Sometimes it's just not your night.
Sometimes you have seniors who make mistakes off the field that cost you on the field.
Sometimes you get off to a terrible start.
Sometimes you commit too many penalties.
Sometimes you make poor coaching decisions.
Sometimes you lose on the road on Saturday night when you do all of those things.
Oklahoma State 38 Texas 35.
Ultimately, what tonight means is that Texas used it's get-out-of-jail card in Stillwater and the Longhorns will probably need to be perfect in the final four games of the season if they want to play in the Big 12 Championship game.
That's it. It's not the end of the world. It's just the end of Texas being ranked in the top 10 and being discussed as a playoff contender this season.
Time to get ready for West Virginia.
*****
(Other thoughts on the game)
* Texas deserves a lot of credit for playing its guts out, despite such unfavorable circumstances throughout the night.
* Todd Orlando had a rough night. Period. His defense wasn't good enough and in the moments that decided the game, Mike Gundy made more correct moves than Orlando did. Texas has won a lot of games because of the play of Orlando's defense, but tonight that side of the ball didn't hold up its end of the bargain.
* Sam Ehlinger's numbers weren't great (22 of 42 for 282 yards and two touchdowns), but I thought he played a pretty good overall game, especially in the second half when he raised his level of play significantly. If Texas had been able to get him the ball back in those final 90 seconds, I think he would have pulled off the comeback.
* I can't emphasize enough how poor of a spot Kris Boyd and Davante Davis put their teammates in tonight by not taking care of business off the field to the level needed to stay on the field. Missing the first quarter proved to be fatal in retrospect.
* The Texas secondary had its worst game of the season. The safeties struggled. The corners struggled. I'm not sure anyone in that position group played championship football tonight.
* Tylan Wallace is the best player Texas has played this season.
* Big 12 officiating is terrible, nearly every week. I don't have it in me to talk about all of the ridiculous errors that ranged from missing false starts to missing holds to missing to missing everything.
* I don't blame Tom Herman for taking a timeout to read the officials the riot act in the second quarter. Good grief.
* All week long, I contended that the Longhorns might be served well by going against Tom Herman's instincts as it relates to the decision with the pre-game coin-clip. My contention had been that if given the choice, the Longhorns should come out and try to land the first punch in the game, while potentially limiting how much the defense would be exposed without its starting cornerbacks. Well, Texas won the toss, deferred to the second half and the Oklahoma State offense came out firing, scoring a touchdown with relative ease and establishing a track meet that Texas wasn't ready for in the first half. Oklahoma State finished the first quarter with 260 total yards of offense.
* I thought the onside kick after the final touchdown was both an error in strategy and execution, which is a bad combo.
* That ball that Ehlinger threw down the seam to Andrew Beck for huge yardage in the second quarter might have been the best throw I've seen Ehlinger make as a college player. Him being able to stick that throw while playing for Austin Westlake is one of the reasons I fell in love with him as a prospect.
* The Texas defenses didn't have many big plays in the first half, but the Gary Johnson sack of Taylor Cornelius in the second quarter, which knocked Oklahoma State into the kind of field goal range that led to a miss, was one of the few and it was a three-point play.
* Texas looked absolutely out of gas when Oklahoma State went up 24-7 with 10:15 left in the second quarter, but Oklahoma State took its foot off the gas in terms of pace and it seemed to allow Texas to settle in for much of the second quarter. If I had been Mike Gundy, I would have made Texas stop me before I start making adjustments that stop myself, but that's just me.
* The Andrew Beck holding call that wiped out the monster play to Collin Johnson catch in the third quarter with the Longhorns trailing by 17 was just a huge moment in terms of eliminating a chance for a comeback. If that play stands and the Longhorns can cash it in with a touchdown, it's a 10-point game and it's game on. That penalty, like so many others in this game, proved critical.
* Yes, Texas was still tipping plays on offense with its pre-snap positioning of its running back.
* I didn't think Keontay Ingram got enough touches tonight, but that's nothing new.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey's drop in the first half was probably a touchdown if he holds on. The sideline was wide open for him with traffic going the other way and if he doesn't score, he certainly runs it inside the 10-yard line. Big little moment in the game.
* Johnson and Humphrey combined for nine catches, which just isn't enough.
* The Texas pass protection was good enough to win this game. The run blocking wasn't good enough.
* Breckyn Hager played his best game of the season tonight.
* Moving forward, I kind of feel like everything that happens internally within the program with regards to incidents that require discipline will be listed as "late for meetings".
