Texas Longhorns Insider: Oklahoma State Versus Texas Game Preview

The Longhorns will try to get back on the winning track this Saturday following a crushing 55-17 loss at the hands of the powerful Oklahoma Sooners.  The Cowboys earned a

The Longhorns have had issues at quarterback ever since last year and even with Garrett Gilbert out and transferring, it seems as if Texas may still have some concerns at the quarterback position.  In their game against the Sooners, the Longhorns quarterbacks (both David Ash and Case McCoy played this past Saturday) combined for 20 completions on 36 attempts for 233 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. 

Both were sacked a combined seven times (and wide receiver Jaxon Shipley was sacked on his only pass attempt making it eight sacks total on the day).

Their quarterback position has been a point of contention for the Longhorns over the past season and a half and it continues to be so.

In the running game, the Longhorns are led by Malcolm Brown, who has gained 399 yards on 84 carries with one touchdown.  His average yards per rush is 4.5 yards.  Fozzy Whittaker leads with four touchdowns and 184 yards on 34 carries.

In the receiving game, the Longhorns are led by Jaxon Shipley with 369 yards on 25 catches and three touchdowns.  The second best receiver on the team is Mike Davis with 334 yards on 15 catches and one touchdown.  Incidentally, D.J. Grant has three scores.

The Longhorn’s offense is gaining 388 yards per game while the Cowboys defense is holding teams to 438 yards per game so there are some yards that can be gained there.  The Cowboys are keeping opponents to 272 yards through the air per game and 165 yards on the ground.  The Longhorns are gaining 216 yards through the air and 172 yards on the ground.

Some of the top players for the Cowboys include (at quarterback) Brandon Weeden, who has completed 166 of his 219 passes and has six interceptions, 15 touchdowns while throwing for a total of 1880 yards with a completion percentage of 75.8.

The leading rusher for the Cowboys is Joseph Randle and he has gained 498  yards on 90 carries for an average of 5.4 yards per rush and eight touchdowns.  There next leading rusher is Jeremy Smith and he has 222 yards on 44 carries with five scores.  His average yards per carry is 4.9.

When it comes to catching the ball, the Cowboys leading pass catcher is Justin Blackmon and he’s caught 46 passes for 534 yards and six touchdowns.  The next best receiver on the team is Josh Cooper and he has 29 catches for 315 yards and two scores.

The Longhorns defense has been allowing teams an average of 388 yards both passing and throwing the ball while the Cowboys are allowing teams to gain an average of 438 yards per game.  The Longhorns are allowing an average of 216 yards through the air per game while the Cowboys are getting 431 yards through the air per game.  Oklahoma State is gaining an average of 146 yards on the ground while the Longhorns are allowing teams to rush for 105 yards per game.

Once again, it would appear as if the Longhorns would have the advantage on defense (there were those that thought that their defense could match up well against the offense of the Sooners the week before but we know what happened there) but it’s likely the Cowboys are going to be too much for the Longhorns.

In order for Texas to overcome the Cowboys they are going to need to shut down Weeden and force them to run which may be difficult to do.  In order to make Weeden less effective Texas will have to put pressure on him.  If they can force the Cowboys to run the ball much more then they have a good chance of winning this game.

Speaking of the run, the Longhorns may want to try to run the ball as much as possible to help keep the pressure off of their young quarterbacks.  If Texas can control the ball and the clock in this game, they will have a good chance at pulling what some will consider an upset against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Prediction

The Longhorns need a win to keep up their hopes of having a better season than last year and getting a bowl game.  The Cowboys need to win this game to keep up with the Sooners in the Big 12 race.  Since it will come down to offense the Cowboys are much better prepared to win this game.

It looks like it’s going to be a Cowboys victory and a second straight loss for the Longhorns.

Oklahoma State 42 Texas 33