Well, that was bad.
Texas had every opportunity to take the long-awaited next step, at home in overtime, against No. 10 Oklahoma State on Saturday.
MORE: Oklahoma's loss is nightmare for Big 12
Texas held Oklahoma State to a field goal first to make the score 13-10 — unheard of for a Cowboys team that averaged 51.3 points a game prior to Saturday. A touchdown wins it. A pass interference call put the ball at the 12-yard line. Just tap in it. Tap it in. Tap it. ...
Texas loses it on an ill-advised pass from Sam Ehlinger. pic.twitter.com/MfBTDSwPK9
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) October 21, 2017
Among the six-finger questions swirling in Austin: Was Ehlinger trying to throw the ball away? Did he think a receiver would be there? Was a receiver supposed to be there? What the hell just happened? Why didn't he just throw the damn ball away? How does that happen?
In other words, Texas did not tap it in.
The Longhorns dropped to 3-4 and will need to win three out of five against Baylor, TCU, Kansas, West Virginia and Texas Tech just to get bowl eligible in Tom Herman's first year as coach.
The loss against Oklahoma State is a tremendous missed opportunity for the program, which could have shifted from the "losing close games" to the "winning close games" part of the process. No big-time program wins big until that transition is made, even at a place like Texas.
MORE: Oklahoma State-Texas Game Center
Texas is now 2-4 in game decided by 10 points or fewer, 1-3 in one-score games and 1-2 in overtime games in Herman's first season.
The Longhorns lost to Maryland by 10, but canceled that out by beating Iowa State by 10, a win that looks better by the week. Texas beat Kansas State by six points but lost to USC and Oklahoma by a total margin of nine points. Entering Saturday's game against the Cowboys, they're still in stuck in "lose close."
Texas played its best defensive game against a quality opponent and high-octane offense. Mason Rudolph didn't throw a touchdown pass. The Cowboys had 51 rushing attempts and averaged just 2.9 yards per carry. Good signs on that side.
The Longhorns, however, missed several opportunities. Two third-down drops ended drives in the final five minutes. Ehlinger took a sack to end regulation. Texas' defense forced a field goal, then that interception followed. It will be pinned on Ehlinger, but on a third-and-4, from that spot on the field, it was a bizarre play call. Not the fact that Texas passed, but more the way the pass unfolded. Those six questions will be repeated all week because of the loss.
Instead of taking the next step, Texas remains stuck in a familiar spot that typified the Charlie Strong era. Strong was 6-9 in one-score games in his three years with the Longhorns, but he also lost 12 more games that weren't so close. It added top 16-21 over three years, and Herman was supposed to take the program to the next step.
It clearly hasn't happened yet, and it needs to happen against the Horned Frogs, Mountaineers and Red Raiders if he wants to reach a bowl game (and assuming Texas wins the other two games against the Jayhawks and Bears). We think Herman will get them to that six-win mark. He needs to in order to put some of the past away.
That's what Herman is up against and can build on for the Longhorns. There will be other big games and big stages, and Texas showed fight.
They just didn't move on to "win close games" mode. That's when you'll know things are good in Austin.
