Texas Football: The 3 Biggest X-Factors for the Longhorns vs. Oklahoma State

The Texas Longhorns sit just one win away from a bowl appearance, and they have a good chance of getting it this week at Oklahoma State.

To complete the unexpected second-half surge, Charlie Strong's team will need more of what we saw in the upset win over West Virginia.

Though the Longhorns will get one more shot at win No. 6, this week's contest in Stillwater is about as must-win as it gets. The Cowboys have lost three in a row, averaging just 11 points per game in blowout defeats at the hands of TCU, West Virginia and Kansas State.

Should Texas lose, that means it will have to handle the No. 4 Horned Frogs on Thanksgiving.

To avoid that scenario, the Longhorns must get big performances from their X-factors in the ground game and along the defensive line. It also couldn't hurt to figure out how to bottle up Tyreek Hill on kick returns.

Establishing the Run

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After a slow start, Gray is back to slicing and dicing his way to big plays.

Through Texas' first eight games, the Longhorns were averaging barely over 20 points per game, breaking the 30-point mark just twice.

Thanks to a running game that has hit its stride, they have scored 34 and 33 points en route to consecutive victories.

The Longhorns have turned 80 carries into a combined 468 yards and six touchdowns against Texas Tech and West Virginia. Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray each have a 100-yard effort during that span, with the latter finally looking like the guy who averaged over 86 yards per game in 2013.

As Strong stated during his Monday media session, a lot of credit belongs to an offensive front that is finally starting to jell:

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With that group of guys, it's almost like they're forming a bond … Now they're realizing just how focused and how tight they have to be for everyone to really trust and believe in them, and that's what happened with the running game. Now the running backs are trusting them and believing that they're going to get people out of the way just to give them a seam.

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Granted, the Horns have picked on two of the Big 12's worst run defenses in terms of yards per carry allowed, per Big12Sports.com. But the improvement has been obvious, allowing Texas to cruise past West Virginia despite a poor showing by Tyrone Swoopes.

Prior to giving up three rushing scores to Kansas State, the Cowboys surrendered over 200 rushing yards to both TCU and West Virginia. The opportunity is there, and taking advantage of it should spell victory for the Longhorns.

Cedric Reed's Continued Resurgence

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An effective Cedric Reed would mean big things for the Texas defense, especially against Oklahoma State.

Texas has been waiting on Cedric Reed to look like himself all season, and the senior showed up in a big way against West Virginia. With the talent Texas has in the middle, he has a chance to do serious damage this week and beyond.

Reed was a one-man wrecking crew on Saturday, earning recognition as the Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for recording 13 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a safety. 

This is more what we expected from Reed as a senior after his 10-sack junior campaign. Instead, Malcom Brown and Hassan Ridgeway had done almost all of the heavy lifting while Reed managed just 1.5 sacks through his first nine games.

Oklahoma State has given up a conference-worst 25 sacks this season, which means Reed's return to form could result in a huge day for the defense. This game is over if he can force the Cowboys to single up on either Brown or Ridgeway.

Contain Tyreek Hill in the Return Game

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Hill is a menace of a kick returner, which could spell trouble for Texas' inconsistent coverage team.

Tyreek Hill is one of the scariest offensive weapons in the country, and one capable of killing Texas in one of its weakest areas—special teams.

Per NCAA.com, the Longhorns' kick return unit ranks dead last in the FBS by allowing 31.44 yards per return. No other team allows more than 29.

Of course, kick returns are one of Hill's specialties, where he leads the Big 12 with 560 yards and two touchdowns on the season. That's horrible news for a Longhorn team that gave up a crucial return score in its 31-26 loss to Oklahoma.

Hill will put up numbers on offense because of his all-around ability, but expect him to get the Kevin White treatment from Vance Bedford's defense. The Longhorns are going to know where he is at all times, especially because the Cowboys lack firepower elsewhere.

What Texas has to avoid is letting Hill go nuts as a returner to shorten the field for a struggling offense. The Horns might be better served by playing it safe with squib kicks.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats and information courtesy of TexasSports.com.