WACO - Long before DeShon Elliott established defensive dominance on the first series and Shane Buechele proved he's still a solid option at quarterback, Texas passed Tom Herman's first test.
Mired in a two-game losing streak and facing an 11 a.m. road game at winless Baylor, the Texas coach wondered what team would greet him early Saturday morning.
"I was shocked," Herman said. "They had a 5:45 wakeup call. There were not dopey-eyed guys, there was no wipe the sleep out of their eyes, any of that stuff. They were intense. And ready to go from the word jump.