Matchup against Jayhawks provides opportunity for Longhorns

Texas football welcomes Kansas to Austin this weekend. The Jayhawks are what some Longhorns might consider the perfect opponent during a time when Texas needs a convincing victory.

The Longhorns currently hold the sixth place position in the Big 12 standings with a less-than-impressive 3-5 overall record. Texas needs to win three of its next four games to become bowl eligible. After Kansas, the road to bowl eligibility becomes more difficult with a road game against West Virginia, a Thanksgiving night home game against Texas Tech and a visit to Baylor. Kansas and West Virginia have not won a Big 12 game, while Texas Tech is 2-4 in conference play. Baylor is undefeated.

Last year, Texas stumbled out of the gate with an identical 3-5 record. The Longhorns pulled it together by stacking three wins in a row, qualifying for a bowl game. This year’s Texas team is young but talented enough to repeat history. But it has to start this weekend.

The Jayhawks enter Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium with a 0-8 overall record. Kansas lost last weekend to Oklahoma 62-7. The Longhorns are also coming off a loss lat weekend. For the first time in history, Iowa State pitched a 24-0 shutout against Texas.

Last season the Longhorns played Kansas after losing the previous weekend to UCLA. Texas visited Lawrence and shut out the Jayhawks 23-0. The victory marked the third time in their history the Longhorns shut out Kansas.

This season, the Longhorns offense averages 21.25 points per game while the Jayhawks defense gives up an average of 47.13 points per game. The Texas offense has achieved high scoring outputs this season with 42- and 44-point games against Rice and Oklahoma State, respectively. Yet, the Texas offense has also sputtered with a 3-point offensive output against Notre Dame along with a shutout against Iowa State.

The young Texas defense has played as inconsistently as its offense this season. In the Longhorns two Big 12 victories, their defense allowed an average of 13 points per contest. However, on the season, Texas has given up an average of 30.13 points per game.

They Jayhawks offense has experienced its own up-and-down play. Kansas had offensive explosions with 38- and 23-point games this season, but the Jayhawks have also produced some clunkers with a couple of 7-point games. Kansas’ offense averages 16.5 points per game this season.

This weekend will be the 15^th meeting between Texas and Kansas. The Longhorns own the all-time record of 12-2. Their last loss to Kansas was in 1938.