 "Photo: Bruno Morlan/The Daily Texan")
STILLWATER, Okla. — The Texas Longhorns entered Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday night with a question looming over their heads. Four hours later, they left for Austin with a resounding answer.
They needed no comebacks this time, no dramatic field goals or last-minute stands.
Instead, No. 2 Texas (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) demolished No. 18 Oklahoma State 41-14 in front of 58,516 silenced fans, providing the signature win to a so-far perfect season.
It wasn’t supposed to be this easy for Texas in a year in which they have struggled to meet lofty expectations. But facing their biggest challenge of the season on the road — almost exactly a year after losing to Texas Tech in similar circumstances — the Longhorns put on a show for a national audience.
“We want to be the best team in the country,” said Texas head coach Mack Brown. “We want to play with a swagger.”
That emotion was captured and printed for the whole team to experience. Every player wore a dog tag that read “Texas Swagger,” an idea proposed by defensive end Sergio Kindle to show the team’s confidence in itself, even when those on the outside doubted them.
“We don’t really listen to anyone outside this locker room,” said defensive end Sam Acho. “We know what we’re capable of. We definitely played with some swagger tonight.”
The wild shoot-out that was expected of the Longhorns and Cowboys never materialized, not even close. Texas jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter, using a methodical offensive attack and explosive defense.
Cody Johnson scored the first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run, and on the Cowboys’ ensuing possession, Texas cornerback Curtis Brown jumped a short pass on third-and-two and returned it 77 yards for a score. The Cowboys rallied, driving for a 1-yard touchdown run of their own, but whatever thoughts they had of a comeback were quickly dismantled.
On the field for only their fourth offensive possession of the half, the Longhorns made it count. Colt McCoy drove his side 80 yards in 10 plays, finding Malcolm Williams in the back of the end zone for a diving catch with nine seconds left in the half for a 24-7 lead at the break.
“That changed the momentum back in our favor after they took it, and that was about the only time I thought they took it all night,” Brown said. “Then for us to come out and score points immediately to start the third quarter. The game was really over at that point.”
Texas broke away for good just six minutes into the second stanza. After the offense kicked a field goal to boost the lead to 27-7, Earl Thomas struck with his sixth interception of the year. The sophomore safety broke on an underneath route and returned the ball 31 yards for a backbreaking touchdown, Texas’ ninth non-offensive touchdown this year.
“We wanted to put our foot on their throats,” Thomas said.
The Texas defense did just that, forcing four interceptions and five total turnovers from an explosive Cowboys offense.
Coming into the game, OSU quarterback Zac Robinson had thrown only three interceptions all year but finished 15-of-28 with only 143 yards and four picks Saturday. Texas kept the running game in check, too. Oklahoma State got 134 yards rushing, but needed 43 carries, only a 3.1 per-carry average.
“Tonight was about executing against a good offense,” said Texas safety Blake Gideon, who also had an interception. “If nothing else, we were going to stop the run.”
The Longhorns’ defensive dominance left both offenses frustrated. Thanks to two defensive scores, a muffed punt and a slew of short fields after turnovers, Texas ran only 56 offensive plays all night. McCoy had a season-low 21 passing attempts, completing 16 for 171 yards and a touchdown. For the first game all season, he didn’t throw an interception.
“It’s hard to play great offense when you don’t have the ball because you’re scoring on offense all the time,” Brown said. “Colt got mad at the defense once, ‘Don’t score, fall down, give us the ball every now and then.’ That was fun for them.”
It was a lot more fun than even the Longhorns expected.
“We were prepared for a fight today,” McCoy said. “And it was. We just played really well as a team.”
Now one game at a time! Beat Central Florida!