STILLWATER, Okla. — The Texas Longhorns entered Boone Pickens Stadium Saturday night with a question looming over their heads. Four hours later, they left with a resounding answer.
They needed no comebacks this time. No dramatic field goals or last minute stands.
Instead, Texas (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) demolished No. 13 Oklahoma State 41-14 in front of 58, 516 silenced fans.
It wasn’t supposed to be this easy for
“We want to be the best team in the country,” said head coach Mack Brown. “We want to play with a swagger.”
The Longhorns put the game away midway through the third quarter, using a relentless defensive effort that pressured OSU into five turnovers. Two of them were particularly costly, with Curtis Brown and Earl Thomas returning interceptions for touchdowns. The Longhorns scored 28 points off OSU turnovers overall.
Texas jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter, using a short touchdown run by Cody Johnson and a 77-yard interception return for a touchdown by Brown.
After the Cowboys answered with a score of their own, Colt McCoy led the offense to a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, reaching the end zone with nine seconds left in the half. The touchdown shifted the momentum back to the Texas sideline as the crucial halftime break approached.
“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 within six second half minutes. After the offense kicked a field goal to boost the lead to 27-7, Thomas struck with his sixth interception of the year. The sophomore safety broke on an underneath route and returned the ball 33 yards for a backbreaking touchdown.
The Texas defense turned four interceptions into two touchdowns either side of halftime that put the game away and kept the ball out of Colt McCoy’s hands. The Longhorns ran only 32 plays in the first half and had the ball for only 12:31 seconds, but went into the break with a 24-7 lead. They finished with a meager 275 yards on 56 plays.
“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.”
With dog tags dangling from their necks that read “Texas Swagger”, a new addition meant to showcase Texas’ confidence, the Longhorns demonstrated just how good they could be this year.
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