STILLWATER, Okla. -- It almost seems uncanny, the parallels between tonight's Texas-Oklahoma State Halloween showdown and last season's matchup between the Longhorns and Texas Tech.A hostile road environment that will be filled with rowdy fans. Night game. National TV audience. The fourth game of an unforgiving four-game stretch that includes Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri before this one.
A bid for the Big 12 South title and a shot at the BCS national championship game also hang in the balance.
But the third-ranked Texas Longhorns are certainly looking for a different result this time around. Facing an explosive Texas Tech team last season, the Red Raiders became all that stood between the No.1 Longhorns and a national title bid when Michael Crabtree caught the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock.
To add insult, the Longhorns didn't even get to represent the South in the Big 12 championship game after a three-way tiebreaker sent an Oklahoma team they beat on a neutral field earlier in the season.
The way head coach Mack Brown sees it, the undefeated Longhorns have a chance to right a wrong tonight, though this time comes against the 13th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys at a soldout Boone Pickens Stadium.
"Obviously we lost the game and didn't play as well as we wanted to last year," said Brown, whose team has won 11 straight against OSU, but the two teams have been involved in some nail biters as of late. "We are really looking at this as we have this window of opportunity to recapture something what we lost last year. The guys are excited about the trip, they are excited about Oklahoma State, but they are also excited about trying to recapture something that didn't work well last year.
"History doesn't repeat itself and give you these opportunities very often."
Oklahoma State, 6-1, 3-0 in Big 12 play, are explosive in the same way the Raiders were last season. If there is a difference, the Cowboys and quarterback Zac Robinson will not have the proven playmaker at receiver the Raiders had last season after All-American receiver Dez Bryant was ruled ineligible by the NCAA this week for lying. All Big-12 running back Kendall Hunter has been out the last several weeks with an ankle injury. He is expected to play about 10 snaps tonight.
The Longhorns, meanwhile, are looking more and more like a team on the rise with quarterback Colt McCoy and the offense finally getting things clicking on all cylinders from the beginning last week against Missouri. Their defense has been lights out all season long linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy and defensive end Sergio Kindle leading the way.
FIRST QUARTER
Both Oklahoma State and Texas open the game with long drives. The Cowboys 13-play drive ends with no points when Bailey misses 44-yard field goal attempt. Then when it's the Longhorns turn, they drive it down in 11 plays and Lawrence converts a 25-yard field to put UT ahead 3-0 with 3:47 remaining in the first quarter.
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Victor Johnson just hammers on Jordan Shipley on punt catch, forcing the sure-handed senior to fumble the ball away at the UT 34. But the Cowboys are not able to convert on a four-and-out.
In fact, that drive may come to define the night for the Cowboys. They had Texas right where they want them, but move the ball exactly two yards on three straight bumbling plays. The most costly was the deep pass on fourth down that was dropped by Hubert Ayiam at the goal line. It would have been a touchdown for the Cowboys had he been able to make the catch.
SECOND QUARTER
Anyiam has been impressive in replacing Dez Bryant, but he is off to terrible night so far. First he drops a touchdown pass late in the first quarter and now a fumble after the reception has set up the Longhorns first touchdown of the night. Texas went up 10-0 when Johnson plows in from1-yard out with 10:45 left in the first half.
McCoy also looked good for the Longhorns on the scoring drive, hitting Shipley and Goodwin for big pass plays to set up the score from the 1-yard line. And this after the drive began with a 10-yard sack of McCoy.
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Can you say opportunistic defense? That's exactly what the Longhorns have been all all season. Curtis Brown steps in front of a Zac Robinson pass to Fooks and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown that put Texas up 17-0 with 6:21 remaining in the first half. It is the eighth non-offensive touchdown for the Longhorns this season.
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The Cowboys are finally able to string together enough plays for a touchdown drive. Robinson completed a few nice passes and then the Cowboys were aided by a pass interference call on Chykie Brown that ultimately set up Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run on the left side to pull the Cowboys within 17-7 with 2:10 left in the half. The touchdown capped an eight-play, 84-yard drive.
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The fans are upset about the lack of call and review of James Kirkendoll's apparent fumble deep in the Longhorns territory. But it appears the play was already ruled dead by whistle before the fumble so it was not reviewable.
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The Longhorns haven't put up the yards Oklahoma State has in the first half, but they've made their opportunities count the most. Texas takes a 24-7 lead into halftime after McCoy finds Williams in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown pass play with nine seconds remaining in the half. The score capped an impressive 10-play, 80-yard drive.
THIRD QUARTER<
Here is the difference between Texas and Oklahoma State tonight. The Longhorns put together impressive opening drive in the third quarter, but stumble at the end. Still, they come away with a Lawrence 40-yard field goal that makes it 27-7 with 10:27 left in the quarter.
In the first half, OSU ventured deep into UT territory four times in the first half but had just one touchdown to show for it.
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You might as well say this isn't Zac Robinson and the Cowboys night offensively. Robinson just threw his second pick six of the night when UT safety Earl Thomas steps in front of the OSU receiver and returns the interception 31 yards for the touchdown that put the Longhorns ahead 34-7 with 9:31 remaining in the third.
Robinson never looked off his receiver, making it easy for Thomas to read his eyes for the easy interception and subsequent touchdown.
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Robinson's struggles continue. He has now thrown three interceptions. The most recent is an improvement, however, only because he didn't throw an interception for a touchdown for the first time tonight. Instead, the Longhorn converted Robinson's interception into a 2-yard touchdown run for Cody Johnson that put Texas well ahead 41-7.
Here is a hint to Robinson and head coach Mike Gundy: The deep pass is gone because the Longhorns are sitting in cover two. The underneath stuff is there, but there isn't enough time to catch up that way. Let's just say, Game Over!
