Football Preview: Everyone LOVES the Longhorns

It’s starting to get pretty crowded on the Longhorn Bandwagon. This week, Florida Gators quarterback and last year's Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow, threw his support behind Colt McCoy for the Heisman, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Bruce Feldman penciled Texas into the BCS National Championship Game, and Mel Kiper compared Colt to the Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Romo.

That’ll happen when you beat the No. 1 and No. 11 ranked teams in consecutive weeks and rack up over a thousand yards of offense in the process.

Perhaps benefiting from the nation’s love affair with the Horns is their opponent this week, Oklahoma State (2:30 pm, ABC), who, despite an initial No. 6 ranking in the BCS standings, has not garnered as much national attention as many of its Big 12 brethren.

High-profile matchups have become commonplace in these parts, and many national sports pundits are looking past the Pokes to next week’s Texas-Texas Tech shootout in Lubbock. But given the recent history between Texas and OSU, this game is anything but a lock for the Longhorns.

In 2004, Texas trailed 35-7 before scoring 42 unanswered points in the second half. In 2005 the Cowboys watched a 28-9 first half lead evaporate at the hands of Vince Young. And as recently as last season it was Colt McCoy who shook off three quarters of mediocrity to lead the Horns to a 38-35 comeback victory.

Unlike the teams who saw large leads disintegrate against the Horns, though, this year’s OSU squad is a legitimate Big 12 and national title contender, and has been showing it in recent weeks.

Wide receiver Dez Bryant has established himself as one of the premiere wideouts in the country, ranked second nationally in receiving yards per game and touchdown receptions, including 212 yards last week against Baylor. Oklahoma State also boasts the Big 12’s leading rusher, Kendall Hunter, who is averaging 136 yards per game on the ground. Even the Pokes’ defense has proven itself to have been vastly underrated, limiting the high-powered Missouri offense to 23 points and forcing three turnovers two weeks ago.

Even with Oklahoma and Missouri in the bag, and Oklahoma State and Texas Tech in the queue, coach Mack Brown is keeping his message to the team the same as he has throughout the first half of this difficult stretch of schedule.

“What you're trying to do is keep them loose and let them get a message. That message is that you need to forget everything that has happened, reinforce the positives and correct the negatives,” he told reporters Monday.

And if the national media is to keep showing love for the Longhorns, Brown believes the UT faithful could go a long way in helping his team knock off the Pokes this week. After last week’s win he said, “It was by far the loudest I've ever heard our fans. The players were talking about it in the dressing room after the game, and they were even talking about it yesterday and how much fun it was. We'll need that same thing at 2:30 on Saturday.”

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