DALLAS — In Tom Herman’s eyes, the play that sticks out is not a winning kick or a Kyler Murray fumble or one of Sam Ehlinger’s many fine moments. No, what stands out most to him in reflecting on No. 19 Texas’ 48-45 upset of No. 7 Oklahoma was a third-and-long.
And it’s easy to see why. Herman’s physical brand of Texas football, the precise identity he’s aimed for from Day 1, is truly coming into focus. One play showed that Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.
Texas faced third-and-21 on its opening drive of the second half. Ehlinger had just taken a sack back to Oklahoma’s 46-yard line, a rare mistake on an otherwise brilliant day. Texas kept it simple with a tunnel screen to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Herman figured he’d pick up a few yards and then Texas would punt and hope to pin OU inside its 10. It was a well-blocked screen, but Oklahoma nickel back Brendan Radley-Hiles met Humphrey and hit him low at the 38. But Humphrey stayed up.
Texas tight end Cade Brewer got an arm around Humphrey and tried to give him some push. In ran linemen Zach Shackelford, Samuel Cosmi and Elijah Rodriguez to propel them. Humphrey honestly had no idea who was behind him.
“Just kept running,” he said. “Just kept moving my feet.”
Suddenly, it was a scrum of five Longhorns against five Sooners defenders. And the Sooners didn’t stand a chance. They all kept moving, overwhelmed by forward momentum. When Humphrey finally fell down, he’d traveled 19 yards to the 27.
“That, to me, was the play of the game,” Herman said.
What Texas did after that — Ehlinger converted a fourth down and found the end zone four plays later to make it 31-17 — was important. But the how is really what matters. Texas won that play and won this Red River game by overwhelming with sheer brutality.
“That’s a culture play for us,” Humphrey said. “It really shows our culture.”
In this game, power beat speed. Oklahoma’s biggest plays were a 77-yard bomb to Marquise Brown, a 67-yard dash by Murray. Texas’ biggest plays were a 3-yard fourth-down conversion, a 2-yard run at the goal line. And when the Sooners came all the way back from down 21, Texas finished it in fitting fashion, grinding out a nine-play, 52-yard drive to set up Cameron Dicker’s winning field goal.
That’s long been the tradition in this rivalry game. The more physical team usually wins the fight and leaves with the golden hat. Some not-very-good Texas teams have gritted their way to upset wins against superior Oklahoma teams in recent years. It most recently happened in 2015. It almost happened in Herman’s debut last season. This one felt different, at least for three quarters.
The truth is Texas (5-1, 3-0 Big 12) beat Oklahoma (5-1, 2-1) the same way it beat TCU and USC, so maybe we should’ve seen this coming. The manner in which Texas pounded those foes in the second half and pushed them at the point of attack was an unexpected revelation. But not to Herman and his players. This is exactly who they want to be.
“We want to be the most physical team in the Big 12,” Texas safety Brandon Jones said. “We strive to do that every week.”
And that was evident again Saturday. Oklahoma defenders were standing around with their hands on their hips late in the third quarter, stuck on the field for 19 more plays than Lincoln Riley’s offense got to run that quarter. Yes, that Oklahoma defense was already shoddy. But on this day, Texas’ offense played with a level of efficiency and dominance that hasn’t been seen in a long time.
Ehlinger has never been better than he is right now. He’s the personification of Herman’s intended culture, a tough and savvy 235-pound playmaker who’s not nervous in big games. Each one of the 84 yards he churned out over his 18 carries seemed critical. He’s exactly what this team needs, and he hasn’t turned it over in four weeks.
Texas’ defense transformed quickly under Todd Orlando last season. It has had no trouble executing this sharp and brutal blueprint. For Herman’s offense, this has been a much more difficult process and a tough one to watch at times. But like Humphrey’s 19-yard fight, that positive forward momentum is starting to pile up.
Still, let the fourth quarter be a lesson. Because if Texas was drunk with power, up 45-24 after three quarters, the final period was sobering. Murray and the Sooners played out their 21-point comeback perfectly and forced Texas to nervously try to win on a 40-yard kick by a true freshman. For Texas, it shouldn’t have come to that.
And that feels indicative of where Texas stands today. Good enough and tough enough to play with anybody. Not good enough to whoop anybody for a full four quarters. This remains a work in progress, even after five consecutive wins, and that final quarter should put all the hype in perspective.
When it was all over, some Texas players gave Herman a Gatorade bath. The jug hit the head coach on the back of his head. They really haven’t practiced that ritual much at Texas lately. They’re still learning how to win these games.
But what they pulled off together Saturday sent a clear message: Herman’s vision for how to win big at Texas is beginning to come to life.
(Photo by William Purnell / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)