The Longhorns can keep their hopes of a conference championship alive with a win over the Cowboys.
The No. 25 Texas Longhorns are coming off of a disappointing loss in Dallas, but have an opportunity to retake control of their season and their goals with a win over the No. 12 Oklahoma State Cowboys Saturday.
Oklahoma State comes into Austin with one of the top defenses in the country, staying undefeated by the strength of limiting team’s opportunities to score. However, they struggle to get things done on the offensive side of the ball, ranking No. 9 in the conference in scoring offense and No. 8 in turnover margin. There’s an opportunity for both the Cowboys offense and the Longhorns defense to potentially right the ship as they square off in Austin.
I’m not expecting this defense to be elite by any means, but I was certainly expecting them to look at least league average and look well-coached and so far PK’s group has come under that bar. I’ll be watching to see what kind of attitude the defense shows up to the ball park with on Saturday because it will be an early indicator of what kind of day we can expect.
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“I think there’s something to be said about perseverance,” Sarkisian said. “In this day and age, now more than ever, especially in college football, perseverance is a bit of a lost trait. And so when you when you have really cool living examples of a guy who’s in a sixth year, has never made a start, and now is getting his opportunity… there’s a lot of value in that.”
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After Oklahoma’s ability to gash Texas on the ground last week, it’s not rocket science to imagine that Oklahoma State will try and follow suit. Gundy has already been quoted this week saying “I’d prefer to not get into a shootout with [Texas].” That screams to me that Gundy’s game plan will be to rely heavily on the run game and try and dominate the time of possession.
Injury Report:
- Freshman WR Jaden Alexis (knee) — out
- RS Freshman WR Troy Omeire (knee) — out
- Sophomore TE Brayden Liebrock (shoulder) — out
- Freshman CB Ishmael Ibraheem (knee) — out
- Senior OL Denzel Okafor (knee) — out
- Sophomore WR Jordan Whittington (clavicle) — out
- Senior DL Jacoby Jones (foot) — out
How to Watch:
TV: FOX
Time: 11:00 a.m. Central
Radio: Texassports.com. Broadcasts are also available on Sirius 132, XM 199, and App Ch. 953
Online Streaming: Fox Sports
Odds: The Longhorns are currently a 3.5-point favorite at DraftKings. Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.
Weather: 66 degrees and sunny at kickoff.