Texas has all but clinched an upper-division finish in the Big 12 which didn’t look possible a month ago following back to back losses to WVU and Oklahoma. Since then, the Longhorns have won three in a row including road wins at Kansas and Texas Tech and a dominating 33-7 home win over Iowa State Saturday.
“We didn’t play well at times against West Virginia and we didn’t play well at all against Oklahoma,” Texas coach Mack Brown said. “But young guys are growing up on defense and the offense continues to build and grow.
“The biggest thing is they quit listening to any outside sources and went back to work,” Brown said. “They understood that the only thing that is important when it comes to football is the product we put on the field. For two weeks the product wasn’t any good and it needed to get better. We worked to try and correct those mistakes that were being made.
“We had to find out more about who we were on defense,” Brown said. “We challenged our young linebackers and safeties and they stepped up. Now we just have to finish strong.”
The Longhorns are now 5-2 in the league with a bye this week end then a home game against TCU on Thanksgiving night.
Last week, Brown announced his team would honor the late Darrell Royal by lining up in the wishbone for the first play against Iowa State. Texas would used a wild pitch-back reverse pass for 47 yards as an homage to the Right 53 Veer Pass that Royal used to beat Arkansas in 1969 in the so called “Game of the Century.”
“I want to thank all the fans for Saturday’s appreciation for coach Royal,” Brown said this morning. “It special that people showed up for the early game. For as hard is it is, it was a fitting farewell to one of the greats of all time in our business.
“Coach will really be missed,” Brown said.
Kansas State has ascended to the No. 1 spot in the BCS standings meaning the Wildcats are two wins away from playing for a National Championship. Kansas State will play at Baylor this week, take Thanksgiving week off and then finish at home vs. Texas.
“I’m honored and pleased that we are (#1) but today hasn’t been any different,” said Kansas State coach Bill Snyder Monday morning. “It’s not anything that we’re paying much attention to, but we are honored to be there.
“Hopefully nothing is changing,” Snyder continued. “We try to stay as consistent as we can. I’m just going to encourage our guys not to change the way we approach things and try to stay grounded. That’s kind of the way we’ve been throughout our time here.”
Collin Klein did play last week as Kansas State beat TCU 23-10. Klein was a question mark coming. He rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns. He was 12-21 passing for 145 yards throwing just his third interception of the season.
The Wildcats may have suffered more significant injuries last week as safety Ty Zimmerman appeared to hurt his right leg. Receiver/return man Tyler Lockett injured his left arm and was wearing a sling after the game. Receiver Curry Sexton also left the game.
As per usual, Snyder would not provide updates on the injuries Monday morning.
The Mountaineers have Iowa State and Kansas remaining following the game this week with Oklahoma.
Kansas is 1-9 overall and 0-7 in the league following a double overtime loss at Texas Tech. Kansas has come close, losing by six to Oklahoma State, by four to Texas and by an overtime touchdown last week.
“We had an opportunity to win the game in regulation,” Kansas coach Charlie Weis said about Saturday’s game. “We had the ball inside the 20 at the end of the game and settled for a field goal. We had other opportunities. When you get those opportunities you have to finish the game off.
“We can talk about the way the game ended or we can talk about how we didn’t put it in there to win the game.
“For a team to be 1-9,” Weis continued. “I don’t think it could be much more confident that they are going to turn the corner than they are. That’s the mentality of the team.”
Kansas got all but 29 of its 419 yards of total offense the the ground. James Sims was solid again with 127 yards and two touchdowns. But it was sophomore Tony Pierson who had the breakout game with 202 yards rushing. Pierson had filled in for a suspended Sims early in the season as he had back to back 100+ yard performances against South Dakota State and Rice. But prior to Saturday, Pierson didn’t have any more than 67 yards in any Big 12 contest.
Kansas will host Iowa State this week and then have a week off leading into the trip to Morgantown.
Iowa State’s offense is struggling as the Cyclones mustered just 277 yards and seven points during the loss to Texas.
Steele Jantz threw for 133 yards and a touchdown for the Cyclones but was under constant pressure from the Texas pass rush and threw two interceptions.
Iowa State had three other drives into Texas territory, but they ended in a punt, an interception and a missed field goal.