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Texas: Good Showing Against OU Would Be Huge

By Cole Mentzel

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The Texas Longhorns will face their biggest rival this weekend and a good showing is going to be key for the rest of their season.

The Texas Longhorns have gone on an insane roller coaster ride over the past three weeks. After missing a late field goal in a loss to California, mishandling a punt to lose to Oklahoma State, and getting throttled by TCU, the Longhorns have a long way to go before they earn any more respect.

The blame started to flow after this past weekend when Texas Football “went missing” in Fort Worth. Twitter blew up with hate towards Charlie Strong, urging the Longhorns to fire him. To make matters worse, Longhorns defensive back Kris Boyd was caught retweeting a tweet about transferring to Texas A&M at halftime.

On Monday afternoon, a few Texas players exchanged words over Twitter and receiver DeAndre McNeal attempted to calm the situation down with this tweet:

It’s been a long few days for the Texas Longhorns and their fans and they are slowly fading into obscurity in the Big 12. However, there is one way they can get things back on track: show up against Oklahoma this weekend in the Red River Rivalry.

It’s a game that happens every year. The Cotton Bowl, in the heart of the Texas State Fair, is an incredible scene before a very nasty game between bitter rivals begins. Fans and students of each college are involved in a big way splitting the stands evenly, regardless of record. No matter how good one team may be, they never have a true advantage because of the unpredictability of the match-up.

This weekend is the perfect week for the Longhorns to get back on track and shed some of the hate and criticism they have been receiving. They don’t exactly need a win against No. 10 Oklahoma, they just need to keep the game close and prove that they can work together as a team.

One major problem the last few weeks has been the defense and the ability to operate as a team. There have been loose pieces everywhere and they have caused major issues for the side of the ball Charlie Strong specializes at.

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A bright spot for the Longhorns, besides last week against TCU, has been their offense. Jerrod Heard showed that he can run the ball on California and Oklahoma State but he was limited greatly by the tight defense of TCU. If he is able to work more on the passing aspect of his game, he could help the Longhorns stay productive against an OU team that has looked pretty scary early on.

If Texas is able to control themselves and end the game within 10-15 points, it will be a good sign. Though a loss to a rival is always tough to swallow, the Longhorns can’t be worried about that. They have to stay focused on developing as a team and making sure they don’t completely throw this season down the drain.

Playing a solid game could go a long way in preserving Charlie Strong’s job and keeping the Longhorns morale high.

Next: Malik Jefferson Energizes The Texas Defense

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