Texas Longhorns Stampede into Conference Schedule

If you would have told me a few years ago that the Texas Longhorns would beat Arkansas, their old SWC rival, 52-10, I probably would have scoffed at the notion.

Oh, how things change.

The Longhorns absolutely paved the Razorbacks in what was perhaps Texas' most dominant performance of the season thus far.  Texas held Arkansas to just 11 yards on the ground and a mere 138 through the air.  It seems that the Muschamp Effect has taken hold on the 40 Acres.

The defense got to Hogs QB Casey Dick seven times and harassed the Arkansas running game all day long.  The young secondary was breathtaking, and their solid performance was topped off by an 81-yard pick six by CB Aaron Williams.

The best performance of the game cannot be argued, however.  Without a doubt, Colt McCoy stole the show, going 17 of 19 for 185 yards and three touchdowns, accompanied by 84 yards on the ground and two touchdowns on just nine carries.  His 35-yard TD run was an excellent example of his athleticism.

If Colt McCoy was not on your list of Heisman hopefuls before this game, pencil him in now.  He may be the best QB in the Big 12, and that says a lot considering his company.

Receivers Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby were outstanding, hauling in three touchdowns between them.  In the open field they couldn't be corralled as they made countless defenders miss.

Brian Orakpo, Sergio Kindle, and Henry Melton took over the game on defense, with each accounting for one of Texas' seven sacks.  The defensive line wasted no time in rattling Dick as they came out on their first set of downs and forced a three and out.

A consistent running back is still a work in progress, although freshman Cody Johnson may very well be the answer to Texas' poor power running game.  He bruised his way to a few first downs and got into the end zone once.

The offensive line gave up no sacks and allowed McCoy ample time to hit literally almost every pass he threw.

Following a weekend of massive surprises, including USC, Georgia, and Florida all losing in dramatic fashion, Texas was bumped up to No. 5 in the AP Poll.  The Big 12 conference looks like it may very well be the best conference in football with OU at No. 1, Missouri at No. 4, and Texas Tech at No. 7.

Texas opens up Big 12 play on Saturday against the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder.  Following what should be a very tough game, Texas marches into Dallas to face the best team in the land, Oklahoma.  It gets even better as Texas then heads back home to Austin to take on the Tigers of Missouri.

A lot of questions about Colt McCoy and the defense were answered against Arkansas, but the lack of a go-to running back could prove to be problematic. 

As Texas enters conference play, they seem to be slight underdogs to OU and Mizzou.  However, if the Longhorns continue to improve like they have over the last few weeks and Colt McCoy continues his unbelievable play, the Texas Longhorns could very well win the Big 12 title and be in contention for the BCS Championship come season's end.