The last time the Texas Longhorns won the Big 12 was in 2009, and the team is desperate to emulate that success this year.
The last two seasons were pretty ordinary for Texas and the No. 12 Longhorns (3-0) hope to reverse the losing trend in Saturday's game against Oklahoma State (2-1), the defending champions, at the Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.
Texas defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat said: "The goal is to win the conference. You want to win the conference, this is the first step."
Texas won titles in 2005 and 2009 and played in the championship games of 1999 and 2001. For about a decade they were pretty impressive and a league heavyweight.
The last two seasons, the Longhorns are just 6-11 and offensive lineman Mason Walters does not mince words when he says, "this is not the kind of football I want to be associated with."
The Oklahoma State Cowboys beat the Longhorns in the previous two years and it's going to take a supreme effort from Texas to tackle the Cowboys whose 20-5 league record is the best since 2009.
Texas however, are looking impressive this season. A solid 3-0 start, which included impressive wins against New Mexico and Mississippi, is an indication of their firepower this season.
Texas Coach Mack Brown remarked: "It's been a long time around here since people were pleased with what they saw offensively.
Sophomore David Ash is really showing his skills at quarterback. He now ranks third nationally when it comes to passing efficiency with a 76 % completion rate, 7 touchdowns and no interceptions.
He had to fight off Case McCoy in training camp to win the starting job. His 4 touchdowns and 326 yards passing against Ole Miss were career highs, silencing his critics who questioned his skills to lead the offense.
"Before last week, I don't think there was anybody that liked me. Now everybody likes me," Ash said.
The next three games lined up against formidable opponents will determine if they're actual title contenders. After playing Oklahoma State Saturday, Texas will play No. 9 West Virginia and No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.
A confident and determined Brown said: "I want to see our toughness. I want to see how good we are nationally. We're going to see that here soon.
"We can show everybody we're better. Or we can show we've still got a lot of work to do."
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