The Longhorn Republic

The Texas Longhorns head into the bye week coming off of yet another collapse - this time at the hands of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. However, instead of the defense collapsing under the offensive pressure, the Oklahoma State defense shut down the Texas offense - allowing the defense to slowly bleed until one big play sealed the deal.

What happened to the Longhorns' offense on Saturday and what can Steve Sarkisian do about it with two weeks off? How does the defense limit gash plays and keep opponents from ending up in short-yardage situations?

Quarterback Casey Thompson had his worst outing of his five starts as he nurses an injury to his throwing hand. So Texas has to take advantage of the week off to get healthy and get ready for a tough Baylor Bears squad.

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Intro and Outro: Earth, Wind, Fire (Ryan Little / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

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The Texas Longhorns went into halftime leading by four but managed just 92 yards and seven points in the second half to fall to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, losing back-to-back games heading into the bye.

The Texas offense had just one sustained drive in the second half, its first of the third quarter. After that, the offense went three-and-out four straight times, was stopped on fourth down, and threw a game-clinching interception. The Longhorns managed just one yard in the fourth quarter, which is obviously illustrative of how poor Texas played. How did Texas get here and what could they have done differently to avoid yet another embarrassing result as they try to rebuild.

Now, Texas has to watch the rest of the conference shake itself out and see where the chips fall.

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Intro and Outro: Earth, Wind, Fire (Ryan Little / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

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Wescott Eberts and Cameron Parker get you prepared for a big weekend in Texas football with a new "Winning is Hard" podcast. They open with a discussion on Xavier Worthy's performance against Oklahoma and what his ceiling can be at Texas and beyond. Plus, Steve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood's decision to shake up the offensive line (9:00), Pete Kwiatkowski's decision to NOT shake up the defensive scheme (14:00), are recruiting misses and attrition to blame for the defensive woes? (20:30), the big recruiting weekend for Texas (28:00), and keys to the Oklahoma State game (34:00).

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The Texas Longhorns may have lost one game, but their season goal of winning a conference championship is still in front of them and the march to Arlington starts Saturday against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Texas has an opportunity to rebound strong and show that they are a team that is able to bounce back and overcome adversity, taking on the No. 12 team in the country.

The Cowboys are not the Oklahoma State teams of the past, with the defense leading them to success and the offense doing just enough to get the job done. Oklahoma State currently ranks at or near the top in most defensive categories, while the offense sits at No. 9 offensively in the conference. So how do they match up against a potent Texas offense and a defense in need of some answers?

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Intro and Outro: Earth, Wind, Fire (Ryan Little / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

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The Texas Longhorns pulled ahead early, but couldn't sustain the offensive momentum and allowed the Oklahoma Sooners to erase a three-score lead en route to a 55-48 loss in the Red River Showdown.

The Longhorns put up massive numbers early, en route to a 388 yard, five touchdown performance from Casey Thompson, who connected with Xavier Worthy for a record-setting 261 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Both are now set up for big finishes in the second half that could etch their names in the record books when it's all said and done. However, the defense stole the show in the worst way possible, putting together one of the worst all-time performances against the run en route to the loss.

So what does this say about where Texas is in the early stages of the Sark era and where does the team go from here?

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Intro and Outro: Earth, Wind, Fire (Ryan Little / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

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Winning is *still* hard against Oklahoma. Wescott Eberts and Cameron Parker share their final thoughts on the Longhorns 55-48 loss to Oklahoma and where this ranks in the echelon of great Texas losses.

We dive into the good and bad of Steve Sarkisian’s game management (3:30) versus the Sooners before talking about the mental toughness of this Texas team and if Sark is still trying to change the attitude in the locker room (5:30).

Next, we talk about Oklahoma’s rushing attack, the Texas defensive line, and Jacoby Jones injury. Plus, the Texas offensive woes in the 2nd half (10:00), penalties on the O-Line, lack of touches for Roschon Johnson and Keilan Robinson, and who will have to step up in the wake of Jordan Whittington’s injury (13:30).

Finally, we conclude with a discussion on Xavier Worthy’s fumble on the kickoff return (17:00) and the impressive performances of Casey Thompson and Caleb Williams (20:00).

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The Texas Longhorns head into the Cotton Bowl to take on the Oklahoma Sooners with a chance to show whether or not they've actually made progress under new head coach Steve Sarkisian. Texas is fresh off of one of the wins that they needed in order to change the narrative and a win in the Red River Showdown would go a long way in determining the future for the Longhorns. Can Casey Thompson, Bijan Robinson and the Longhorns offense do enough to keep a very solid Oklahoma defense from dominating the game as they have in years past?

Defensively, Texas has had an up-and-down go of things, but the Sooners have had some offensive struggles thus far in 2021 - especially on the ground. Can the Longhorns force the Sooners into an uncomfortable situation offensively and take advantage of an off-balance Spencer Rattler, who has dealt with a bit of regression this year, precipitated by regression on the offensive line.

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Intro and Outro: Earth, Wind, Fire (Ryan Little / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

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It’s 8:00 AM and...there’s a new Winning is Hard podcast. Oh, and OU sucks!

Wescott Eberts and Cameron Parker get you prepared for the Red River Showdown with a quick discussion on the Sooners and the Longhorns.

We open the podcast with Lincoln Riley’s dominance over Tom Herman and how the Texas - Oklahoma game will create Steve Sarkisian’s own narrative, win or lose on Saturday.

Then we discuss Oklahoma’s offensive problems, but also how their defense can be a separate problem for the Texas offense (5:00) before getting into the keys of the game (10:00) including who has the edge in the battle of the trenches (13:00), and how Alex Grinch will try and stop Bijan Robinson (16:00).

We also play “Buy or Sell” with Wescott (19:30) discussing if Bijan is the best RB in the country, is Texas now the favorite in the Big 12, do the Longhorns HAVE to win on Saturday, is the defense becoming a problem, and will we get another one-score game?

Finally, we wrap up with talk on the Longhorns' slow starts against Oklahoma over the past few games (27:00) and why Bijan (you better sit down for this) will be the key to the game (28:30).

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The Texas Longhorns went into Fort Worth and did something they haven't done since the 2013 season - came away with a win over the TCU Horned Frogs. It wasn't always pretty, but an ugly win is better than a loss any day of the week. Texas rode the talents of running back Bijan Robinson, who set a career high for both carries and yardage - propelling the offense that was otherwise stagnant. Quarterback Casey Thompson had troubles connecting with his receivers, with Jordan Whittington, Xavier Worthy and Joshua Moore all recording drops in the win. Texas managed to do just enough on the offensive side of the ball to get it done on Saturday.

Defensively, the Longhorns did just enough, in spite of an incredible performance from TCU running back Zach Evans who was seemingly limited by fatigue in the matchup. Texas bottled up the Horned Frogs' pass game, with quarterback Max Duggan turning in a career-low performance against the Longhorns - a team he set school records against in the past. But with all of that said, a win is a win and Texas currently remains undefeated in conference play and set up head coach Steve Sarkisian with the best starting record for a Texas head coach since the 1970s.

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Intro and Outro: Earth, Wind, Fire (Ryan Little / CC BY-SA 4.0 )

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Wescott Eberts and Cameron Parker recap their thoughts on Bijan Robinson's incredible performance against TCU, the state of the Texas passing game, and the news of Denzel Okafor's season-ending surgery.

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