Texas Football: 5 takeaways from Longhorns heartbreaking loss to OU

Texas’ Big 12 title hopes take a big hit

The winner of Red River clearly is put in the driver’s seat in the Big 12 regular season title race. Given their easy schedule relative to other top Power Five teams this season, Oklahoma should be considered the sizable favorite to win the Big 12 in the regular season.

Texas had its chance to put itself clearly at the forefront of the Big 12 regular season title conversation. But Sark and the Longhorns fell short in another big game in Big 12 play with conference title implications.

This is the next big step for Sark as Texas’ head coach. He’s got to win these big games with such massive conference title implications and, thus, College Football Playoff implications.

Sark and the Longhorns have dropped multiple big-time games that could’ve solidified their status as top Big 12 title contenders in the last three seasons. Add this Red River game to the list of losses in Big 12 play, including Red River two years ago, Oklahoma State in 2022, and Texas Tech in 2022, among the major setbacks to the conference title hopes of Sark and the Longhorns.

This loss isn’t a season-ender for the Longhorns in terms of their Big 12 title and College Football Playoff hopes. But it’s hard to see the Longhorns finding a confident and clear path to the Big 12 Championship Game with another setback after the loss to Oklahoma this weekend.