Charlie Strong's Seat Heats Up as Texas Is in Danger of Missing Bowl Game

Football just isn't fair sometimes.

Case in point: Texas football during these past two weeks.

The Longhorns were on the verge of heading into overtime against California last Saturday after a late offensive surge led by quarterback Jerrod Heard. But kicker Nick Rose missed a game-tying extra point, and Texas lost, 45-44, to the visiting Golden Bears.

This Saturday, Texas had a much different look to the majority of its game against No. 24 Oklahoma State, but the end result was similar in a 30-27 loss.

After Texas went three-and-out in a tied game with less than a minute left, punter Michael Dickson had a snap go right through his hands. By the time he got on the ball, his rushed punt flew out of bounds for a six-yard loss.

Despite its defensive performance to that point, Texas couldn't prevent Oklahoma State from nailing the game-winning field goal in perfect field position.

So after two heartbreaking home losses, Texas now faces an even tougher hill to climb with a 1-3 record.

These Longhorns are in serious danger of missing a bowl game.

It's a nightmare scenario for head coach Charlie Strong. With Steve Patterson, the athletic director who hired him, now out, Strong's seat is getting warmer after each tough loss. The reset button may look appealing for Texas athletics' next regime.

And in truth, that would be unfair to Strong.

Eric Gay/Associated Press

His young Texas team doesn't look like the same bunch that lined up against Notre Dame in the season-opening 38-3 rout.

With Heard taking over the offense after a change in the play-calling hierarchy, the Longhorns went from a team that had the nation's worst offense in Week 1 to one that put up 650 yards on California.

While California is no defensive juggernaut, the explosiveness against the Golden Bears would have been a wild fantasy for the Texas offense back in South Bend.

And even though the offense took a step back Saturday against a fierce Oklahoma State defense, the Longhorns' own defense put together its best performance of the young season by forcing three turnovers and scoring twice. 

But a massive 16 penalties—including a phantom defensive-holding call and a personal foul on Strong before Oklahoma State's game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter—and another special teams miscue were to blame for another Longhorns loss.

Strong's own penalty didn't do him any favors, as Jake Trotter of ESPN noted on Twitter:

The frustration continues with a young, inexperienced team that has fallen victim to self-inflicted wounds and hasn't put together a complete performance yet on both sides of the ball.

The Texas defense did a lot of growing up Saturday against Oklahoma State, especially after the Cowboys punched it in the mouth with two lightning-fast scoring drives to start the game. It also had momentum in the fourth quarter.

"There ain't no way we were going to lose that game in overtime," defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway said, per Max Olson of ESPN.com. "Not at all."

And the Texas offense looked good in spurts. Tyrone Swoopes seems to have a home now in a Tim Tebow-like power package for the Longhorns, and the play-calling as a whole looked more creative.

But, unfortunately for Strong and the rest of his Texas team, there isn't any time to work out the kinks over the next several weeks. A brutal schedule is about to reach another level.

Date	Opponent	Location
Oct. 3	TCU	Fort Worth, Texas
Oct. 10	Oklahoma	Dallas
Oct. 24	Kansas State	Austin
Oct. 31	Iowa State	Ames, Iowa
Nov. 7	Kansas	Austin
Nov. 14	West Virginia	Morgantown, West Virginia
Nov. 26	Texas Tech	Austin
Dec. 5	Baylor	Waco, Texas

Texas will face a pair of the Big 12's top three title contenders in TCU and Oklahoma—both away from home—over the next two weeks.

Home games against Kansas State and Texas Tech won't be easy for the Longhorns later in the season, and they'll also have to travel to a West Virginia team that is looking tougher each week.

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Texas could be playing for its bowl eligibility at the worst possible time—a road game against high-flying Baylor in the first week of December.

With that remaining slate of games, getting five more wins will be an incredible challenge.

A losing season won't bode well for Strong's chances at survival in Texas, especially with a transition in the athletic department.

Strong's youth-filled Texas team is improving by the week, and the Longhorns still have time to make a run at the postseason.

"We do it to ourselves," Strong said, per Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman. "We’re going to have to create it ourselves. It’s all about making plays."

And even if Texas falls short of the magic six-win mark, one would hope the leadership will have patience with what Strong is obviously building in Austin.

But, as the past two weekends have shown for Texas, this high-stakes sport isn't always fair.

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Unless otherwise noted, statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. 

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.