"We are really banged up. It's obvious we are playing without some of our best players."

A&M head football coach Mike Sherman didn't say that, even though he could have. Instead, those were the words of Oklahoma's Bob Stoops after his team had rolled to a 66-28 victory over the Aggies on Saturday.

The Sooners had the game's first four touchdowns en route to scoring the most points by an opponent at Kyle Field. OU also was the fifth foe to win at Kyle Field this season, another dubious first for the Aggies.

All that was bad enough, but it could have been worse as Stoops indirectly inferred.

OU lost its leading tackler, middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds, to a season-ending injury four games ago. Defensive end Auston English missed Saturday's game and fellow starting defensive end Alan Davis went out with a knee injury, while wide receiver Manuel Johnson was limited to one catch.

Maybe Sherman could laugh at OU's plight to replace starters if he wasn'tagonizing over his own personnel problems. It seems every time A&M finds a player, it needs to develop at least two more elsewhere.

A&M went into Saturday's anticipated shootout without freshman wide receiver Jeff Fuller, who is developing into a big-time playmaker. That allowed OU's defense to blanket Ryan Tannehill and sit on the routes of tight end Jamie McCoy.

It was a long day for A&M's passing game, which was 22 of 51 for 252 yards with two interceptions and four sacks. The Aggies were helpless without what had become a decent air attack.

The offensive line couldn't budge OU's defense, and tailback Mike Goodson hasn't looked good since his 24-carry, 124-yard effort in the season opener.

A&M's defense looked lost against OU's high-powered offense, which averaged 8.8 yards per play Saturday.

Along with the humility of giving up 653 yards, freshman safety Trent Hunter, another of the season's bright spots, injured his right foot.

OU was ahead 7-0 when Hunter went out. Hunter, Fuller and wide receiver Terrence McCoy -- who also was out with an injury -- aren't worth 38 points, but the problem was Oklahoma's reserves were much better than A&M's reserves.

Sherman has to find his best 22 players before he can worry about the next 22. A&M had enough talent for back-to-back victories over Iowa State and Colorado, but neither of those teams would stay close to the Sooners.

"We didn't play Oklahoma the last two weeks," Sherman said. "It's a little bit of difference there. [We] have to be honest with ourselves."

There's a reason Sherman became the third Aggie coach to lose to the Sooners in the last decade. Stoops has built a Top 10 program quicker and better than just about anyone in college football in the last two decades. He was 7-5 in 1999 and hasn't lost more than three games in a season since. He's built a juggernaut.

Stoops has been at his best against the Aggies, going 9-1. His lone loss came in 2002 when A&M beat a top-ranked team for the first time. Stoops has rebounded to beat A&M six straight times. Four times the Aggies have been ranked when losing to Stoops including his first two meetings, which allowed the Sooners' program to pass A&M.

Surprisingly, Stoops isn't loathed by Aggies, probably because he's shown good sportsmanship.

This is the third time Stoops has opted not to add cheap touchdowns against A&M. OU didn't score in the fourth quarter in a 77-0 victory in 2003. He also pulled off the pedal in a 51-6 victory in 1999.

Stoops refused to run up the score Saturday to impress a handful of voters, even though he's trying to get back to the national championship game.

"We played through three quarters and then let it go," he told The Oklahoman. "We had 66 points. You just have to choose sportsmanship over, I guess, BCS points. To me, I still think that's the right way to play."

There's no doubt the Sooners play hard, smart and with confidence because of Stoops.

The Aggies will do the same in time for Sherman, who also is a no-nonsense guy. He sure wasn't pleased with what happened Saturday.

That game was unacceptable, and it wasn't just the lopsided score. A&M had too many penalties. Too many Sooners were running free in space. The Aggies lost one-on-one battles at an alarming rate. The Sooners are good, but the Aggies made them much better. A&M played hard, but didn't look smart doing it.

Saturday's game looked too much like the blowouts that torpedoed Dennis Franchione's regime. The outcome wasn't decided by a handful of plays. OU dominated for three quarters, shattering any confidence the Aggies might have gained in the last three games.

A&M will have to play much better to win at Baylor or even stay close to Texas. Sherman could lament his lack of talent and injuries, but he won't, nor better his players. Sherman is constantly looking ahead, not behind. Saturday would be a good day to forget, but not to duplicate.

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A&M's rushing defense plummeted to 112th nationally, allowing 214.6 yards per game. The Aggies are ahead of New Mexico State, UNLV, Washington, Fresno State, Southern Methodist, San Diego State and Washington State. A&M's rushing offense dipped to 108th nationally, averaging 102.2 yards per game.

Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.