Texas Football: Why Kansas Game Is a Must-Win for Longhorns' Bowl Chances

Coming off their bye, the Longhorns face the lowly Kansas Jayhawks, arguably the weakest team left on Texas' schedule. For the Horns to reach a bowl this season, they will have to treat this game like the must-win it is.

It's been a tough start to the Charlie Strong era. The 1-2 Horns were again humiliated by the BYU Cougars, falling 41-7 at home, then lost a late lead in a 20-17 defeat at the hands of then-No. 12 UCLA.

And it could very well get worse for Strong.

In less than two weeks, Texas faces one of the toughest back-to-backs any college team will face all season against No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 7 Baylor. Meanwhile, the rest of the Big 12 has been surprisingly competitive with only one other team sporting a losing record.

That's why taking care of business against Kansas is so crucial for the rest of the season. A bowl appearance should be viewed as a success at this point, and you need six to get there. 

Texas has to win this game to have a chance at pulling that off, and it could also use the confidence in the midst of this tough stretch of games.

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Tough Remaining Schedule

Besides Kansas, the home matchup with Iowa State is the only other game that Texas should be considered big favorites. That's it.

Oklahoma and Baylor are a class above Texas this season. Even if the Horns can contain their offenses, which rank first and second in the conference, respectively, the Longhorns have given no indication that they can keep up in a shootout, scoring just three touchdowns in their last two games.

After those two all-but-guaranteed losses, the Longhorns get Iowa State, which should also be a win, and then finishes the season with five toss-ups.

That stretch of the season will define Charlie Strong's first season, because it's the point where we should start seeing improvement. The problem being that Kansas State, West Virginia and Oklahoma State have each been competitive against top-5 teams Auburn, Alabama and Florida State, respectively.

"

Oklahoma is 3x better than Alabama. Fastest defense I've ever seen.

— Christopher Lambert (@theDudeofWV) September 21, 2014"

The Horns also get the explosive Texas Tech offense during that stretch, as well as a tough TCU group that has allowed just 205.5 yards per game thus far.

Assuming the Horns handle Iowa State, winning three of those remaining five games is a daunting task in itself. Losing to Kansas would mean the Horns have to win four, and that's just not going to happen with the current roster.

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The Need for Confidence

Suffering two tough losses through three games, the Longhorns just need to prove to themselves that they can play a full game and get a win. Doing anything else against Kansas would be disastrous to this team's confidence.

Going back to last season, Texas has lost five of its last seven, including four by 20 points or more. During that span, this Longhorn team has seen long-time head coach Mack Brown replaced, yet they have still been the object of mockery at the national level.

If there's a team in more need of a win, it's not by a wide margin. A loss to Kansas, which gave up 331 rushing yards to Duke in Week 2, has the potential to send the rest of the season into a tailspin.

Fortunately for the Longhorns, their new coach Strong and their fanbase, the 14.5-point favorites (according to OddsShark.com) will have no trouble delivering fresh off their bye.