AUSTIN- One of these days, new Texas coach Tom Herman will get his first big upset. But Saturday was not that day.
After falling to No. 4 USC in double-overtime, and losing to No. 12 OU by five at the Cotton Bowl last week, the Longhorns came up just short yet again in a 13-10 overtime defeat to No. 10 Oklahoma State at Darrel K. Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin.
Herman had a reputation for pulling off upsets at his last job in Houston. The Cougars were 6-0 v.s. top 25 teams with Herman at the helm. He’s now 0-3 against ranked teams at Texas, but all three of those losses could’ve gone the other way.
Texas’s defense held Oklahoma State to 4.8 yards per play, well below its season average and FBS-leading 8.35. The Cowboys also came up well short of their 48.5 points per game scoring average.
Junior linebacker Malik Jefferson led the Longhorns with 14 tackles, junior safety Kris Boyd was in the right place at the right time with 13 tackles and two pass breakups and junior cornerback Holton Hill made his presence felt with nine tackles and a pass breakup.
Junior linebacker Bracken Hager registered two sacks and senior defensive tackle Poona Ford had 2.5 tackles for a loss and a forced fumble that completely changed the game.
Oklahoma State took a 7-0 lead on a 10-play, 96-yard drive that ended with freshman J.D. King scampering into the end zone from seven yards out. The Cowboys looked well on their way to making it 14-0 before Ford stripped sophomore running back Justice Hill inside the 10-yard line and junior safety Deshon Elliot pounced on it to give Texas possession.
Two plays later, freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger hit junior wide receiver John Burt on a simple hitch route that should’t have gone for more than 10 yards, but Burt shoved sophomore cornerback A.J. Green off of him, tip-toed the sidelines and then turned on the boosters for a 90-yard gain down to two. Ehlinger punched it in on the next play to tie the game and send the message that Texas wasn’t going to just lie down.
The rest of the game was a defensive slugfest, with neither team finding the end zone from that point forward. The next four drives ended in punts. Texas took a 10-7 lead when junior kicker Joshua Rowland booted a 22-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 71-yard drive on the first possession of the third quarter.
Oklahoma State tied the game when sophomore kicker Matt Ammendola connected on a 19-yard field goal early in the fourth, but Texas was glad to give up just three, as the Cowboys had it first and goal at the one but couldn’t find the end zone against the Longhorns’ stingy defense on three straight plays.
Seven of the next eight drives resulted in punts, with the outlier being Ammendola missing a 29-yard field goal with 4:15 to go that likely would’ve won the game. Amendola made up for it with a 34-yard field goal in overtime. Texas looked poised to at least send the game into a second extra period, but Ehlinger was intercepted by Ramon Richards in the end zone on third down and 4 to end the game.
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