Longhorns are getting effort, physicality; now just need to win

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas football team is a couple of defensive breakdowns in two of its games from being 5-1 rather than 3-3, but Longhorns coach Tom Herman won’t be happy until his squad makes those plays and can leave the field with real victories rather than moral ones.

When Texas (2-1 in Big 12 play) hosts No. 10 Oklahoma State (5-1, 2-1 in Big 12) Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the Longhorns will be facing the top-ranked offense in the nation for the second consecutive contest. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. (Central Time).

Texas lost to then-No. 12 (now No. 9) Oklahoma, 29-24, Saturday in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, but fought back from a 20-0 deficit [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]early in the second quarter to take a 24-23 lead with 8:01 to play. But the Sooners, who entered the game ranked first in total offense, and erstwhile Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Baker Mayfield engineered a final touchown drive that clinched the win.

“We understand that losing to Oklahoma is never fun – it’s never easy,” Herman said. “It stings worse than most losses do. But we also understand that we’re one of a bunch of one-loss teams in this conference and for us to maintain that level and status within our conference, we’ve got to win this week. We’ve got to go 1-0 this week.”

With the Longhorns at the halfway point of their season, Herman said that his team has proven itself with its continued effort and physicality, but still has plenty to address.

“I told our assistant coaches when we started training camp that if we can get the players to play hard and play physical, we’ll have a chance to be in every game,” Herman said. “We’ve got the playing hard and playing physical parts figured out.

“We’re here for a reason, and that’s to rebuild this thing from a bunch of years of mediocrity and sub-mediocrity, and we understand that that’s going to take time. We also want to win right now.”

For the first time this season, Herman was not asked during his Monday media availability who his starting quarterback would be — freshman Sam Ehlinger has grabbed the position and won’t let go, even though he’s listed as the “or” starter on UT’s depth chart along with sophomore Shane Buechele.

Instead, Herman was queried about the toll that Ehlinger, who is the Longhorns’ second-leading rusher with 271 net yards after six games despites not playing in two of the contests, is taking week to week.

“I worry about it. We don’t want our quarterback carrying 20, 22 times,” Herman said. “Now if you’ve got to have it to win the game, you know, we’re going to do whatever it takes to win the game.”

This and that: Junior punter Michael Dickson was named the Ray Guy Award national punter of the week on Monday for the second time this season following his career-best performance against Oklahoma. He averaged a school record-tying 55 yards on five punts against the Sooners, including a season-long kick of 69 yards and a 62-yard punt that was downed at the OU 2. He is averaging 48.3 yards per punt, which is best in the Big 12 and second-best nationally, and his net average of 44.81 yards per punt is the best mark in the country … Senior wide receiver Armanti Foreman did not see any action on offense for the second straight week but injury was not a factor in that decision, according to Herman. “We talked to Armanti and he’s responded to it,” Herman said. “Now, where does that fit? I don’t know, because the other receivers are playing really well right now.” … For the third time in five games, Texas will play an opponent ranked in the top 12 as Oklahoma State is ranked No. 10 by the Associated Press and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll. The Longhorns played USC when the Trojans were fourth by the AP and Oklahoma when the Sooners were 12th by the AP. Upcoming road opponents TCU (No. 4 in both polls) and WVU (No. 23 in both polls) are also ranked this week … Through the first six games, the Longhorns’ youth has shined through in the starting lineup. The last two Texas recruiting classes (true freshmen, redshirt freshmen and true sophomores) have combined to make 41 starts this season, including 34 on the offensive side of the ball.

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