STILLWATER, Okla. --- Texas coach Mack Brown normally demands his teams stay in the moment.
But in the week leading up to Saturday night's game against 13th-ranked Oklahoma State, Brown wanted to make certain the third-ranked Longhorns remembered where they were at this point last season and what they lost against Texas Tech.
They were different opponents, but presented a strikingly similar scenario a year apart.
STILLWATER, Okla. -- It almost seems uncanny, the parallels between tonight's Texas-Oklahoma State Halloween showdown and last season's matchup between the Longhorns and Texas Tech.
A hostile road environment that will be filled with rowdy fans. Night game. National TV audience. The fourth game of an unforgiving four-game stretch that includes Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri before this one.
A bid for the Big 12 South title and a shot at the BCS national championship game also hang in the balance.
It's just three weeks into the full-swing of Big 12 play but the North Division is looking like any of the six teams could win the race.
That doesn't necessarily bode well at all for the weaker half of the two-division league.
Nebraska and Kansas came into the season as the presumed favorites to represent the North, but after two weeks of inconsistent play neither seems as powerful. The same can be said for two-time North champion Missouri, which started the season a surprising 4-0, but has dropped its first two games of the Big 12 season.
DALLAS -- Colt McCoy did it all with a sore thumb. Colt McCoy also had lost his voice during the week because of a cold. Colt McCoy saved the game with a tackle. A tackle from a quarterback!
This is why headlines and highlights aren't enough. Texas beat Oklahoma 16-13 Saturday to go 6-0 and keep up its run toward the national championship in its System Stinks Redemption Tour.
But when you watch the recap on ESPN and hear the fairy tale of McCoy, keep this in mind:
DALLAS -- University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy says revenge will be the furthest thing from his mind Saturday when third-ranked Longhorns take on No.20 Oklahoma in the anticipated Red River Rivalry here at the Cotton Bowl.
But you'd better believe the Longhorns are still upset from last season when they beat Oklahoma by 10 points on a neutral field and finished the season in a 7-1 three-way tie with the Sooners and Texas Tech. Yet it was Oklahoma that represented the Big 12 South in the conference title game and subsequently advanced to the BCS national title.
DALLAS -- Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford's emotions were sprawled all over the place on the night of Sept. 5 as uncertainty about his injured shoulder weighed on him, when a text message of inspiration popped onto his cell phone.
"I'm praying for you and I hope you can get back as soon as possible."
It's not like Texas and Oklahoma ever needed a reason to make their annual Red River Rivalry game in Dallas any more intense.
The tradition of the two programs, the bordering states and the fight for superiority in fertile recruiting ground of Texas use to be enough. Who knew this early season game would take on so much more meaning when both teams joined the Big 12 in 1996?
This game has become about so much more than school pride and bragging rights, as one of these two teams has won the South each of the last 10 years, and it has sometimes set the stage for the national championship picture.
We all knew the Kansas Jayhawks offense had a chance to be lethal this season with quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier setting the pace.
Well, the trio took it to a ridiculous level Saturday as the receivers bested each other during the Jayhawks' 41-31 win over Iowa State. First Briscoe set the school record for career receptions, then Meier jumped ahead of him. Meier, a converted quarterback, has 167 career catches while Briscoe sits at 165 after making 12 catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.
Maybe it's premature to start trumpeting the return of the Big 12 North, but if the non-conference success of the big-three North teams is any indication this could be an interesting season.
Nebraska and Kansas were expected to dominate the weaker of the league's two divisions, but it appears they will have company. Missouri, which is supposed to be in a rebuilding mode after back-to-back North titles, is off to a surprising 4-0 start that catapulted the program into the Top 25 this week at No. 24.
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has apparently fixed the Red Raiders Twitter problem in quick and absolute fashion.
Less than 24 hours after offensive lineman Brandon Carter and linebacker Marlon Williams vented frustration on their Twitter pages, Leach has taken action to make certain none of his other players make the same mistake.
"Anybody that wants to play for us doesn't have a Twitter page," Leach said Monday when asked about the two posts.
STILLWATER, Okla. --- Texas coach Mack Brown normally demands his teams stay in the moment.
STILLWATER, Okla. -- It almost seems uncanny, the parallels between tonight's Texas-Oklahoma State Halloween showdown and last season's matchup between the Longhorns and Texas Tech.
It's just three weeks into the full-swing of Big 12 play but the North Division is looking like any of the six teams could win the race.
DALLAS -- Colt McCoy did it all with a sore thumb. Colt McCoy also had lost his voice during the week because of a cold. Colt McCoy saved the game with a tackle. A tackle from a quarterback!
DALLAS -- University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy says revenge will be the furthest thing from his mind Saturday when third-ranked Longhorns take on No.20 Oklahoma in the anticipated Red River Rivalry here at the Cotton Bowl.
It's not like Texas and Oklahoma ever needed a reason to make their annual Red River Rivalry game in Dallas any more intense.
We all knew the Kansas Jayhawks offense had a chance to be lethal this season with quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier setting the pace.
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has apparently fixed the Red Raiders Twitter problem in quick and absolute fashion.
