rushing per game, which is fifth best in the country.
"They probably have one of the best defensive fronts in college football," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. "They are very active, very athletic. They stay on their feet and can apply pressure. They are excellent against both the run and the pass."
Oklahoma's defense is extra stingy at home. Kansas State is the only visitor this year to score more than a touchdown.
A&M (5-4, 2-3 Big 12) -- which has scored at least 14 points in every game -- will try to break a five-game losing streak in Norman in the 6:10 p.m. Saturday game that will be televised nationally by FSN (Ch. 25). It won't be easy. Oklahoma has won a nation-leading 28 straight home games and is a 20-point favorite.
The Sooners' defensive line is led by 6-foot-4, 297-pound Gerald McCoy who is up for four national postseason awards including the Lombardi. He has 12 tackles for losses and nine quarterback pressures.
As a team, OU has 77 tackles for losses, including 29 sacks. The Sooners also have 34 quarterback pressures, 32 pass breakups and 13 interceptions.
"It will be our biggest challenge of the year," A&M senior offensive Michael Shumard said. "But we knew that going into it. We knew that all summer when we were working. When [strength coach Dave Kennedy] was running us, they didn't say, 'We're training to beat New Mexico.' They said, 'We're training to beat Oklahoma and Texas.' That was how our offensive line took it, that we've got to keep training to be able to match up against those teams that are going to be in the league for 30 years."
Oklahoma's defensive line will be missing senior end Auston English who had surgery this week to repair the tendon in his ankle.
Sophomore Frank Alexander will be making his first career start in English's place. But OU's other 10 defensive starters have a combined 221 career starts.
The Sooners are coming off a 10-3 loss at Nebraska. The defense did its part by allowing the Cornhuskers only 180 yards while forcing 11 punts.
"They are really a smart group, being where they need to be, recognizing formations and what people are doing and being able to get on the same page and make adjustments to it," OU head coach Bob Stoops said. "There's obviously excellent ability to tackle, quickness in getting to where you need to go."
The Aggies are averaging 184.6 yards rushing per game, which is 31st in the country. But A&M averaged only 113.7 yards in its four losses.
A&M rushed for 92 yards in the first half last week to take a 21-10 halftime lead, but could add only 40 yards in the second half as Colorado rallied for a 35-34 victory.
"Texas A&M had a couple gashers in there, but we were able to come back and get some things done," CU head coach Dan Hawkins said.
Most opponents have turned to the pass to try and beat the Sooners.
Brigham Young threw for 319 yards on 26-of-38 passing for a 14-13 victory. Miami threw for 202 on 19-of-28 in a 21-20 victory.
A&M's Jerrod Johnson statistically is one of the nation's best quarterbacks. He is eighth in passing with 289.7 yards per game and is fourth in total offense (320.2). He has thrown for 21 touchdowns and four interceptions.
"He has been really productive and playing great for them," Stoops said.
Johnson was 20 of 36 passing last week for 242 yards with a touchdown and one interception. He rushed for 9 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
"I thought his leadership was exceptional," Sherman said. "His poise and demeanor was outstanding. His understanding of what we're trying to get done is off the charts. Did he throw his best balls? He had a couple of chances for some plays that we overthrew guys or missed guys on. He didn't throw the ball extremely well but well enough for us to win the football game. He just keeps better in my mind. Did he throw the ball as well as he has in other games? Probably not. But that's a quarterback. He's not going to come every single day he plays with the same exact game throwing the football. But he was dang close. We missed a couple that we wished we had."
Sophomore wide receiver Jeff Fuller, who originally pledged to Oklahoma, wasn't much of a factor last week with only three catches for 37 yards. Ryan Tannehill caught nine passes for 100 yards for his best game of the season, getting more snaps because Howard Morrow missed the game with an ankle injury.
A&M twice had a 10-point lead against CU, the last early in the fourth quarter.
"I just think we made some crucial mistakes at some crucial times," Johnson said. "I don't think we made that many mistakes, just when we made them it was not very fortunate for us."
Sherman didn't think running or passing was the problem the offense didn't put the Colorado game away. It was third-down conversions. The Aggies were 0 of 5 in the second half.
"When we didn't convert in third and fourth quarters the way we had been in the first half, that was a problem," Sherman said. "And conversely, I think defensively we were 3 for 9 holding them pretty good in the first half, but in the second half we were 5 for 7. So it was a tale of two halves in relationship to third down."
That will be another big battle this week. A&M is third in the country in converting third downs, while OU's defense ranks 19th.
TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL
* Saturday's game: Texas A&M (5-4, 2-3 in Big12) at Oklahoma (5-4, 3-2), 6:10 p.m.
* TV/radio: FSN, Ch. 25/WTAW, 1620 AM and Sirius Ch. 154
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