Longhorns’ confidence ‘not shaken’ with K-State roaring into Austin

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas football team, losers of two of its past three games and no longer ranked in the top 25, hits the final third of the regular season with plenty of incentive remaining and its goal of playing for the Big 12 championship still on the table … if just barely.

The Longhorns (5-3 overall, 3-2 in Big 12 play) are at a real crossroads as[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] they prepare to face No. 20 Kansas State Saturday afternoon at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Beat the surging Wildcats, and folks will think Texas has righted the ship. Lose to K-State in advance of tough road games against Iowa State and Baylor, and the Longhorns are all but eliminated from the chance to play for the Big 12 title Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas.

If ever there was a time for Texas coach Tom Herman to pull something out of his proverbial hat to get his team back on track, it’s now — right now.

Herman was a bit more brusque that usual Monday when he faced the press for his regular Monday availability, an attitude that one would expect from a coach whose team has hit a bit of a doldrum. He said the Longhorns were focused on getting back on track after their loss last week at TCU.

Since that setback, Texas enjoyed an open week that was used to pound home the “1-0” mantra and return to its winning ways.

“There is no confidence shaken whatsoever,” Herman said about his squad. “These guys all realize what they can be. They realize there’s a lot of reasons why they haven’t been that. We just continue to chop away at giving them the tools necessary to achieve at the level we think they can.”

Herman said he was happy with the work his players produced in practice during the open week.

“I thought we had, for an open date … practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday was awesome,” Herman explained. “It was really refreshing to have the open week where it was. I know our players got to get away and go home, most of them did.

“You could tell with a lot of these guys, especially the young guys, they really, really hit a wall lately with the daily grind of college football.”

There has been no looking past the powerful Wildcats, who continue to improve and turned heads nationwide two weeks ago when they dismantled Oklahoma. That’s a good thing.

Herman said he had to be told by a staff member who Texas plays after K-State — such is his focus on the task ahead. “This isn’t an act. You guys have been around me for three years,” he said. “I didn’t know who we played after Kansas State. It’s totally irrelevant.”

Herman reiterated that there is a level of expectation at Texas that his staff and players are not quite reaching.

“Everybody in the organization has shouldered some accountability (for the team’s recent struggles),” Herman said. “It’s our job to figure out why and figure out what the players we’re playing with do best and put them in the best position to be there best.”
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