The Texas Longhorns have faced many challenges this year. They started slow, changed quarterbacks, hired a new defensive coordinator and lost starters to season ending injuries, and yet it all seems to be part of the story.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] Through each challenge, there was triumph … the biggest of which (so far) was the victory against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys this Saturday presents a different challenge. The game is crucial to the hopes of winning the Big 12 title for both teams — at least until the next one.
This is the beginning of a tough three-game stretch to end the season for the Texas Longhorns. They get Oklahoma State and Texas Tech at home and then finish with a road game at Baylor. Piece of cake.
As long as Texas can win out, it will win the conference. Even if the Longhorns lose, they could still hold on to the Big 12 title with a win over Baylor and other things falling into place.
At this point, EVERY game is big. Coach Mack Brown reinforced the situation in his address to the team Sunday after surviving overtime at West Virginia, 47-40.
“We tell them it’s a real goal now,” Brown said Monday. “What you set in January is three games away. It’s real now. It wasn’t at 1-2. It wasn’t at 4-2. It’s real right now. You have a chance.”
On the other sideline, a loss would almost certainly eliminate the Cowboys from title contention. They’d have to overtake both the Longhorns and Bears and then beat the Sooners in order to come out on top.
“You’re at a point in the season where you need to win one to get to the next one if you want to stay in that race,” said OSU coach Mike Gundy. “If we wouldn’t have played well and beat Kansas, it wouldn’t have been a big game. But you have to continue to move forward and this will be a new challenge for us. (Texas) is a very talented football team, we’re playing on the road, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“They’re a good team, a great program, so it’s always fun to get to play them,” said senior linebacker Caleb Lavey, who hails from Celina, Texas, about four hours north of Austin. “They’re definitely a big opponent every year, but at the same time, we realize we’re in the Big 12, so we’re going to be playing big teams each week. We’re approaching it the same as we approach any opponent, really focusing. We’ve got to watch film and prepare accordingly to win down in Austin.”
(Source: SportsDay DFW)
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