Texas Football: Tom Herman gets job-saving insane upset over OK State

Texas football head coach Tom Herman helped his team get it done when their backs were up against the wall in a huge 41-34 overtime win over the Pokes.

The way it happened was almost unbelievable, just like a lot of the games that the Texas football program has played in this season. Amid a terrible week of news on the recruiting trail for fourth-year head coach Tom Herman, he was able to get it done on the field (where it mattered most) right now over the previously undefeated and No. 6 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Coming into this game, Texas owned a record of 3-2 (2-2 Big 12) coming off their home win back on Oct. 24 over the Baylor Bears by the final score of 27-16. That win over Baylor helped Herman and the Longhorns snap a two-game losing streak from the beginning of the month of October, with those defeats coming at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners and TCU Horned Frogs.

The Longhorns did come into this game against Oklahoma State (4-0, 3-0 Big 12) as just a 3.5-point underdog on the road. And the game definitely lived up to the billing as one of the closest and most exciting of the season to date.

Oklahoma State turned the ball over a ton in this game, setting up the Longhorns to get more than 20 points off of their turnovers. Senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger also capitalized when the Longhorns needed it most down the stretch. Ehlinger finished up the game with less than 175 passing yards, three touchdowns, and no picks.

But two of those three passing touchdowns came at opportune times in the second half. He did his best to give the Longhorns the points when they needed it most. Ehlinger was much better taking care of the football than his counterpart, and redshirt sophomore dual-threat quarterback Spencer Sanders.

On this tragic day for Sanders, he did total well over 400 yards, to go along with four passing touchdowns. Where it went wrong for Sanders was with four turnovers for his offense, including one interception.

This really was a very messy game, with Texas having their worst outing of the season in terms of penalty yardage. Oklahoma State didn’t come close to playing a clean game either with their plethora of turnovers and eight penalties for 79 yards.

All in all, this wasn’t a pretty win for Herman, but at least he got it done with his back up against the wall. For now, it’s hard to say that Herman didn’t alleviate too much of the pressure on his hot seat since he got this key win over the Pokes.

Texas now moves to a record of 4-2 (3-2 Big 12), and could possibly start an ascent back to the top of the Big 12 standings if Herman can continue this momentum swing. It’s hard to believe that the Longhorns got it done here, but they did and that’s all that matters at this moment.