Texas Longhorns Versus the Oklahoma State Cowboys Game Review

Continuing their typical trend for the 2010 season, the Texas Longhorns hosted the 10th ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys in a game that they had to win to keep their bowl hopes alive as well as try to finish at or above .500.  Instead of using both of those goals as motivation the Longhorns started the game slow, got behind big and lost 33-16.

Texas did manage some decent drives in this game but their inability to score as well as their inability to refrain from making mistakes killed them in this game as they continue slipping deeper into oblivion.  Can they win their final two games and stay at .500?  The more they play the more they show us that they are clearly not as good as they have been in a long time.

Scoring Summary

The Cowboys got the first score of the game on a 23 yard field goal from kicker Dan Bailey in the first quarter to put Oklahoma State up by three.  The Longhorns would tie it up after a 37 yard field goal by Justin Tucker still in the first quarter.

The Cowboys would make it 9-3 (the extra point was blocked) when Jeremy Smith ran into the end zone from six yards out in the second quarter.  Oklahoma State would tack on seven more when wide receiver Justin Blackmon caught a 67 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brandon Weeden to make it 16-3.

Oklahoma State running back Kendall Hunter made it 23-3 after a nine yard run still in the second quarter.  The Cowboys first half scoring spree didn’t end there however and they would cap it off with a 45 yard Bailey field goal to make it 26-3 and close out the first half.

The Cowboys started off the scoring in the second half of the game when Hunter got his second touchdown of the game on a one yard run to put the Cowboys up 33-3.  That would be Oklahoma State’s last score of the game.

Texas running back Cody Johnson would help the Longhorns reach ten points after a five yard run in the fourth quarter.  The score was 33-10 at that point.  Texas would get one more score when Ryan Roberson punched the ball in from one yard out to make it 33-16 (the two point conversion failed).  
That would be the final score of the game.

Stud of the Game

The Longhorns picked things up a little bit towards the end of the game when things were already out of hand and they did manage to get some points on the board.  Quarterback Garrett Gilbert did improve as the game went on and only had one interception but he didn’t have any touchdowns.  Controlling the game and keeping the ball out of the hands of Oklahoma State’s offense was good for Gilbert who earns this honor.

Dud of the Game

The Longhorn’s special teams have been less than stellar for the most part over the course of this season and they definitely had a hand in making this game difficult for the Longhorns to win.  The coaching staff has not done a good job with the Longhorn’s special teams this year and the special teams poor play has really reflected in games this season.

Analysis

What more can we say about the Longhorns?  They are clearly in a down season and have lost most all hopes of getting to a bowl game this season as well as staying above .500.

Heading into this game, the Cowboys hadn’t beaten the Longhorns for 12 years so this win felt good to Oklahoma State and made Texas look even worse than it did heading into this game.  Is there hope for this Longhorns team?

In all reality, the offense was better in this game but they just couldn’t score points.  The defense, mostly in the first half, looked like it had regressed even further and played poorly especially against the pass.  A lot of people look at the offense as the cause of the Longhorns struggles this season but their defense hasn’t done its share of the work either.

The offenses struggles can be linked directly to the struggles that the Longhorns have had one their offensive line.  Going into this game, Texas started three freshmen linemen in this game and they didn’t offer him much time to throw the ball.  But that is just one of many problems that plagued the Longhorns this Saturday.

A sluggish offense (no first half touchdown) coupled with a problematic defense kept the Longhorns from winning this and several other games they have played this season. Now, they desperately have to win their next two games in order to get to .500 and be bowl eligible.  

The Longhorns haven’t had a losing season since 1997.

Next Up

The Longhorns will host Florida Atlantic next Saturday at home.  A full preview of that game will come at the end of the week.