Sometimes you have seniors who make mistakes off the field that cost you on the field.
Sometimes you get off to a terrible start.
Sometimes you commit too many penalties.
Sometimes you make poor coaching decisions.
Sometimes you lose on the road on Saturday night when you do all of those things.
Oklahoma State 38 Texas 35.
Ultimately, what tonight means is that Texas used it's get-out-of-jail card in Stillwater and the Longhorns will probably need to be perfect in the final four games of the season if they want to play in the Big 12 Championship game.
That's it. It's not the end of the world. It's just the end of Texas being ranked in the top 10 and being discussed as a playoff contender this season.
Time to get ready for West Virginia.
*****
(Other thoughts on the game)
* Texas deserves a lot of credit for playing its guts out, despite such unfavorable circumstances throughout the night.
* Todd Orlando had a rough night. Period. His defense wasn't good enough and in the moments that decided the game, Mike Gundy made more correct moves than Orlando did. Texas has won a lot of games because of the play of Orlando's defense, but tonight that side of the ball didn't hold up its end of the bargain.
* Sam Ehlinger's numbers weren't great (22 of 42 for 282 yards and two touchdowns), but I thought he played a pretty good overall game, especially in the second half when he raised his level of play significantly. If Texas had been able to get him the ball back in those final 90 seconds, I think he would have pulled off the comeback.
* I can't emphasize enough how poor of a spot Kris Boyd and Davante Davis put their teammates in tonight by not taking care of business off the field to the level needed to stay on the field. Missing the first quarter proved to be fatal in retrospect.
* The Texas secondary had its worst game of the season. The safeties struggled. The corners struggled. I'm not sure anyone in that position group played championship football tonight.
* Tylan Wallace is the best player Texas has played this season.
* Big 12 officiating is terrible, nearly every week. I don't have it in me to talk about all of the ridiculous errors that ranged from missing false starts to missing holds to missing to missing everything.
* I don't blame Tom Herman for taking a timeout to read the officials the riot act in the second quarter. Good grief.
* All week long, I contended that the Longhorns might be served well by going against Tom Herman's instincts as it relates to the decision with the pre-game coin-clip. My contention had been that if given the choice, the Longhorns should come out and try to land the first punch in the game, while potentially limiting how much the defense would be exposed without its starting cornerbacks. Well, Texas won the toss, deferred to the second half and the Oklahoma State offense came out firing, scoring a touchdown with relative ease and establishing a track meet that Texas wasn't ready for in the first half. Oklahoma State finished the first quarter with 260 total yards of offense.
* I thought the onside kick after the final touchdown was both an error in strategy and execution, which is a bad combo.
* That ball that Ehlinger threw down the seam to Andrew Beck for huge yardage in the second quarter might have been the best throw I've seen Ehlinger make as a college player. Him being able to stick that throw while playing for Austin Westlake is one of the reasons I fell in love with him as a prospect.
* The Texas defenses didn't have many big plays in the first half, but the Gary Johnson sack of Taylor Cornelius in the second quarter, which knocked Oklahoma State into the kind of field goal range that led to a miss, was one of the few and it was a three-point play.
* Texas looked absolutely out of gas when Oklahoma State went up 24-7 with 10:15 left in the second quarter, but Oklahoma State took its foot off the gas in terms of pace and it seemed to allow Texas to settle in for much of the second quarter. If I had been Mike Gundy, I would have made Texas stop me before I start making adjustments that stop myself, but that's just me.
* The Andrew Beck holding call that wiped out the monster play to Collin Johnson catch in the third quarter with the Longhorns trailing by 17 was just a huge moment in terms of eliminating a chance for a comeback. If that play stands and the Longhorns can cash it in with a touchdown, it's a 10-point game and it's game on. That penalty, like so many others in this game, proved critical.
* Yes, Texas was still tipping plays on offense with its pre-snap positioning of its running back.
* I didn't think Keontay Ingram got enough touches tonight, but that's nothing new.
* Lil'Jordan Humphrey's drop in the first half was probably a touchdown if he holds on. The sideline was wide open for him with traffic going the other way and if he doesn't score, he certainly runs it inside the 10-yard line. Big little moment in the game.
* Johnson and Humphrey combined for nine catches, which just isn't enough.
* The Texas pass protection was good enough to win this game. The run blocking wasn't good enough.
* Breckyn Hager played his best game of the season tonight.
* Moving forward, I kind of feel like everything that happens internally within the program with regards to incidents that require discipline will be listed as "late for meetings".
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