Texas Football: 3 takeaways from near upset loss to West Virginia

Another game where the Texas football program escaped a loss saw the team come through when they needed to beat West Virginia on Nov. 7.

It was another close one for fourth-year Texas football head coach Tom Herman on the late morning/afternoon of Nov. 7 in taking on second-year head coach Neal Brown and the West Virginia Mountaineers at home at DKR. Texas needed a win to keep their momentum going in the right direction heading into the bye week.

And the Longhorns came into this game with a record of 4-2 (3-2 Big 12) after pulling off the big upset of the previously undefeated and No. 6 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road back on Oct. 31, by the final score of 41-34 in overtime. The win over Oklahoma State last weekend extended the Longhorns winning streak to two games. To start building that winning streak, the Longhorns upended first-year head coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears at home back on Oct. 24, by the final score of 27-16.

Meanwhile, West Virginia came into this game with a record of 4-2 (3-2 Big 12) after their big win over the No. 16 ranked Kansas State Wildcats back on Oct. 31, by the dominant final score of 37-10. Both Texas and West Virginia came into this game with identical records and needing a win to keep their hopes alive and well for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game.

These two teams really thrust the Big 12 into further chaos last weekend by taking down the two top ranked teams at the time in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. But now it looks like the Longhorns and rival Oklahoma Sooners are back to being two of the top teams in the conference heading out of Week 10 (but we’ll see the rest of how the weekend plays out).

With a big win over the Mountaineers under their belt, here’s a look at the definitive three takeaways from the Longhorns 17-13 triumph this weekend.