Strong, Texas remain focused

AUSTIN — Charlie Strong follows the ‘24-hour rule’ when closing the book on the previous game, but was willing to bend the rules since Texas is winless on the road this season.

Preparations for the next opponent usually begins on Tuesday. But when your team has been ‘road kill’ instead of ‘road warrior’, there’s no time to waste. The Longhorns quickly put Kansas to bed Sunday and began scheming for West Virginia.

“We understand how important this next game is,” Strong said.

Indeed, there’s no bowl game for the 2015 Longhorns unless they win on the road for the first time since one year ago this weekend. On any given Sunday during the season, coaches would conduct a thorough study of game-film before focusing on fundamentals during practice. Installation of the game plan would begin Tuesday, ordinarily.

“We went through Kansas pretty quickly,” said FS Dylan Haines, “and went straight on into West Virginia. We haven’t play well on the road.”

That would be an understatement. Texas has been outscored on the road, 112-10, with nearly half of those points (51) yielded in the first quarter. The result is that doubt, rather than determination, infiltrated the Longhorn sideline.

“Football is more mental than physical,” said RB D’Onta Foreman following his career-best 157 yards rushing Saturday.“If we go out there and make plays early in the game, we can ballgames.”

Part of the problem is not enough players treat road games like business trips.

“When you go on the road, some guys act like it’s vacation,” said NT Desmond Jackson. “You go there for one reason, and that’s to take care of the job you were given.”

It’s hard to fathom, however, that anyone would mistake Ames, Iowa as a holiday hot spot. The bigger issue is that a very young team craters when it gets hit in the mouth first when away from the friendly confines of DKR. By now, the importance of a fast-start for Texas is well-documented.

Strong’s program is 10-1 when it scores first but is 0-11 when an opponent draws first blood.

“Coach Strong always says that we don’t have young guys on the team anymore,” said C Taylor Doyle. “After that first week, they’re all old guys.”

Texas may not have ‘young guys’, but it also does not have a proven, upperclassmen playmaker who can calm the collective nerves and carry the team on his shoulder pads. The Longhorn who comes closest to fitting the profile is RB Johnathan Graywho insists he is slowed by the season-ending Achilles injury suffered at WVU in November, 2013. For what it was worth, the senior addressed the team just before kickoff at Iowa State, insisting that the lowly Cyclones could spring the upset if not taken seriously.

“We can’t take teams lightly anymore,” Gray told me. “We’ve got to have a mindset of taking it one game at a time…We’ve jot got to be more focused. We’ve got to be prepared for each and every one.”

Texas will be an underdog in at least two of its last three contests and, of course, must find a way to win a pair or else it’s home for the holidays. But it might mean Texas has ‘em right where it wants ‘em.

“We do play better when our backs are against the wall,” said SLB Peter Jinkens, who raised eyebrows last week when he said Texas beat Oklahoma because it ‘played scared.’

Mack Brown frequently spoke of ‘surviving the surge’ of momentum that the host team enjoys when it hosts Texas. Privately, Brown remarked it was easier to play on the road because his players were immediately energized by the unhospitable natives.

At least one of his former players concurs.

“I think the hostile environment is great,” said Taylor Doyle. “It’s all about preparing the right way and knowing what’s expected of you during the game on Saturday.”

This week, that preparation came early. And the next road win for Texas can’t come soon enough.