By Jason Fleck
Five undefeated teams sit atop the Big 12 standings and two of them will meet up in a top 15 clash this Saturday in Austin. This match-up will feature the No. 12 Texas Longhorns against the No. 8 West Virginia Mountaineers. This is an early season match-up between two of the favorites to win the Big 12 with Oklahoma going down to Kansas State in their week 5 battle. Both teams are coming off of tough games against their week 5 opponents. Though both games were quite a bit different, they will definitely be looking for the same outcomes. With so much on the line so early in the season, both teams are looking to get the win and a 2-0 start in this tough Big 12 conference.
Texas came of a tough back and forth fourth quarter, which Texas ended up winning on their final drive. They did so by coming up huge on fourth-and-six when David Ash connected with tight end D.J. Grant for a 29-yard game. Then Ash connected with Mike Davis for a 32-yard game, which set up Joe Bergeron’s game winning two-yard touchdown run. This was a huge leap for a Texas team that looked so bad last season and definitely needed a win like that to boost their confidence and get them ready for this match up against the Mountaineers and of course their huge rivalry game in the Red River shootout the following weekend in Dallas.
West Virginia has yet to have their defense show up in a game, coming off a 70-63 shootout victory over Baylor. Their defense is now allowing 32 points a game and is lucky they have the top-rated passing offense in the nation throwing for 442 yards per game. Geno Smith played like there wasn’t a defense on the field against him, throwing for remarkable 656 yards and 8 TD passes. This weekend Smith will be hoping his defense can keep Texas out of the end zone, because the Texas defense is a whole lot better than the defenses they have faced so far. Smith will find a way to put points on the board, but can the D do their part and keep Texas out of the end zone? That will be the biggest stat of the game.
Game Info
#12 TEXAS vs #8 WEST VIRGINIA
SAT. OCT. 6 – 6:00PM / FOX
ROYAL TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM