Inside Slant

The Sports Xchange

November 12, 2018 at 10:38 pm.

Win over Texas Tech could be turning point

Texas, if not all the way back, has at least turned the proverbial corner, winning seven of its first 10 regular season games to already surpass the win total of every Longhorns’ team since 2013 with two contests remaining.

And in the near-distant future, if the Longhorns stay on track and make it back to their rightful spot among the echelon of college football teams, a look in the rear-view mirror will likely show that’s victory last week over Texas Tech on the cold and windswept South Plains had a huge part in that resurgence.

The win was important for Texas (7-3, 5-2 in Big 12 play) because of how the Longhorns accomplished it — driving to the deciding touchdown with 21 seconds to play after surrendering a 17-point lead over the final seven minutes. And then there’s the fact that the victory came after two losses by a combined four points, the kind of kick-to-the-groin defeats that could send a weak team into a downward spiral.

“We were psychologically maybe on some shaky ground after the last two weeks and the way that those games happened with a 3-point loss on the road and a 1-point heart breaker here to a top-10 football team,” Texas coach Tom Herman said Monday during his regular availability.

“It would be naive to say that’s not real. There were some guys that maybe could have gone either way, had the (Texas Tech) game turned out differently.”

Instead the Longhorns prevailed, finding a way to win in a tough road environment and to continue to fight through a series of down-to-the-wire games. Eight of Texas’ 10 games have been decided by seven or less points, and in the final 30 seconds, the most in a season since 1936.

“As tired as we are, as banged up as we are, now is not the time to try to take a deep breath,” Herman explained. “We have 12 days left in the regular season, then hopefully a couple of postseason games after that. These guys are fully aware of what this team is capable of doing, because they have seen what the other teams that they have been on have been like and the culture in that locker room.”