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.
The news just keeps getting worse for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the team many figured could challenge Texas and Oklahoma for supremacy in the Big 12 this season.
The school confirmed Wednesday that All-American receiver Dez Bryant has been declared ineligible after lying to the NCAA about his interaction with former NFL star Deion Sanders this past May. Bryant visited Sanders' home in Texas, had lunch with him and worked out with the NFL star this past May.
But when asked by the NCAA first in the offseason, then again Sept. 11 about the interaction with Sanders, Bryant denied both accounts because he thought it was a rules violation. The meeting and workout with Sanders, who is unaffiliated with Oklahoma State, likely wasn't a violation. Misleading NCAA investigators, however, is.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said during Monday's Big 12 conference call that All-American running back Kendall Hunter is doubtful for Saturday's non-conference home game against Rice.
Hunter injured either his right ankle or right foot during the second quarter of the Cowboys' stunning upset loss to Houston on Saturday. He did not return, but experienced backs Keith Toston and Beau Johnson filled in nicely in Hunter's absence.
Both are expected to carry the load against the Owls is Hunter is unable to go.
DALLAS -- The pieces all seem to be in place for Oklahoma State to have a season that will be talked about for years.
An almost certain top-10 preseason ranking. A high-octane offense loaded with talent and experience. A serious contender for the program's first Big 12 South title, and just its second-ever conference title. Expectations that a promising season will end with a BCS game.
For Oklahoma or Texas, those expectations just come with the territory. But for Oklahoma State, the season might suddenly seem like one big pressure cooker.
Just maybe the Big 12 football coaches thought they had seen the South Division at its most competitive in 2008 when they voted this spring not to change the league's three-way tie-breaker guidelines.
They might want to re-think that one.
The ultra-competitive Big 12 South could again have as many as three teams in a logjam for first place if the best teams take turns beating up on each other as they did last season. Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech all swapped wins and finished tied for first in the South with 7-1 league records at the end of 2008. They Big 12 had to sift through four tie-breaker stipulations before coming up on the fifth that named the Sooners the South champs by virtue of their BCS poll standing. .
Christmas decorations begin in late August, and now the ClayNation Hypesman Watch (CHW) is here in the first week of May. It's part of a new term, I just coined: Heisman Creep. (And it has nothing to do with Maurice Clarett). We're going to try something radical here, every other week or so we'll drop in and give you a top 10 list for Heisman candidates. Even though most of them are finishing their spring finals right about now. The goal is to ridicule the Heisman obsession, keep us entertained, and write about the Heisman in a way no one else is.
And, plainly, it's never too early to start debating the most over-hyped award this side of a kindergarten valedictorian.
The teams you don't normally want to read about or hear about but since there's no football there's nothing you'd rather do than read this. Please. Not that I'm begging. Although I may be willing to bribe.
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
Big Red hasn't been so big lately, although they're certainly a little red (in the face) after the embarrassing collapse last year that led to the termination of coach Bill Callahan.
Like a stiff prairie wind legendary former coach Tom Osborne arrived, taking the athletic director's job and replacing Callahan with former Nebraska assistant Bo Pelini. With him comes promise of a tough defense and a commitment to returning to what makes Nebraska, Nebraska. In-state recruits are getting more favored looks, the walk-on program is being dusted off and hopes for some return to glory are proffered.
That's all well and dandy but Nebraska right now is just another team in the Big 12. Pelini's a winner and has the graces of Osborne, but contending football isn't likely this very moment. Quarterback Joe Ganz showed something last year and we all know about back Marlon Lucky, so there is promise for the offense. Let's just not kid ourselves about a Big 12 Championship quite yet.
Bill Callahan's nationwide recruited boosted the overall athleticism of the program, but Nebraska still has a ways to go at various position groups. Give this one some time.
"I expect more out of myself and more control of the game," the junior added. "I want to start dictating things more and I just want to be more efficient than I was last year."
Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy appears to be high on Reid's abilities this spring.
"Bobby is better now than he was at the end of the year. He's doing a better job of engineering and controlling the offense. He's more confident now and if he continues to run the ball like he has in the last four or five practices, he'll be able to create a lot of problems for a defense."
Despite the superlatives, Gundy isn't entirely ready to dismiss the two-quarterback system he employed a year ago. That means fans can expect to continue to see sophomore Zac Robinson.
"We'll have six or eight plays a game with Zac in there because he's a good player and he makes plays," Gundy added. "The more playing time he gets will help him. ... There's no substitute for game experience."
It makes sense to get both quarterbacks on the field, especially given the success the Cowboys enjoyed in 2006. Reid appears capable of carrying the team, but Robinson has also shown the ability to step up, including completing 8/17 passes for 149 yards against Oklahoma a year ago.
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.
The news just keeps getting worse for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the team many figured could challenge Texas and Oklahoma for supremacy in the Big 12 this season.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said during Monday's Big 12 conference call that All-American running back Kendall Hunter is doubtful for Saturday's non-conference home game against Rice.
DALLAS -- The pieces all seem to be in place for Oklahoma State to have a season that will be talked about for years. 
Just maybe the Big 12 football coaches thought they had seen the South Division at its most competitive in 2008 when they voted this spring not to change the league's three-way tie-breaker guidelines.
Big Red hasn't been so big lately, although they're certainly a little red (in the face) after the embarrassing collapse last year that led to the termination of coach Bill Callahan.
Oklahoma State quarterback Bobby Reid is hoping to build on a successful 2006 season. A year ago the athletic junior threw for 2,226 yards and 24 touchdowns. This season he's hoping to improve his control of the offense.
