A rebuilding season that seemed ahead of schedule hit an Oklahoma-sized reality check in the Texas Longhorns' last two football games. Texas was ranked No. 11 in the country before slipping all the way to No. 24 after a 55-17 loss to Oklahoma in Dallas and a 38-26 loss to Oklahoma State in Austin.
Now, after a bye week, the Longhorns will try to rebound against a hapless 2-5 Kansas Jayhawks squad. Turner Gill's squad is on a five-game losing streak with an average margin of defeat of 32.6 points.
After playing only freshmen QB David Ash against Oklahoma State, Texas is likely to bring back their QB rotation and get sophomore Case McCoy some snaps this week. No matter whose behind the center, expect a big dash of star freshmen RB Malcolm Brown, who is on pace for the Longhorns' first 1,000 rushing yard season since 2007.
Kansas sophomore QB Jordan Webb has been one of the only bright spots in the Jayhawks season, completing 67.1% of his passes for 1,407 yards with 12 TD's and 5 INT's. He'll be tested by a young Texas defense that did a decent job holding Oklahoma State's high-flying pass attack in check two weeks ago.
Game Date/Time: 6PM Central, Saturday, October 29, 2011
Location: Darrell K. Royal Stadium, Austin, TX
TV: Longhorn Network
Radio: 1300 AM in Austin, 1080 AM in Dallas. Streaming at TexasSports.com.
Spread: Texas -28.5
For the latest on the Longhorns, check out Burnt Orange Nation, and for more on the Jayhawks, visit Rock Chalk Talk. Stay tuned to SB Nation's college football news hub for more on all of this weekend's biggest games.