Habe on the Horns – By Steve Habel/Associate Editor
If you were one of the folks who predicted Longhorns Football would begin the 2014 season with just two wins in its first six games then raise your hand and be recognized – if you dare.
The first half of the season [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] definitely produced more forgettable moments than memorable ones for the Longhorns. But that trend has already begun to turn thanks to baby-steps toward improvement in close losses to UCLA and Oklahoma and a potential victory against Baylor that was literally fumbled away.
Some say Texas is the best 2-4 team in the nation, but that’s hollow praise.
“We are nowhere near where we need to be,” Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford said. “Are we making strides in the right direction? Of course we are. We’re making this and each week a one-game season. In other words, it’s one game at a time. You can’t live in the past good or bad, you have to live in the precious present and that’s right now. Our focus is on that.”
The focus is for the Horns to take a leap – not a baby-step – ahead and get in the groove. First on that agenda is a crucial game Saturday against Iowa State, a team that’s had its own share of problems and a contest that we all earmarked before the season as a sure victory for Texas.
But this is no time to take the Cyclones lightly. Yes, Iowa State is 2-4 overall (just like the Longhorns) and is winless in three Big 12 Conference games.
And yes, Texas has beaten Iowa State 10 of the 11 times the teams have played, with the lone loss coming back in 2010 in Austin when the Horns were down and almost out on the way to a 5-7 season.
Expect the Cyclones to come to town breathing fire and looking for an upset. Iowa State is a much better team than its record, having lost to three ranked teams – Baylor (6-0), Kansas State (4-1) and Oklahoma State – and to North Dakota State, the top-ranked team in FCS and three-time defending national champion.
The Cyclones’ two wins are against Iowa (5-1) and Toledo (4-3), the top team in the MAC West Conference.
Overall, Iowa State’s first six opponents have a combined record of 30-6, the highest opponent winning percentage (83.3 percent) in FBS. The latest Sagarin ratings list the Cyclones’ schedule as the second-toughest in the nation.
All that means is that the Longhorns better be ready because you know Iowa State will be, especially after it feels it had a win taken from it by the referees last year against Texas in Ames.
In that game, won by the Horns 31-30, replays show that running back Johnathan Gray fumbled near the goal line and that the ball was recovered by Iowa State, a play that would have ended Texas’ game-clinching drive. But the referees ruled that Gray was down before losing the ball, drawing the wrath of Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads in a postgame press conference.
Given all that’s on the line, expect the Horns to be at the top of their game this Saturday.
“We had an [improved] performance against Oklahoma, there is no reason for us to have a letdown now against Iowa State,” Texas coach Charlie Strong said. “We need to come out and play well, and we need to continue to play well.
“We’re 2-4 – I don’t know why we would ever think we have reason to believe that we’re going to go out here and just play our game and not give really good effort,” Strong added. “That shouldn’t happen. But you always guard against that.”
This is the first of many must games for the Horns. We all could have anticipated the team’s early struggles based on the squad’s changes and relative inexperience and the fact that the schedule was so front-loaded with powerful opponents.
But the time is now for Texas to fish or cut bait. The feeling here is that the Horns will grasp the urgency and handle their business against Iowa State – but the game will be a close one.
Just sayin’, ya’ know?
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