A Longhorn 2021 pre-Season look into the current season published in this space roughly three months ago suggested promising developments. Featured was an April pair of 5-Star additions to the incoming recruit class, one out of nearby Denton High School. These inclusions at Wide Receiver materially brightened the skies above Austin.
The article concluded, “Since the Longhorns are widely credited with a prime time assembly of newcomers in the 2022 Class, boosters and rooters may justifiably indulge a dose of optimism that coming Seasons will restore University of Texas football to the upper NCAA tiers.” But a Week 2 road loss inflicted at the hands of the highly ranked Arkansas Razorbacks dropped the ‘Horns from the Nation’s Top 25 assembly.
Recovery at Hand? A massive step in this season’s pursuit of excellence was taken on Saturday, October 2, by way of a thrilling road win at the Fort Worth Carter Stadium home of Big 12 and intra-State rival Texas Christian University.
Host TCU scored first (and last, with 5:09 remaining in Q4) and held the lead four times at various junctures, but as Brian Davis of www.hookem.com put it, “Texas is learning how to win.” Game honors go to the second-year Longhorn running back Bijan Robinson, toting the mail 35 times, good for 215 yards, 6.5 hard-earned yards per carry. His two rushing TDs were stalwart companions to the game’s waning minutes when Robinson collected his final 35 yards on the day, enabling the Longhorns to run out the clock. QB Thomson Casey put in a good effort, throwing for 142 yards, a TD, and only one interception. In total, Texas outgained its hosts 414 total yards to 351 and logged a decent Time of Possession advantage — 32:48 to 27:12.
Immediately Ahead. While the Longhorns are now virtually certain to vault a return to the Top 25, they are afforded little time for revelry. Next is the annual Red River showdown with the Sooners from Oklahoma, a Texas home game scheduled for play on October 9 in the Cotton Bowl.