LUBBOCK, Texas — It lacked the theatrics of last week's encounter against No. 1 Texas. But for the second-ranked Red Raiders, Saturday's lopsided 56-20 win over No. 8 Oklahoma State was just as satisfying.

Quarterback Graham Harrell passed for 456 yards and a career-high tying six touchdowns as Texas Tech blasted the Cowboys before 55,663 at Jones AT&T Stadium.

Because No. 1 Alabama struggled to get past No. 15 LSU, 27-21, in overtime, the Red Raiders could make a case that they should leap-frog the Crimson Tide and assume the nation's top ranking.

"We may be No. 1, and we may not be," linebacker Marlon Williams said. "But I think they've got to recognize us now.

"We've proven that we can beat teams that everybody didn't think we could beat, so I think we've earned the right to be No. 1."

In rolling over OSU, Tech improved to 10-0 for just the second time in school history — it was also 10-0 in 1938 — while remaining atop the Big 12 South with a 6-0 record. OSU dropped to 8-2 and 4-2 in conference.

Asked if he thought the Red Raiders deserve the top ranking, running back Baron Batch said: "The only thing I can say we deserve is to be 10-0. We can't look at what other people are doing, because that'll get you beat."

Tech scored on seven consecutive possessions and took the fight out of the Cowboys, who were seeking to tighten things up in the Big 12 South. In their most impressive overall performance of the season, the Red Raiders racked up 629 yards and 38 first downs.

"A lot of people thought we'd probably come out and lose, a lot of people picked us to lose," Harrell said. "A lot of people just thought we'd be riding that high from Texas and not be ready to play.

"We put games behind us and get ready for the next opponent. After (last) Sunday we watched the Texas tape and then we were done with them."

For his part, Harrell continued to pile on some potential Heisman Trophy points with yet another superb performance.

After completing 36 of 53 passes for 474 yards and two touchdowns last week against Texas, Harrell was even more effective against OSU.

Overall against the Cowboys, Harrell completed 40 of 50 passes. The senior from Ennis found All-American wide receiver Michael Crabtree eight times for 89 yards and three touchdowns.

The seven drives Harrell engineered chewed up 80, 70, 97, 72, 48, 80 and 96 yards, and demoralized the Cowboys.

"It was pretty obvious tonight that we got dominated in all three phases of the game, and we lost the game as a group," OSU coach Mike Gundy said. "I thought we were out-coached and out-played.

"We never could slow them down, and we couldn't get them out of their rhythm. It is difficult to win on the road against a football team when you can't slow them down."

Because Tech's defense has improved immensely since losing at OSU, 49-45, last year, the Cowboys were never able to get into any sustained rhythm.

But Batch believe the skeptics will still doubt Tech, which has built a 12-game winning streak.

"As soon as I turn on "SportsCenter" tonight I'm sure there will be," Batch said. "Like I said, we're 10-0 and that's only thing that we've earned and we deserve."

The only time the Cowboys stopped Tech in the first half was on the Red Raiders' first drive when Harrell lost the snap on third-and-one and it was recovered by OSU at the Tech 31. Four plays later, Kendall Hunter bolted into the end zone from the 4 to give the Cowboys a 7-0 lead.

After that, Tech rambled through the OSU defense as if it were holding an intra-squad scrimmage. The Cowboys were surprisingly no match.

"I'm very proud of our defense," coach Mike Leach said. "They were very scrappy."

Tech held OSU wide receiver Dez Bryant to just one catch for 16 yards in the first half, with that reception coming with seven seconds remaining before intermission. Bryant finished with four catches for 86 yards and was never a factor.

"I thought they did a pretty good job of hitting (Bryant) when they could," Leach said. "And I thought they did a really good job of covering him because he's a real explosive player and just a real factor with the ball in his hands."

Crabtree had TD catches of 9, 8 and 1 yards and kept the pressure on the OSU defense.

"I feel like every week we have something to prove," said Crabtree, who now has 40 career touchdown catches.

"Every team we play they seem to come up with something about us not having this or that."

Maybe the Red Raiders put that kind of talk to a halt Saturday.