By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer
AUSTIN, Texas — Don’t expect No. 11 Texas to be off its game or intimidated by a raucous West Virginia crowd when it travels outside the Lone Star State for the first time this season and plays its first true road game Saturday afternoon against the Mountaineers in Morgantown
The matchup against West Virginia is another in a long line of tough Big 12 Conference games and is the kind of test that would cause Texas fans consternation in years past. That was before the Tom Herman-preached mantra of “going 1-0” each week had taken hold and the Longhorns’ talent level was mercurial but inconsistent.
Instead, it would be a surprise if [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]Texas, which will be double-digit favorites to win on the road, doesn’t play well and win decisively.
Herman downplayed any “road game” factor and said Thursday that his team had stayed on task and was especially crisp coming off a bye week in its preparation for West Virginia.
“I feel like our guys do as good of a job as I’ve been around of being able to tune out all of the distraction, whether it be in the routine, the noise of the crowd, anything like that, and really focus in on their job,” Herman said. “Our player load was actually higher than before Oklahoma State, which tells us that our guys are fresh, and that they were practicing really hard. I was very pleased with that.”
Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said Wednesday that his unit is in a “good place mentally right now,” even though the Longhorns will play without three starters in the secondary — safety Caden Sterns, nickel Josh Thompson and cornerback Jalen Green — because of injuries.
Kobe Boyce and Anthony Cook, both sophomores who have started games this season for Texas (3-1, 1-0 in Big 12 play), were running as the first-team cornerbacks this week, with D’Shawn Jamison (another sophomore) listed on the depth chart at both spots.
Orlando said to expect as many as four players to see action at the corners, with freshman Kenyatta Watson II and junior Donovan Duvernay in the mix.
“Next guy up,” Texas linebacker Joseph Ossai said. “We’ve always said it and we preach it to them every day. Focus up. Competitive focus, because you never know.”
West Virginia (3-1 overall, 1-0 in games against Big 12 things) has won seven of its past eight games at home, so expect the Mountaineers to be at their best. WVU also had a bye last Saturday after a 29-24 victory Sept. 21 at Kansas, a game in which it was outgained but found a way to win.
Saturday’s contest will be the first against a Big 12 heavyweight for West Virginia coach Neal Brown, who went to Morgantown after four seasons as the head man at Troy.
“We’re playing on national television against one of the top programs in the country,” Brown said. “I don’t think we’ll need a bunch of motivational ploys this weekend. We’ve got to do a really good job on first down and try and get Texas behind the chains, and we’ve got to force some takeaways in this game. I think that’s going to be critical.”
The Mountaineers have not fumbled this season.
WVU quarterback Austin Kendall, a transfer from Oklahoma, has been solid in his first season with his new team, completing 94 of 144 passes for 871 yards, with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Mountaineers lead the Longhorns, 5-3, in the all-time series and are 4-3 against Texas since they joined the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season. But West Virginia has not had great success in games following bye weeks since joining the Big 12; the Mountaineers are 6-6 following a week off in that time, including 0-3 against ranked opponents.
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [habeabk] [/s2If]
Discover more from Horns Illustrated
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.