Texas Longhorns: Keys To Avoiding a Thanksgiving Day Turkey

The goal is in sight.

With just one game left to play in the regular season and a date with the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big 12 title game, the Texas Longhorns are two wins away from another trip to Pasadena.

Texas has cruised through the regular season, running up an 11-0 record and swatting down any potential upset bids (Texas Tech, Oklahoma).

The Longhorns boast the second highest scoring offense in the country at 42 points a game.

What's been even more impressive is their defense, which is statistically the best in the nation, allowing just 239 yards per game.

Now that's all well and good, but the last few years haven't gone exactly as scripted as far as the Texas-Texas A&M game goes (last year is the exception as Texas won 49-9).

The following is a list of keys to the game for the Longhorns as they look to continue their march to the National Championship.

Smother the Fire Early

College Station may be one of the most intimidating venues in all of college football.

As of late, it hasn't been kind to Texas, if it ever was at all. 

In 2007, the Longhorns traveled in to Aggie Land with a 9-2 record and a shot at a Big 12 south title still in play. 

Quarterback Stephen McGee and the Aggies had other plans.  The Longhorns surrendered 533 yards of offense, including 336 through the air, on route to a 38-30 loss.

A&M was able to jump on Texas early and keep the crowd in the game, running up a 17-3 halftime score.  While Texas was able to claw its way back in, the Aggies stayed a step ahead of their burnt orange rivals.

Obviously this is a different year, and Texas is far better than they were in 2007, but the Aggie offense has shown some pop this season (ranked sixth in the nation in total offense) and can put up a lot of points on a good day.

Texas must strike early and fast, and they must quiet the crowd as soon as possible.  If the Longhorns can get out to a 10 to 14 point lead early, the pressure to keep up will be squarely on the Aggies, which isn't likely considering the vast improvement to Texas' defense.

However, if A&M is hanging around late in the game with the 12th man behind them, Texas could be in some trouble.

The Aggies are Playing For Pride...

While A&M still has a pretty good shot at a bowl game, there isn't much to play for on a significant level.

That's very dangerous for Texas.

This game will be treated as the National Championship of the Aggies' season, and you can bet they will come out with all guns blazing.

The problem with Texas' back-to-back losses to the Aggies in 2006 and 2007 was that the Longhorns didn't match the Aggies emotionally.  Call it arrogance, but Texas didn't believe the Aggies stood a chance, and in turn, they got bitten.

This time around, the Longhorns have to play every down with the thought that if they don't win, they can kiss glory goodbye.

Will Muschamp should have his defense excited, which should help keep the team's morale at a high level.

Pressure Jerrod Johnson

Johnson has really taken off this season for the Aggies, throwing for 2,875 yards and 24 touchdowns with just five interceptions.

In years past, the Aggies relied on a form of the spread-option to mainly run the ball.  Stephen McGee was never a great classic passer, thus A&M was often left one-dimensional.

With Johnson keeping defenses honest with his powerful arm, the Aggie offense has finally taken off.

Because Johnson can hurt defenses with his legs (358 yards, eight touchdowns), it will be important for the Texas defense to keep him in the pocket and attack him from all sides.

Will Muschamp is one of the best in the business at drawing up exotic blitzes from the edge, so the speed of the Texas defense should keep the Aggie quarterback in check.

Get the Ground Game Rolling

The Aggies have been good at keeping Colt McCoy under wraps the last few years, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that the Longhorns have been unable to get a consistent ground game going to keep pressure off of him.

Texas has been better at running this season, but the ground game still needs a lot of work.

It is likely that Mack Brown will turn to either freshman Tre' Newton (370 yards, five touchdowns) or sophomore bruiser Cody Johnson (331 yards, 12 touchdowns).

While Texas' short passing game has served as a pretty effective de-facto running game, Newton and Johnson will need to produce to keep the aggressive Aggie front led by sack master Von Miller at bay.

The Longhorns were able to counter a stout Oklahoma defense earlier this season by turning to a lot of misdirection plays that kept the Sooner linebackers off balance.  A&M's defense isn't exactly stingy, so Texas shouldn't have too much trouble dictating the pace of the game.

Additionally, letting McCoy run some options or a draw here and there would help neutralize A&M's speed rush.

Colt McCoy and the Longhorns will likely leave College Station with a win, but the month of November always has its surprises.  Texas needs to be ready for a shoot out with their archrivals.