The moment of truth has arrived for the Texas Longhorns as they face Kansas State in the biggest game of the season. Throw out the previous games against Alabama and Oklahoma. Those were great matchups, but this is playoff football. This is November football in the Big 12.
Texas and Kansas State will play the early game in what amounts to a de facto conference playoff. Kickoff at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium is 11 a.m. local time on Saturday. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will clash in the other semifinal at 2:30 p.m. in Stillwater. All four teams are 4-1 in the league standings, so the path to the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 2 is clear: Win and advance. A loss all but guarantees elimination. Kansas and Iowa State face off at 6 p.m. in what amounts to a play-in game.
The Moment of Truth
Texas and Oklahoma seemed to be the front runners for the Big 12 title game as recently as two weeks ago. A funny thing happened along the way to November, as Kansas shocked the Sooners and the conference cinched itself into a five-team dogpile atop the standings. Texas managed to keep pace despite losing Quinn Ewers to an injury. Redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy emerged from the bullpen last week and led the Longhorns to a 35-6 win against BYU.
Texas absorbed the loss of its starting quarterback to get the win over BYU, but Kansas State is a more daunting challenge. The Wildcats entered the season as the defending Big 12 champions but started the season quietly with wins over Southeast Missouri State and Troy. Then the Wildcats lost to Missouri and were all but forgotten. Head Coach Chris Klieman rallied his troops and positioned his team for a chance to win back-to-back championships.
No Hype Required
Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian is not in the business of selling tickets. His press conferences are as bland as day-old coffee. When it comes to hyping a football game, he’s no Deion Sanders. When asked to assess his team after the BYU win, Sarkisian was his usual self. “I think we’ve got a pretty good football team,” he said in his Monday press conference. The moment of truth has come for the Longhorns to prove him right.
Kansas State crushed its past two opponents, TCU and Houston, by a combined score of 82-3. The Wildcats have two proven quarterbacks and a defense that holds teams to 15.9 points per game. The offense has been thermogenic under the control of both senior Will Howard and freshman Avery Johnson. It seems the Wildcats can do no wrong no matter which quarterback is playing. “This is a really hot team right now,” Sarkisian said. “They’ve been playing as good as anybody in the country in all three phases for the last two to three weeks.”
Texas enters November without the services of Ewers as well as edge rusher Ethan Burke and safety Jalen Catalon — all listed as week-to-week on the injury report. The Longhorns have been successful this season while liberally rotating players at nearly every position. They are counting on a deep, experienced roster to give them the advantage over the visiting Wildcats. “We’re going to need to play complimentary football Saturday against a very good, well-coached football team,” Sarkisian said.
Wildcats Defense
This is the game for you if you like defense. The Texas defense is no. 3 in the nation on third-down conversions. Kansas State is no. 6. Both teams specialize in limiting their opponent’s opportunities. Not surprisingly, the Wildcats and Longhorns are ranked 14th and 15th, respectively, in scoring defense.
It’s what’s up front that counts for Kansas State. Much like Texas, the Wildcats’ defense runs the show at the line of scrimmage. Kansas State specializes in making tackles for losses. Defensive ends Khalid Duke and Nate Matlack, along with linebacker Austin Moore, are among the Big 12 leaders in this category.
The Wildcats will try to press Murphy into making mistakes in his second career start. Texas converted 6 of 11 third-down opportunities and went 2 of 5 in the red zone against BYU. The Longhorns will have their work cut out for them against Kansas State. “They force third and longs,” Sarkisian said of the Wildcats, “and when the majority of your third downs are third and nine-plus, then they’re able to play coverage and rush the passer.”
Bring Your ‘A’ Game
The Texas offense has struggled in the red zone all season. The running game has been mid-tier in the Big 12 because the Longhorns have been forced to rely almost exclusively on Jonathon Brooks. A potent passing attack under Ewers has turned into a question mark with him on the sidelines.
Underlying this enigma is an offensive line that needs to step up and deliver. The moment of truth has come for the linemen to find the consistency that has been lacking at times. “We’ve got to get back to playing our brand of football, and that’s a physical brand of football,” said Sarkisian, who delivered that message to his team on Monday. “Sometimes you have to get their attention to do that, and so that was this morning. Very candidly, I think I got their attention.” The Texas coaching staff anticipated a “hard-nosed week of practice” in preparation for Kansas State, he added.
Quarterback Shuffle
Texas has an abundance of riches in its quarterback room. The Longhorns are in the running for a spot in the Big 12 title game and have yet to unveil true freshman and highly touted Arch Manning. Murphy has been a model of consistency and has developed well under the tutelage of Quarterbacks Coach AJ Milwee. Murphy has “developed great habits in his preparation, not only mentally but physically,” Sarkisian said. “That level of consistency is what I’m most encouraged about.”
On the other side of the field, Kansas State boasts an effective 1-2 punch with Howard and Johnson. The Wildcats run the same scheme offensively no matter which player is on the field. Howard has played in 30 games, and he led his team to last year’s overtime win against TCU in the Big 12 Championship, so he’s no stranger to big games. Kansas State doesn’t miss a beat when Johnson steps onto the field. “The young kid is new to it, but in the end, they’re still running their same stuff.”
