College Football | Texas' top ranking comes with plenty of aches, pains

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller said he felt relieved after a tough win over Oklahoma State. Quarterback Colt McCoy's non-throwing hand was bruised and scratched.

As a group, the Longhorns' defensive backs are nicked up and sore.

After three straight wins over teams ranked 11th or higher and another big game coming at No. 6 Texas Tech, the top-ranked Longhorns are finding it harder to stay healthy and sharp in the middle of a brutal schedule.

The tough games mean extra time in the training room getting treatment for those bumps and bruises and grabbing a few extra minutes of sleep at night.

It's about this time in the season when a lot of teams start feeling weary, coach Mack Brown said Monday.

"We're telling our guys to get in bed, get off your feet ... we're trying our best to make sure they can handle this stretch physically and emotionally," Brown said.

Texas (8-0) has little time to rest. Come Saturday, the defense will be running all over the field chasing Tech's tricky offense. The Red Raiders (8-0) keep teams on edge mentally and physically with a passing scheme that can score at will.

The Longhorns say they will be ready.

"Everybody is good, rehabbing right now, icing their bodies and ready to go," defensive end Brian Orakpo said. "We know how big of a game it's going to be."

The last time Texas lost in Lubbock, in 2002, Tech's speedy receivers picked apart a secondary riddled by injuries.

"In this game, you've got to have fresh legs," Brown said.

Notes

• Northwestern RB Tyrell Sutton will miss the rest of the regular season with a wrist injury. Sutton, who hurt his wrist in the third quarter of Saturday's 21-19 loss to Indiana, will have surgery today, Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said Monday.

"It's disappointing, especially for a senior to have something like that happen to him at the end of his career," Fitzgerald said.

• Weber State WR/KR Bryant Eteuati has been suspended indefinitely after being arrested on outstanding warrants. Eteuati is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 3 on charges of third-degree felony assault and a misdemeanor count of failure to remain at the scene of an accident.

• Billionaire booster T. Boone Pickens will give another $63 million to Oklahoma State to finish athletic projects that were supposed to be paid for with a previous $165 million donation that took a hit during the economic downturn. His donations have led to a boom in Oklahoma State football. The team is ranked in the top 10 — at No. 9 this week — for the first time since Barry Sanders' Heisman Trophy season in 1988.