Oklahoma State University Athletics
Longhorns Look to Rebound Against Cowboys
October 09, 2001 | Cowboy Football
Oct 9, 2001
Texas will try to stay in the Big 12 Conference title picture and keep its season from further slipping away when the Longhorns visit Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Quarterback Chris Simms threw four interceptions and was sacked five times as the Longhorns lost for the second year in a row to the Oklahoma Sooners, 14-3, on Saturday.
Should No. 11 Texas (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) win the rest of its games, they could still challenge for the conference title and a 10-1 record might be good enough to get them into a BCS bowl other than the national championship Rose Bowl.
"We have to force some luck into the season now because we don't control our own destiny anymore," said head coach Mack Brown. "The only thing that we can do is make sure that we win out the rest of our games."
Texas will have to re-ignite an offense that scored its fewest points since a devastating 66-3 loss to UCLA in 1997. The Longhorns were unable to score a touchdown last week for the first time since a 27-6 loss to Arkansas in the 2000 Cotton Bowl, a span of 17 games.
"Our goals will not change," said Brown after his team's first setback of the year. "We want to beat Oklahoma State, win the Big 12 South, win the Big 12 Championship and go to a bowl game. We dropped to 11th in the country and we will start trying to get back up today."
Texas will have to reestablich its running game versus the Cowboys after it was stifled by the Sooners last week.
Longhorn running backs Ivan Williams and Cedric Benson have combined for 623 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, but the tailback tandem ran 25 times for just 27 yards against the Sooners. They'll need to be more consistent if the Longhorns are to have any chance at making a run up the rankings.
While the running game needs to improve, Simms is the key for Texas. He has looked spectacular at times and awful at others. The junior quarterback is completing 57.9 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and six interceptions.
Oklahoma State (2-3, 0-2) is hoping to rebound from an exhausting 41-38 triple-overtime loss to Missouri on Saturday. The Cowboys forced overtime with two fourth-quarter touchdowns before coming up short in the third overtime.
"We played well enough to be ahead at different times and that is painful," said coach Les Miles. "There is no denying that fact. Our position is good because we have to look at the opponent that we are playing next. This week's opponent, Texas, gives us a reason to focus."
The Cowboys, 0-2 in conference play, have lost three straight to the Longhorns including a 34-21 loss to Texas the last time they came to Stillwater during the 1999 season.
