In the fourth year of the Tom Herman era with the Texas Longhorns, competing with and often beating highly-ranked opponents is no longer a surprise. Neither is playing down to the level of the competition and losing winnable games — according to ESPN, the early October loss to the TCU Horned Frogs marked sixth time under Herman that a ranked Longhorns team lost to an unranked opponent.
No other FBS program has suffered such significant struggles in that area over that same stretch.
So Saturday’s game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium looks less like a game that Texas is capable of winning comfortably and more like the type of game that has constantly resulted in disappointment for Herman and the Horns.