The Longhorns are 7 point favorites.
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The Horns are quietly improving and with a win over the Cats are looking like bowl contenders now.
Kansas State fell short against Texas 23-9 on a rainy afternoon Saturday at Texas Memorial Stadium.
The 11 a.m. kickoff (noon in West Virginia) favors Texas Tech because Morgantown is similar to Lubbock in that it is a hostile environment and a hard place to win. Hubener (20-of-56 for 281 yards, four interceptions and zero touchdowns in Big 12 play) will get the start, although coach Bill Snyder initially wouldn’t commit to the junior. The Sooners had lost to Texas the week before in a very lackluster performance. The Sooners didn’t check into their hotel until after midnight. The Wildcats will take on the Lady ‘Eers on Wednesday. It was the third straight loss for Kansas State, all in conference.
The Texas Longhorns have forged a new identity as a rugged, running team, and coach Charlie Strong thinks he can pinpoint the play that ignited the transformation.
Marshall Weber: Oklahoma State 42 vs. Kansas 17 – I’ll still have no idea how good Oklahoma State is after this weekend. With Oklahoma State at home next, the mistakes have to stop. The Longhorns were off last week. It will be interesting to see if they can get it together before facing the Jayhawks.
But moving down I-35 to Austin, there are two very different types of teams squaring off.
To open the second set, Payne, an Austin native, lifted Kansas to an early five-point lead by accounting for all six points – five kills and a block-assist – during a 6-1 run to begin the set.
Get all kinds of college football stories, rumors, game coverage, and Jim Harbaugh oddity in your inbox every day. The Longhorns rushed for 188 yards and had 221 yards of total offense in the first half to go along with their 16 points. K-State goes for two in the final minutes but doesn’t get it. The Wildcats are #119 in pass defense and #30 in rush defense. I’m giving it to K-state because they historically own Texas under Snyder. Running back Charles Jones led all rushers with career-high 122 total yards on 18 attempts.
Texas had a season-low 35 yards in penalties and allowed a season low in sacks (one). Kansas State had 11 offensive possessions and scored on only two, with only a single touchdown. Hubener was injured against Oklahoma State and receiver Kody Cook had to come in as the emergency quarterback. Cook also came in against Oklahoma in the blowout. Sophomore Joel Lanning, who has been getting more and more snaps recently, is replacing Sam Richardson as the starter Saturday against Texas. Another quarterback Jonathan Banks is out indefinitely with an illness.
Quarterback Mason Rudolph has 38 completions that have covered 20 or more yards. But finally, Texas is showing more consistency regarding both of those position groups. A fourth-quarter touchdown by the Longhorns put the game out of reach. And really, the issue was never that Texas had poor players in the middle. The freshman signal-caller has rushed for 433 yards and three touchdowns, as well as thrown for 714 passing yards and three scores.
It’s also easy to tell he is clearly much more comfortable in this package running the ball than he ever was dropping back as a passer in Watson’s style of offense.
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Heard completed 10 of 15 for 99 yards, but only a few of his completions were downfield in the rain. He is probable with a concussion after missing the Oklahoma game. Armanti Foreman has 10 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown. The underdog is 7-3 ATS in this series recently. They find themselves with a 3-4 record, increased confidence and a formidable ground game that accumulated 587 yards against their last two opponents. The 23-9 win marks the type of victory Texas fans can truly appreciate, one that evokes the phrase, “three yards and a cloud of dust'”. It’s Baylor at home against probably the second-worst team in the Big 12, a week after playing TCU. The Wildcats don’t have a great team, but they’ve shown they can be good.
