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STILLWATER, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- If there was any question as to who was the No.1 quarterback at Texas, Chris Simms may have settled the issue on Saturday. The junior quarterback rebounded from a subpar outing by tying a school record with five touchdown passes, including three in a 31-point second quarter, as No. 11 Texas routed Oklahoma State, 38-10, in a Big 12 Conference contest. James Brown was the only other Texas quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a game, doing it against Baylor in 1994. "Of course it feels great, but I just have to take it in stride through the good and bad," Simms said. "I'm very happy with my performance and the way our offense performed, but I'm not going to get too excited and be content." Simms faced constant pressure in last week's 14-3 loss to Oklahoma, completing just 24-of-42 passes for 198 yards and four interceptions. His poor play last week created some rumblings that he could be replaced by Major Applewhite as the Longhorns' starter. The Longhorns (5-1, 2-1 Big 12 South) picked up where they left off against the Sooners, falling behind, 10-0, in the first quarter. Simms completed just 2-of-4 passes in the period for two yards. "We feel like we are a top 10 team," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "We were all so disappointed last week that we did not score more points." But Texas' offense finally came alive with 31 unanswered points in the second period and Simms was responsible for 28 of them, including a one-yard TD run that got the Longhorns on the board 1:51 into the second period. "We did have a problem moving the ball the first two series," Simms said. "There was a little confusion with the crowd being so loud and we just couldn't get in sync." Simms capped the burst by throwing a pair of touchdown passes to Roy Williams' 10 seconds apart in the final minute of the quarter. After Simms tossed a five-yard TD pass to Williams with 25 seconds left in the half, Oklahoma State (2-4, 0-3) fumbled on the ensuing kickoff. Safety Phillip Geiggar recovered for the Longhorns at the 16 and Simms needed only one play to again find Williams, who made a leaping catch in the left corner of the end zone for a 31-10 halftime. Oklahoma State played into Texas' hands with five turnovers. "You cannot spot even a poor team five more opportunities at the ball than you have," Oklahoma State coach Les Miles said. "It's been a recurring theme since day one. Our team has to find a way to control the football when it's in our possession. It's just that simple." In the second half, Simms, who completed 18-of-30 passes for 235 yards, connected with Sloan Thomas for TD strikes of 27 and 23 yards. Oklahoma State got its final points on Chris Massey's 97-yard kickoff return following Thomas' second touchdown. Simms gave the Longhorns the lead for good, 17-10, by throwing a 27-yard TD pass to Brock Edwards with 6:13 remaining in the first half. Oklahoma State got off to a quick start, converting three third downs on its first possession, which culminated in Aso Pogi's nine-yard TD pass to Rashaun Woods 4:27 into the contest. Pogi completed 11-of-22 for just 97 yards with a pair of interceptions. "We lost our momentum," Pogi said. "We just cannot turn the ball over. I think that was the difference in the game. We turn the ball over and they didn't." Cedric Benson fumbled on Texas' next possession and Luke Williams kicked a 48-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 10-0 lead with 8:14 left in the first. Benson rebounded from his early fumble to rush for 131 yards on 31 carries. "Our offense got tough and Benson had some key runs," Brown said. "That was the difference in jump-starting us to get going in the second quarter." The Longhorns have won 14 of 16 all-time meetings with Oklahoma State.
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