College Station, Texas ? Texas beat one hated rival to stay within reach of the Bowl Championship Series. Now it’s up to another to get the Longhorns there.

Cedric Benson ran for 283 yards and four touchdowns, and No. 6 Texas strengthened its position for the school’s first BCS bid with a 46-15 win Friday over Texas A&M.

The Longhorns (10-2, 7-1 Big 12 Conference) need No. 1 Oklahoma — which beat Texas 65-13 earlier this season — to win the Big 12 title game next week to get their shot at either the Fiesta Bowl or Rose Bowl.

A Kansas State victory would give the Wildcats and Sooners the Big 12’s two BCS bids and likely send the Longhorns — ranked sixth in the BCS standings — tumbling all the way to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

“If that’s what it takes, I’ll be a Sooners fan for a week,” cornerback Nathan Vasher said.

Offensive tackle Tillman Holloway will be happy for an OU helping hand — up to a point.

“Texas’ number one priority is to have what we deserve and what we’ve been fighting for,” Holloway said. “But I won’t be learning any words to ‘Boomer Sooner.”‘

Benson ran for 205 yards in the second half against the nation’s 95th-ranked defense to make sure the Longhorns would stay in the hunt.

His touchdown runs of 21, 4, 8 and 35 yards allowed Texas to throw only eight passes. He wore out an Aggies defense that kept the game close into the third quarter with turnovers that produced two short TD drives.

Texas A&M's Jaxson Appel (19) grabs Texas quarterback Vince Young as he scrambles during the third quarter. Texas won, 46-15, Friday in College Station, Texas.

Benson had 35 carries and broke the record of the most rushing yards against the traditionally tough Wrecking Crew defense, surpassing former Heisman winner Ricky Williams’ 259 yards in Texas’ 1998 win.

“I wasn’t going to be denied today. It’s a rivalry game,” said Benson, who has 1,277 yards this season.

“I sensed they were worn out after the first couple of plays in the first quarter,” he said. “This wasn’t the usual kind of A&M team.”

Terrence Murphy led A&M (4-8, 2-6) with seven catches for 150 yards.

The Aggies’ fourth straight loss in a series that dates back to 1894 was a bitter end to a disappointing first season under coach Dennis Franchione.

A&M wanted a quick turnaround after last season’s 6-6 finish under R.C. Slocum but stumbled badly down the stretch. The Aggies lost their last three games to finish with a losing record for the first time since 1982.

“We need to find every way we can to improve this football team,” Franchione said. “We certainly have some things to build around.”

The Aggies wanted at least to spoil their rivals’ BCS plans.

A&M players gathered in a huddle at midfield during pregame warmups and exchanged taunts with several Longhorns before coaches from both teams broke it up. The crowd of 84,094 at Kyle Field furiously waved their “12th Man Towels” after the Aggies’ second touchdown made it 20-15 in the third.

But every time A&M seized momentum, Texas took it back by forcing a turnover of its own.