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On Halloween in Stillwater, there might not be a better scenario for the Cowboys to escape the ghosts of their past against Texas.
For OSU fans, the most frightening costume on All Hallows’ Eve will be the one worn by their Big 12 South rivals — draped in their pale white jerseys, helmets emblazoned with the ominous burnt orange Longhorn insignia.
Enter the dreaded Longhorns, winners of 11-straight in the series. But it hasn’t just been the streak that has baffled Cowboy fans and players, it’s the way several of those games have transpired as OSU repeatedly seemed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Texas owns a 21-2 series advantage against the Cowboys, but the numbers could be argued as misleading, with the past two games decided by a total of seven points and five of 13 meetings since the inception of the Big 12 decided by four points or less.
Among the meetings since 1996, on four occasions (2003-05, 2007) OSU has amassed 77 points in leads, only to be outscored by 156 points to lose all four contests.
Last year’s game in Austin pitted unbeaten and top-ranked Texas against unbeaten and sixth-ranked OSU in a tilt that came down to the final possession before the ‘Horns found a way to stave off the Pokes for a 28-24 triumph.
“You’re always going to have that in the back of your mind,” redshirt freshman tight end Cooper Bassett said. “As an athlete you’re trained to have a short memory but you can’t help but relive the past and remember those things. And I think that’s good motivation and fuel for us. You can’t dwell on it, but I think it’s good for us to have those memories of the pain and the hurt you feel whenever you lose, and I think that’s just gonna be a little more extra push for us.”
While the past against the Longhorns might serve as motivation for several Cowboys, linebacker Andre Sexton said the team’s focus needs to lie on what is at stake rather than what has transpired.
“I don’t think that’s going to provide as much motivation as what we’re trying to accomplish as a team and going to a Big 12 championship, and right now they’re just another team that stands in our way.”
The primary difference in this year’s contest and last year’s is that the victor on Saturday will maintain a stranglehold on sole possession of first place in the Big 12 standings; a position OSU has never had in its 13 seasons of Big 12 play. That accomplishment in particular is what has several Cowboys’ minds set in the present rather than wallowing in their past struggles with the Longhorns, which senior left tackle Russell Okung said no longer has any relevance.
“I always say this, but history doesn’t win games — the players do,” Okung said. “There are different guys every year and you can’t really base things off the past, you have to play in the present.”
Coach Mike Gundy seconded his All-American left tackle’s stance in saying that the attention paid to his Cowboys’ past futility against Texas is a byproduct of fan and media hype, but he did acknowledge the fact that overcoming the ‘Horns dominance will be difficult because of their talent and depth.
“When we play Texas they have very good football teams, in most cases when you are competing in a team sport, you have to be sound in all areas and the players have to be tuned in and playing hard to win the football game,” Gundy said. “I think that is probably the public’s opinion at times that we let some of them go, but they are a good football team, so they are going to win their fair share of games.”
Despite years of strife against UT, with OSU’s lone series victories coming in 1944 and 1997, one of the keys to reversing the trend is confidence, a trait the Cowboys are developing in mass quantities through a newfound mind-set.
“Just from watching them this year, I don’t feel like they have that key player to get hot this time,” wide receiver Isaiah Anderson said. “I watched the game where they played OU and they put the ball on the ground a lot, so I feel like if our defense gets after them we will definitely be good.”
Last year’s game in Austin pitted unbeaten and top-ranked Texas against unbeaten and sixth-ranked OSU in a tilt that came down to the final possession before the ‘Horns found a way to stave off the Pokes for a 28-24 triumph.
“You’re always going to have that in the back of your mind,” redshirt freshman tight end Cooper Bassett said. “As an athlete you’re trained to have a short memory but you can’t help but relive the past and remember those things. And I think that’s good motivation and fuel for us. You can’t dwell on it, but I think it’s good for us to have those memories of the pain and the hurt you feel whenever you lose, and I think that’s just gonna be a little more extra push for us.”
Although the past against the Longhorns might serve as motivation for several Cowboys, linebacker Andre Sexton said the team’s focus needs to lie with what is at stake rather than what has transpired.
“I don’t think that’s going to provide as much motivation as what we’re trying to accomplish as a team and going to a Big 12 championship, and right now they’re just another team that stands in our way.”
The primary difference in this year’s contest and last year’s is that the victor on Saturday will maintain a stranglehold on sole possession of first place in the Big 12 standings; a position OSU has never had in its 13 seasons of Big 12 play.
That accomplishment in particular is what has several Cowboys’ minds set in the present rather than wallowing in their past struggles with the Longhorns, which senior left tackle Russell Okung said no longer has any relevance.
“I always say this, but history doesn’t win games — the players do,” Okung said. “There are different guys every year and you can’t really base things off the past, you have to play in the present.”
Coach Mike Gundy seconded his All-American left tackle’s stance in saying that the attention paid to his Cowboys’ past futility against Texas is a byproduct of fan and media hype but he did acknowledge the fact that overcoming the ‘Horns dominance will be difficult because of their talent and depth.
“When we play Texas, they have very good football teams, in most cases when you are competing in a team sport, you have to be sound in all areas and the players have to be tuned in and playing hard to win the football game,” Gundy said. “I think that is probably the public’s opinion at times that we let some of them go, but they are a good football team, so they are going to win their fair share of games.”
Despite years of strife against UT, with OSU’s lone series victories coming in 1944 and 1997, one of the keys to reversing the trend is confidence, a trait the Cowboys are developing in mass quantities through a newfound mindset.
“Just from watching them this year, I don’t feel like they have that key player to get hot this time,” wide receiver Isaiah Anderson said. “I watched the game where they played OU and they put the ball on the ground a lot, so I feel like if our defense gets after them we will definitely be good.”
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