By Art Garcia
ARLINGTON, Texas—Dallas Cowboys greats Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett moved over for DeMarco Murray on Sunday.
The rookie etched his name into the record books and the Cowboys returned to the win column with the 34-7 blowout over the winless St. Louis Rams at Cowboys Stadium.
Murray didn't start, but he sure finished the Rams off with 253-yard outing that should trust the rookie into a more prominent role going forward. Murray's new franchise single-game record included a 91-yard touchdown run that jumpstarted the Cowboys' afternoon.
Some of Murray's teammates brought up Adrian Peterson's all-time NFL record of 296 yards in 2007.
"I wasn't worried about the individual accolades," Murray said. "I was just happy we got the victory and had great day rushing the ball."
Dallas (3-3) snapped a two-game losing streak going into a stretch where four of the next six opponents had losing records going into Sunday.
The hard-luck Rams, already without starting quarterback Sam Bradford, lost right tackle Jason Smith and defensive tackle Darell Scott to head injuries. Both were taken to a local hospital.
St. Louis (0-6) suffered several more injuries, and has yet to score more than 16 points in a game this season.
"A very frustrating football game in a lot of ways," Rams coach Steve Spagnuola said. "I do know this, you can't play good defense if you don't tackle and you're always running uphill on offense if you're turning the ball over."
The Cowboys escaped terrible field position on their opening drive thanks to Murray. The third-round pick out of Oklahoma took a delayed draw from Tony Romo on the Dallas 9-yard line, raced up the middle and juked past Rams safely Quintin Mikell.
The first score of Murray's career also was memorable for more than just that. It's the longest first career touchdown run since the since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
Murray began the game backing up Tashard Choice, who started with Felix Jones sidelined. Murray, though, took the bulk of the carries after the long TD run and continued to chew up yardage.
Murray blasted past Dorsett's single-game rookie record of 207 before besting all-time rushing leader Smith's team mark of 237. It's probably a good bet Murray starts next week against NFC East rival Philadelphia.
"Anytime you have 250, I don't care who had (the record) before, it's pretty serious," Cowboys receiver Miles Austin said. "More power to him. Hopefully, he can keep it going."
Dallas took advantage of the game's first turnover late in the first quarter with a 62-yard drive that culminated in Romo's 1-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten.
The Cowboys got the ball after strong safety Abram Elam crushed St. Louis halfback Cadillac Williams along the sideline, jarring the ball loose. Elam then had the awareness to recover the fumble before going out of bounds.
"We took advantage of that," Elam said. "We knew they were going to come out and try to run the ball. I'm thankful I had an opportunity to go out and make a play for this team."
The Cowboys defense forced two punts and two turnovers on four of the Rams' first five possessions. The second turnover—an interception by cornerback Mike Jenkins—set up a Dan Bailey's 30-yard field goal and a 17-7 halftime lead.
The Rams chopped the Cowboys' lead to 14-7 with Steven Jackson's six-yard scoring run midway through the second quarter. Jackson (70 yards rushing) has always had a chip on his shoulder for Dallas after a Draft-day snub seven years ago.
A.J. Feeley started in place of Bradford and didn't press matters. The career backup didn't take many shots down field and finished with 196 yards.
Game notes: Rams RT Jason Smith and DT were off the field in stretchers after suffering head injuries. … Recently-signed Montrae Holland started at left guard for Dallas with rookie Bill Nagy lost for the season. … With Rams QB Sam Bradford (ankle) sidelined, A.J. Feeley made his 16th career start. … Cowboys RB Tashard Choice started with Felix Jones (ankle) out. … With the World Series being played next door, Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton and St. Louis outfielder Lance Berkman were honorary captains, and were out for coin toss.
