Texas Football Named AutoNation National Team of the Week

DALLAS (FWAA)  – Following their 24-17 win over No. 10/9 Oklahoma on Saturday, the Texas Longhorns have been named the AutoNation National Team of the Week. The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) selects the weekly honor.

The Longhorns pounded out 313 rushing yards to defeat their rival Sooners in the AT&T Red River Showdown at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. A season-high six sacks also contributed to the win for the Longhorns.

Texas (2-4, 1-2 Big 12) never trailed during the contest and had two players rush for more than 100 yards in running back D'Onta Foreman (117 yards, including a career-long 81-yarder) and quarterback Jerrod Heard (115 yards). It was the first time Texas had rushed for more than 300 yards since the 2013 season opener.

The Texas defense was stout at the line, holding Oklahoma to just 15 total yards of total offense on 12 plays in the first quarter. The Longhorns tallied four sacks and held Oklahoma to 85 total yards in the first half. The Sooners averaged only 1.8 yards per carry in the game, after coming in averaging 4.4 yards per carry on the season.

"I think what (our fans) were waiting on was just a breakout win because we hadn't had one in so long, and to go get this one was really big," Texas Coach Charlie Strong said. "It was a big-time rival game, and our players were just so up for it. I told the players . . . the way we're going to work today, it's going to speak for itself. We're going to run the football and we're going to run it right at them and we're gonna knock them off the ball. And nothing else is going to need to be said, because we're going to control the line of scrimmage."

As part of AutoNation's history of charitable involvement, AutoNation will donate $1,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) in The University of Texas' name. This charitable college football initiative culminates with the AutoNation Cure Bowl, a new post-season game that kicks off bowl season at the Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and will be aired by CBS Sports Network. The aptly named AutoNation Cure Bowl also serves as a fund raiser for the BCRF, CharityWatch's only A+ rated breast cancer organization in the country.