By Steve Habel/Senior Editor
AUSTIN, Texas — The disappointment surrounding two consecutive hard-luck, last-minute losses by the Texas football team is palpable on the 40 Acres. But the solution lies in continuing to stay the course, learning from the mistakes made and improving — three aspects that the Longhorns have shown the past two Saturdays.
Staying on that tack will be a challenge this week as the Longhorns prepare to square off against fourth-ranked TCU in Fort Worth.
“We’ve been in the games the past two weeks with chances to win at the end, but we just haven’t finished,” Texas coach Charlie Strong said Monday at his weekly media availability. “We’ve been in the position to make plays, but just haven’t made them at the right time.”
Hall of Fame baseball manager [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]Leo Durocher once opined that “luck is the residue of hard work.” If that’s the case, the 1-3 Longhorns are due a heaping helping. Two unlikely — and, quite frankly, unbelievable — special teams gaffes have cost Texas a chance at overtime the past two weeks, but Strong is more apt to blame his team’s mistakes than luck.
“We have to make our own luck,” Strong said. “We dropped some passes that could have been big plays for us, we didn’t protect the quarterback as well as we could and we missed some coverages, even when we recognized the route Oklahoma State was running.
“Yes we are playing better every week but we still are making too many mistakes.”
The loss to Oklahoma State was just the fourth time Texas had lost its Big 12 Conference opener; the Longhorns also fell to the Cowboys in 1997 and lost to Kansas State in 1998 and 2007.
The ‘Horns struggled defensively in their first three games, allowing an average of 37.0 points and 512.3 yards — including 240.7 yards rushing — per game. Texas improved greatly against Oklahoma State, surrendering just 395 total yards, including just 103 rushing yards on 46 carries (a 2.2 average).
In the fourth quarter, there Longhorns held the Cowboys to just 26 yards of total offense on 14 plays (1.9 yards per play).
“We are learning a little bit every practice and every game, and the defense — because we have so many young guys playing — has a steep learning curve,” Strong said. “The young guys are always eager to make plays. They’re fearless because they have this swagger and belief in themselves that’s growing all the time.”
Strong said that the disappointing losses would affect the team’s older players more than the underclassmen.
“The psyche of the older guys in the wake of the past two weeks will determine how this team will go forward,” he said. “They don’t have a history of turning things around when things go bad, so that will be a challenge.
“We have to keep playing through the tough times and play with energy. We can’t sit around waiting for something bad to happen. We need to go make something good happen.”
Other items gleaned from Monday’s press conference:
Right tackle Kent Perkins, who suffered a knee injury in the third quarter against Oklahoma State, will be evaluated daily to determine whether he will be available to play against TCU.
Texas has a higher average per play (5.9 yards per snap) than its opponents (5.8). Those opponents have run 99 more plays (331-232) than the Longhorns. Texas’ opponents have converted 56 percent of their combined third-down opportunities (36 of 64), while the ‘Horns have a 30 percent (15-50) conversion rate.
TCU started the week as an 18½-point favorite against Texas, but the line dropped to 18 Monday afternoon. When told about the line, Strong just shook his head and gave a sheepish smile, saying, “It’s that bad, huh? I sure hope not.”
The Big 12 Conference announced Monday an 11 a.m. kickoff for the 2015 AT&T Red River Showdown Oct. 10 from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, with a national broadcast on ABC.
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