‘Tis the season and thankful for Longhorn fans, Texas is returning to a bowl game for the first time since 2014, Charlie Strong’ s first year as Head Coach.
The 12th Edition of the Texas Bowl will be played on December 27, 2017 and will feature two former Big 12 Conference foes in Texas and Missouri.
Texas did not have the season most predicted, getting embarrassed by Maryland to start the season and things only going downhill from there.
The Longhorns opened Big 12 play by losing to Oklahoma State, then losing to rival Oklahoma the following week. Todd Orlando’s defense has been the shining light on what has been a roller coaster of a season. The Longhorns’ offense has been wildly inconsistent, and were it not for potential Ray Gay Award winner Michael Dickson, the Longhorns might be in worse shape than they currently stand.
Tom Herman’s team punched their ticket to a bowl game when they upset West Virginia in Morgantown, but followed it up with a dud, losing to Texas Tech in heartbreaking fashion the day after Thanksgiving.
Missouri has had quite the season too, allowing 43 points to Missouri State in their season opener and followed that up by giving up 31 points to South Carolina, prompting Tigers head coach Barry Odom to fire Defensive Coordinator DeMontie Cross.
Since then Missouri has fared much better, mostly thanks to their offense, which has scored 45+ in all 6 of their last games. It should be noted that 3 of those games featured opponents that either fired or were in the process of firing their head coach, and Idaho, which is making the move back to FCS.
Both teams are playing in their second Texas Bowl, and each is 0-1 in the Houston Bowl appearances.
Texas last played in the Texas Bowl 3 years ago, against former Southwest conference foe Arkansas. Charlie Strong’s offense didn’t show up in a 31-7 blowout of the Horns.
Missouri last played in the Texas Bowl in 2009, when it was still a part of the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers lost to Navy 35-13. Both teams hope to fare better than they did than last time around.
The game will take place at NRG Stadium in Houston on Wednesday, December 27 at 8:00 pm.
