Texas Football: Game-by-Game Predictions for the Month of November

Texas' three November games could have been really interesting.

Coming off convincing wins over Oklahoma and Kansas State, Charlie Strong's team had it figured it. The Longhorns were handily winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, gaining the look of a team nobody wants to mess with at the end of the season.

That all vanished on Halloween. The Horns played a lifeless game at Iowa State, getting worked 24-0 by a supposed Big 12 bottom-feeder.

The loss pushed the Longhorns to 3-5 for the second year in a row, meaning they'll have to win three of four to reach a bowl game. They pulled it off last season with a three-game spurt at this exact point in the season, albeit with a much more experienced team.

Given that its last non-November game of the regular season will be Baylor, the Longhorns better hope they can repeat their 2014 success. To do it, they'll have to figure out how to play on the road.

11/7 vs. Kansas

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With only 67 scholarship players, Kansas has a long way to go before it can compete for Big 12 wins.

Texas, like just about every other FBS team, is better than the Kansas Jayhawks. That's all there is to it.

David Beaty's team is 0-8, with losses to both South Dakota State and Rutgers. Per CFBStats.com, the Jayhawks rank last in the Big 12 in scoring offense, scoring defense, rushing offense and passing defense, to name a few. And they're not much better anywhere else.

The reason for all of this futility? Beaty has a mere 67 players on scholarship, as noted by ESPN.com's Jake Trotter. You're allowed to have 85. Even worse, the Jayhawks are still paying Charlie Weis millions through the end of next year as thanks for stuffing their program into a wood chipper.

Also allowing 5.44 yards per carry, Kansas is the worst defense the Longhorns will play this season. And they get the Jayhawks at home, where Texas is averaging 34 points per game.

Texas should completely control this one.

Texas 27, Kansas 7

11/14 at West Virginia

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They've had some ugly losses, but West Virginia is not to be trifled with at home.

How much did Texas take its loss to Iowa State to heart? We'll find out at West Virginia. 

First off, the Longhorns have been dreadful on the road. The Strong era seems to hit a new low every time his team gets on a plane, having been outscored by a 112-10 margin so far in 2015. 

As clichéd as it sounds, the Mountaineers are also far better than their 3-4 record states. Football Outsiders' S&P+ Ratings have them as the No. 13 team in the country, with their losses coming to Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Those teams are a combined 30-1.

However, if you're looking for a reason to hope, Dana Holgorsen's defense has been quite porous since the loss of star safety Karl Joseph.

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This is fun. Texas Tech and West Virginia have allowed a combined 233 points their last two games.

@KegsnEggs, 4 Nov 2015

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If they had shown a pulse on the road to this point, the Longhorns would be getting a shot in this one. But based on what they've shown so far, no responsible individual can pick them to get the job done in Morgantown.

And, yes, this means the Horns will have to beat Baylor in order to reach a bowl game. That's what laying an egg in Ames is going to cost this team.

West Virginia 34, Texas 20

11/26 vs. Texas Tech

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Once again, Kliff Kingbury's Red Raiders are being dragged down by a pathetic defense.

Like West Virginia, Kliff Kingsbury's Red Raiders' four losses this season are to Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

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An Inception-like spinoff: Iowa State's other loss is to Texas Tech, whose four losses are to teams w/ combined 30-1 records (HT: @esteyer)

@NicoleAuerbach, 3 Nov 2015

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But the similarities between these teams diverge from there. Whereas the Mountaineers have a respectable defense (per Football Outsiders' S&P+), the Red Raiders are almost as bad as Kansas, which can't even fill its scholarship allotment.

Per CFBStats.com, Tech ranks in the Big 12's bottom-two in scoring defense, yards per carry, yards per passing attempt and yards per play. The only team keeping them from last place in all of those categories is, of course, Kansas. The Red Raiders also rank last in the Big 12 in sacks per game despite facing the most passing attempts in the conference.

At home, Texas is going to be able to move the ball against this team. Before the debacle at Iowa State, the Horns tore up Oklahoma and Kansas State, two of the conference's better run defenses, for 313 and 274 rushing yards, respectively. They should tear up a Red Raider front that's giving up almost six yards per carry.

Texas' defense has also held its own this season when the offense does its job. That unit is giving up a respectable 25.8 points per game when the offense hits double-digits. The Longhorns will easily hit that mark in this one.

The win will set up a win-or-go-home situation for the Horns the following week at Baylor. Then we'll all have to see if they can rediscover the magic they had in the upset win over Oklahoma.

Texas 35, Texas Tech 28