Texas Football: Do the Longhorns have anything to lose?

The feeling of a lost season that once had high expectations has become a familiar feeling for Texas football fans. And it looks like a three-game losing streak is now likely to get moved to four as new Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and his struggling squad get set to take on the Iowa State Cyclones on the road in Ames on the night of Nov. 6.

Iowa State is coming off a tough loss themselves at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers on the road in Morgantown last weekend. That means that not only will Sark and the Longhorns have to face Iowa State in November in Ames, but they will also be facing a Cyclones team with a major chip on their shoulder.

This tends to be a situation where Iowa State thrives. And that is not a great sign of things to come for the Longhorns. If Texas is not able to top Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames on Nov. 6, even their chances to make a bowl game this fall will be on life support.

Texas has matchups against the Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas State Wildcats, West Virginia, and Iowa State on tap for November. With a record of 4-4 (2-3 Big 12) following the loss at the hands of the No. 16 ranked Baylor Bears on the road last weekend, Texas obviously needs to win two of the four remaining games this season.

Purely making a bowl game is not where expectations lied at the beginning of the season. While it is necessary to be patient with Sark and his staff as they get the culture and talent in this program headed in the right direction, it should be very easy to make a bowl game and at least get to eight wins with the roster he inherited.

Texas football could be playing without anything to lose at this point

Now, it’s up to Sark to at least establish the right level of momentum and start to see who some of the longer-term pieces of this program can be before the end of the season. At least Texas can find some personnel to ride with heading into next season.

The reality now is that Sark could be facing a good amount of pressure out of the gates next season, depending on how things go on the recruiting trail for him in the next calendar year.

For now, Texas has to focus on building up some level of momentum down the stretch to try and make sure that there is a major level of improvement ready to take place next fall. The way that the Longhorns faltered in the second half of their last three games is unbelievable and really is unacceptable.

There wasn’t any one player or coach to blame for the way Texas collapsed in the second half during all three games in the midst of this losing streak. Texas has now blown multiple double-digit leads in the second half. And this brought the idea that this team really lacks toughness and mental fortitude in clutch time. You can’t deny that either.

The big question here is essentially do the Longhorns have anything to lose at this point?

If Texas plays like they did in the last two seasons under former head coach Tom Herman, when aspirations of making it to the Big 12 Championship Game and a New Year’s Six Bowl were gone, at least there could be some momentum built down the stretch. Granted, it’s sad to think that’s the point we’re at already entering the November slate.

Texas is set to take on Iowa State on Nov. 6 coming off a tough 31-24 loss to Baylor last weekend. Kickoff time between Texas and Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Nov. 6.