E-mail Rich Cirminiello 
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Just wait until Charlie Strong’s offense catches up to the defense in Austin. 

Texas is a work-in-progress for its new staff. One step forward followed by another one in reverse will be a theme throughout the rest of the 2014 campaign. The defense, though, is championship-caliber. The Longhorns play the game in Strong’s image, tough, well-coached and fundamentally-sound. 

It’s a foundation on which this program can build until the offense, especially the line and the quarterbacks, can achieve a higher level of consistency. Tough loss today in Dallas, for sure, but solace can be taken on the Forty Acres that the ‘Horns are halfway to being the team that the locals expect them to be. 

Over on the Oklahoma side, Bob Stoops has a lot of work left to be done. For the second straight week, the Sooners showed little resemblance to a serious playoff contender. Last Saturday was the loss to TCU, and today the offense was fortunate to be bailed out by the special teams and defense. If QB Trevor Knight doesn’t become more of a playmaker within the attack, OU will lose at least another game this fall trying to keep pace with the other Big 12 members. 

E-mail Pete Fiutak 
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Don’t read anything into the final score. Don’t get hung up on the 232 yards of total Oklahoma offense, and don’t start thinking that things might have been different without big plays from the special teams and defense. This rivalry sometimes defies all reason and logic – like last year’s Texas win. 

There are certain times and certain games that no matter what the pointspread, and no matter what the expectations, a coach just has to come up with the win, and Bounceback Bob did that. Of course, rivalry, schmivalry, you’re not supposed to need to push that hard to beat a bad Texas team, but this was the survive and advance moment. 

Everything is still there for Oklahoma – win out, go 11-1, and yeah, a College Football Playoff spot is still there for the taking, and this game, this relatively close call – with Tyrone Swoopes showing that he might be ready to take the next step – has to be taken for what it is. Now, if there’s a problem with Kansas State at home, or especially at Iowa State, considering the loss to TCU is still fresh, too, there’s cause for concern. 

But for now, this was about as much as either side could reasonably ask for. Texas fought hard and showed hope for the near future, with the offense finally showing up and the defense coming up big, for the most part. And Oklahoma got a win over Texas. Period. 

By Phil Harrison

Oklahoma is lucky to still be alive and kicking in the College Football Playoff race.

Texas played hard, outgained and outplayed the Sooners, but because of some big plays on special teams, and one-too many mistakes in key situations, the Longhorns weren’t able to pull off the upset.

But isn’t this what the Texas program has started to be known for? The Longhorns continue to recruit well, but just can’t produce on the field. Even in games where the team seems motivated and intent on winning (which hasn’t been much lately), it seems to find a way to lose in both common and unconventional ways.

Let’s give new head coach Charlie Strong some time to change this new losing culture. Unfortunately for him, the Longhorn faithful won’t be very patient.