Texas Longhorns

AUSTIN, Texas -- Don't look now but there appears to be some optimism around No. 23 Texas.

Oh wait, that's just Kansas.

Yep, the Big 12's panacea is up next. And the game couldn't come soon enough for Texas. The Longhorns, fresh with perhaps a false sense of confidence after not-so-thoroughly dispatching Baylor, 56-50, need a game in which the defense can rule the day as well as perhaps playing some young guys.

Kansas sets up perfectly for just that. The Jayhawks, coached by Charlie Weis, who Mack Brown said is a great, not good coach, are actually not all that great. Statistically, at least. Or in the record books. Kansas is 0-4 in the Big 12. The Jayhawks are 89th in total offense and 85th in total defense. The thing they do the best is run the ball. They are 49th nationally in rushing yards per game with 180 yards per game. In addition, James Sims is back after a suspension and rushed for 102 yards against Oklahoma.

Now that does not dovetail too great with what Texas does not do well, defend the run. The Longhorns have given up 1,065 rushing yards in just the last four games. But again, there is some optimism.

While Texas did give up 255 yards on the ground to Baylor, 69 of that was to the quarterback. Kansas does not have a quarterback who can run the ball. Or a quarterback at all. Dayne Crist was benched after throwing for 13 yards against Oklahoma. Redshirt freshman Michael Cummings threw for 111 yards and two interceptions in relief.

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AUSTIN, Texas -- Seven games in, Bryan Harsin decided it was time to change things up.

Not that what the Texas co-offensive coordinator had been doing wasn't working. But maybe it wasn't working as well as it possibly could have. And, to add to that, some of the most explosive offensive players were hardly getting any work at all.

So Harsin looked to change all that on the first play from scrimmage against Baylor by handing the ball to Daje Johnson and letting him go 84 yards for a touchdown. Now, before thinking it was just that simple, virtually the same play was called on the next series and Johnson was thrown for a loss of eight.

Needless to say, deploying Texas speed and skill is a work in progress. But it appears that Harsin is willing to work on it.

"As the season goes on, you’ve got to find ways to change some of your tendencies, and guys have to step up so you can do that," he said.

Johnson might just be one of those guys. The freshman had nine carries in his first five games. He didn't have a touch in the first half against Oklahoma. Against Baylor he had the aforementioned first touch and subsequent touchdown as well as six other carries and two receptions.

Before there is the thought that Texas is making wholesale changes in the running game, Harsin is still committed to getting the ball in Joe Bergeron's hands and going between the tackles. Baylor made that easy as Bergeron had 19 carries for 117 yards and five touchdowns.

But, with Malcolm Brown still out with an ankle injury, Harsin knows that better teams -- not Kansas but possibly Texas Tech -- have the option to mimic how Oklahoma and West Virginia stopped the inside run game and repeat that strategy.

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AUSTIN, Texas - - It wasn’t pretty by any means, but that didn’t matter too much when Texas found itself in a shootout against a Baylor program that was looking for its third straight win over the Longhorns.

Mack Brown & Co. just needed a win, good, bad or ugly.

However you want to classify it, the Longhorns got it with a 56-50 victory at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.

Here’s how it all played out:

It was over when: Longhorns linebacker Steve Edmond caused a fumble on a run by Baylor running back Glasco Martin, which was recovered by Texas safety Mykkele Thompson at the Baylor 46-yard line with nine seconds left in the third quarter. Texas turned that into a 15-yard touchdown catch from Mike Davis to make it a two-possession game at 56-43. With Baylor’s defense unable to get a stop all night that proved to be too much of a hole to dig out of even though the Bears did score with 1:57 left to make it 56-50.

Game ball: Joe Bergeron. The sophomore bullied his way to the endzone on five separate occasions, supplying Texas with the running game it couldn’t get going against Oklahoma last week. He finished the night with 19 carries for 117 yards and those touchdown runs of 15, 2, 9, 4 and 8 yards.

Game ball, part II: Josh Turner. Texas played a ton of nickel and dime against Baylor and needed its safeties to step up. Turner did. He intercepted a Nick Florence pass with 8:30 left in the second quarter, which led to a Johnathan Gray touchdown and a 35-28 lead. The game was never tied again.

Stat of the game: Texas gave up 255 rushing yards to a Baylor team that relies heavily on the pass. In the Longhorns’ past four games they’ve given up 1,065 rushing yards. When Texas played for a national title in 2009, it gave up 1,013 yards the entire season.

What it means: The Longhorns are 5-2 and should be 6-2 after it plays Kansas next week. That’s it. This victory, especially with the way the defense played, is not going to do much to make the Texas fan base forget about what happened against Oklahoma. Baylor is still searching for its first conference victory and it’s going to be difficult to get it next week at a much-improved Iowa State. Will the Bears be able to stop anyone on defense?

Carter Strickland and Sean Adams break down No. 25 Texas' game against Baylor. The Longhorns are coming off two straight losses and have put a lot of stock into their game against the Bears.

HornsNation reporter Sean Adams and LHN reporter Ahmad Brooks agree the run defense needs the most improvement.

David Dawson decommited from Michigan and Justin Manning delayed his decision date, and that had a big-time ripple effect in this week's #BlueChipBattles , as more than half of the top 10 spots have new occupants.

Texas has lost two in a row this season and two in a row overall to Baylor. A loss to Baylor this week would be the Longhorns’ longest-ever losing streak to the Bears. But it would not be the longest losing streak of the Mack Brown era at Texas. In 2010, Texas lost four straight and finished 5-7. Texas started that season 4-2.

As for the losing streak to Baylor, the turnaround has been quite dramatic. Texas was 12-0 under Brown against Baylor until 2010. And outscoring the Bears by an a average of 37 points per game. In the last two games, Baylor has outscored Texas by an average of 16 points per game and been plus five in the turnover battle.

One positive for Texas is that Baylor is not ranked. Texas has not beaten a ranked team in the last nine games. Baylor was ranked in 2010 and 2011.