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Texas Football: Was Saturday’s loss a tipping point for the Longhorns?

By James Caldwell

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Head coach Clay Helton of the USC Trojans meets head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns at the end of the game after a 27-24 Trojan win in overtime at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Head coach Clay Helton of the USC Trojans meets head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns at the end of the game after a 27-24 Trojan win in overtime at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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When the Texas Longhorns and USC play their rematch next year in Austin, how will Longhorns fans look back on this year’s game?

Will it be another frustrating loss in a series of frustrating losses over the last seven years?

Or, will it be the tipping point for a Texas Football turnaround?

The defense showed it could hang with a Top 5 team in the country. We saw that in flashes under Charlie Strong, such as shutting down Oklahoma in 2015. But, there were other games where TCU, Oklahoma State, and Baylor blew the doors off the defense.

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Also on Saturday, the offense showed they had a little clutch in them. How about that epic TD drive to score what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown with 45 seconds left in the game?

Longhorns fans have seen flashes of that, too. But, it’s usually been one step forward and two steps back with a special teams mishap, inopportune turnover, blowout after a big win, or … gulp … the Kansas game.

This time around, the effort against USC felt different. Texas looked like a legit powerhouse football team again. For one night.

So, why will this be different than all of the other flashes we’ve seen?

Just look at the path from two of the Top 5 teams in the country right now.

Texas Football Can Look to USC and Penn State

One year ago, USC was in a similar position as Texas.

The Trojans started the 2016 season 1-3 after being blown out by Alabama and losing two conference road games at Stanford and Utah.

Then, USC turned to Sam Darnold at QB. That was their tipping point. Suddenly, the offense clicked and the defense started dominating Pac-12 foes. But, the biggest test was a road game against Top 5 Washington. And, the USC defense dominated again to an upset victory.

USC did not lose another game that season, including a huge win over Penn State in an epic Rose Bowl clash.

Similarly, Penn State was just another big name program with no momentum. The Nittany Lions started the 2016 season 2-2, including a loss to in-state rival Pitt and a blowout loss at Michigan.

Then, Penn State pulled off a major upset against Top 5 Ohio State. That was their tipping point.

The Nittany Lions did not lose again in the regular season, won the Big 10 Championship game, and went down to the wire against USC in the Rose Bowl.

Fast forward to 2017 and both teams are in the Top 5 looking like dominant powerhouse programs again with zero trace of how they started last season.

Will that be the case for the Longhorns by this time next year? Will this almost-epic victory over Top 5 USC be the tipping point for Texas Football to finally turn losses into wins?

Texas has a very difficult Big 12 schedule ahead of them, but the defense’s performance was so brilliant against USC that it was like the Longhorns breathed in new life on Saturday.

Next: Texas Football Q&A with Peter Gardere

We’ll see how far the USC game takes the Longhorns after starting 1-2 this season. The entire conference schedule is ahead of Tom Herman and Texas Football to take advantage of a new opportunity.

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