Texas enjoying resurgence, no longer ‘all hat, no cattle’
Not living off history anymore Longhorns now factor in Big 12
Texas has been losing the type of game it won on Saturday for nearly a decade.
The Longhorns since 2009 had mastered the excruciatingly painful loss as they tried to find their way back to being nationally relevant and a legitimate contender in the Big 12.
No need to even discuss whether Texas is back after a classic Red River Showdown.
The Longhorns are unquestionably better than they have been in years, with five straight victories that include romps against Southern California and Texas Christian and then a wild victory against No. 7 Oklahoma in which they blew a 21-point fourth-quarter lead but did not completely crumble.
Starting with the last couple seasons under Mack Brown, through three seasons under Charlie Strong and in Tom Herman’s first season as coach, Texas has so rarely made the last, decisive play in a close game. So many slipped away and so many seemingly good wins were followed up with bad losses.
“We’ve taken some really big steps here the last few weeks,” Texas coach Tom Herman said after the game.
Texas is now set to be interesting for the rest of the season. Next week the Longhorns host Baylor and after a week off the they play at Oklahoma State. November starts with a visit from No. 9 West Virginia, the Big 12’s last unbeaten team and currently tied with Texas at the top of the conference. The Mountaineers have a loaded November schedule, including a finale at home against Oklahoma. Don’t be surprised if TCU has a say in this, too.
The Big 12 race to finish 1-2 and play in the conference championship game has a chance to be wild if not ideal for producing a College Football Playoff participant. And it will most definitely include Texas as more than just a spoiler.
Poll dancing
Notre Dame moved into the top five, Texas and Central Florida reached the top 10 and the Southeastern Conference placed a season-high eight teams in the latest Associated Press poll.
After three teams in the top eight and eight ranked teams overall lost on Saturday, there was significant movement throughout the AP Top 25, except in the first four spots.
Alabama stayed No. 1, with 59 first-place votes and Georgia remained No. 2. No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Clemson each received a first-place vote from the media panel.
Notre Dame reached a season-high fifth after beating Virginia Tech on Saturday night. Texas jumped 10 spots to No. 9 after beating Oklahoma. The Longhorns are in the top 10 for the first time since Sept. 19, 2010, when they reached No. 7.
No. 10 UCF has never been ranked higher during the regular season. The Knights, who have the nation’s longest
winning streak at 18 games, finished last season unbeaten and at No. 6.
The SEC’S eight teams are the most by a conference since the SEC had eight on Oct. 16, 2016. The record for most teams in the AP Top 25 for one conference is 10 by the SEC on Sept. 8, 2015.