Texas Bowl 2017: Texas vs. Missouri TV Schedule, Time and Odds

Tom Herman didn't return Texas to national prominence in 2017, but he did do one thing Charlie Strong had not the last two seasons—he got the Longhorns bowl-eligible.

Texas will face Missouri in the aptly named Texas Bowl on Wednesday in a battle of two programs hoping a win can give them momentum going into 2018.

The Longhorns' biggest issues came on offense, where they had trouble deciding on a starter at quarterback and running back. Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele split time at quarterback, with neither player separating himself.

Ehlinger will get the start against Missouri and has developed a reputation as more of a downfield risk taker. He has a propensity to throw balls into tight spaces and not sliding when he attempts to tuck and run the ball in the open field.

Head coach Herman has said it's worrying that Ehlinger has taken a number of hard hits to the head this season.

"Yeah, it's concerning," he said, per Nick Moyle of the San Antonio Express-News. "I mean, I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't. But I think there's no greater teacher than experience. At some point, you know, when you continue to make the same mistakes, you've got to try a different approach. So, we'll figure out what buttons to push and we'll work really, really hard to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Ray Thompson/Associated Press

No Texas player had more than Ehlinger's 368 rushing yards. Freshman Daniel Young took over the bulk of the work in the latter third of the season and wound up finishing with 325 yards to lead all Longhorns running backs.

Missouri has the whole offense thing figured out.

The Tigers ranked 10th in the country in scoring offense and in total yards, numbers good enough to make Josh Heupel the next head coach at UCF. They closed the regular season with six straight wins after a dismal 1-5 start, thanks in large part to the play of quarterback Drew Lock.

The junior threw for 3,695 yards and 43 touchdowns against 12 interceptions during the regular season. He threw for at least three touchdowns in each of the Tigers' last eight games.

"He's made a lot of great progress," coach Barry Odom told reporters. "Some of that is understanding even more of what we need out of that position. I think he's always understood it. It's on full display now, and I don't know what would have been the trigger."

Game Info

Date: December 27 at 9 p.m. ET

Network: ESPN

Line: Missouri - 3 (OddsShark)