Arkansas State The first Longhorn game of the season marked the first-ever meeting between Texas and Arkansas State, Both schools entered the game with a level of controversy attached to their teams. Arkansas State was facing criticism over its team name. The team was nicknamed "Indians" in honor of the
Osage Nation that inhabited the area until the 1800s. The
NCAA enforced restrictions on the use of Indian mascots, saying that they were derogatory to
American Indians. In 2008, the Indians changed their name to the Red Wolves. The University of Texas was dealing with
player suspensions, and passed a large pay raise for Mack Brown one week prior to the game. As part of the package, Brown received a $100,000 special payment upon completion of the game. Two days prior to the game,
Las Vegas casinos
favored Texas by 39points. Sportswriters John Bridges and Kirk Bohls of the
Austin American-Statesman predicted the Longhorns would have a big lead early in the game and that true-freshman quarterback
John Chiles would enter the game in the second or third quarter as the backup to Colt McCoy.
Redshirt freshman quarterback
Sherrod Harris was on the injured list and was not expected to play. Those predictions were off the mark as the Indians almost kept up with the Horns and McCoy stayed in for the entire game. Texas scored a
touchdown on its first
possession and Arkansas State answered with a
field goal. Texas made another touchdown to end the first quarter. Neither team scored in the second quarter. Texas scored seven points in the third quarter, while Arkansas State was scoreless. In the fourth quarter, Arkansas State scored ten points to pull within eight points of Texas. With approximately one minute left to play, Arkansas State attempted an
onside kick. State recovered the ball, but a controversial
illegal formation penalty forced them to re-kick. On the re-kick, Texas recovered the ball and was able to
run out the clock to preserve a 21–13 win. Colt McCoy threw two touchdown passes and two
interceptions; he also made two
punts. Jamaal Charles accounted for the third touchdown. after the victory. Starting Longhorn defensive end Brian Orakpo injured his right knee during the game. The team reported Orakpo did not need surgery but that it was uncertain when he would return. Kirk Bohls was among commentators who were unimpressed by the Longhorns performance, saying, "if this becomes the pattern, look for a 7–5 season." On September 5, Arkansas State coach
Steve Roberts said he was told by the Big 12 Conference's supervisor of football officials that game officials wrongly overturned ASU's recovery of the onside kick. He said the Big 12 Conference Supervisor of Officials told Arkansas State there had been no illegal formation, that no penalty should have been called, and that Arkansas State should have been awarded possession of the football. A Big 12 Conference spokesman said he could not confirm or deny that such a conversation took place and that any such conversation was confidential.
TCU The second Longhorn game of the season was the first meeting of the former
Southwest Conference (SWC) rivals since the conference disbanded following the 1995 season. Texas held a 60–20–1 (win-lose-tie) record vs. the
TCU Horned Frogs. In their annual season preview magazine,
CBS SportsLine.com selected two Longhorn games — vs. TCU and against OU — as ranking in their 17 "must see" games for 2007. CBS Sportsline.com also selected TCU as one of the potential "BCS Busters" for 2007, saying, "The Horned Frogs will have one of the best defenses in the nation with nine starters back on a squad that allowed only 12.3 points per game last year, including a 12–3 victory over Texas Tech. Garry Patterson has made the Horned Frogs one of the best BCS non-AQ conference schools in the nation, but unlike Utah and Boise State, they had not received the opportunity to play in a
Bowl Championship Series bowl. If TCU can get past Texas on Sept. 8, it might finally be time for the Horned Frogs to invade the BCS party." Texas' narrow win versus Arkansas State in week one, together with TCU's victory over Baylor, fueled speculation that the
2007 Horned Frogs might have a chance at an
upset victory over the Longhorns. Texas dropped three places to number seven in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, while TCU moved up three places to number nineteen. One day prior to the game, Las Vegas casinos picked Texas to win by 9½ points. Both teams were scoreless in the first quarter. In the second quarter, TCU's Torrey Stewart faked a
blitz, then dropped back and caught an interception from Colt McCoy before running in for a touchdown. Later in the quarter, McCoy threw a pass that was tipped by a defender and intercepted by David Roach. The Longhorn defense kept the Horned Frogs out of the end zone following the interception, but the Frogs scored on a 19-yard field goal by Chris Manfredini. The first half ended with TCU leading, 10–0. The attendance for the game, 84,621, was the third-largest crowd ever to watch a TCU football game. The Knights opened their season with an
upset of
North Carolina State; the victory was their second victory over a BCS opponent and the first time for the Knights to beat a BCS school since 2000. They followed the win with a week off, giving them two weeks to prepare for Texas. It was just the sixth time Texas had played in
Florida and was the team's first appearance in the state since 1965. The number six-ranked Longhorns were the highest rank team the Knights had ever played. UCF coach
George O'Leary said prior to the game, "When you talk about elite teams, Texas is an elite team from an athletics, traditions and overall standpoint." Several Longhorn players missed the game due to injuries or suspensions. Starting defensive end Brian Orakpo missed his second straight game as a result of suffering a knee sprain against Arkansas State. Starting offensive tackle Adam Ulatoski was listed as doubtful. Backup quarterback Sherrod Harris was also injured and had not seen action since spraining his knee on August 12. Wide receiver Jordan Shipley participated in his first game since a preseason injury. Defensive end Henry Melton, linebacker Sergio Kindle and receiver Billy Pittman were serving the last game of their three-game suspensions. A sell-out crowd greeted the Longhorns in Florida. UCF received the opening kickoff in their end-zone and took a
touchback. UCF was not able to get a first down and before punting the ball to Texas. The Horns drove inside the UCF 20-yard line before being stopped on fourth-and-short and settling for a field goal. Shortly thereafter,
lightning was spotted near the stadium and both teams were sent into their locker rooms for approximately 15 minutes before play resumed. Texas' first drive after the delay culminated in a six-yard touchdown pass to Nate Jones. When the first quarter ended, the Longhorns had a three-point lead and the Knights had the ball. In the second quarter, the Longhorns and the Knights each fumbled inside the UCF ten-yard line. Texas scored ten points in the quarter to UCF's three. The score at halftime was 20–10, Texas. With 2:14 remaining, Longhorn Jamaal Charles committed his second fumble of the game. UCF recovered the ball and completed a touchdown and a two-point conversion to cut Texas' lead to 35–32 with 35 seconds remaining. When the Knights were unable to recover their onside kick attempt, Texas was able to run out the clock and preserve a three-point victory. Due to his performance in the game, Texas cornerback Brandon Foster was named the Big 12's defensive player of the week. For the second week in a row, Foster scored a touchdown on defense. Foster was recognized by the conference the previous week for his work on
special teams, making him the first Longhorn to get back-to-back conference honors since running back
Hodges Mitchell in 2000. Kicker Ryan Bailey tied a school record with five field goals. Combined with his previous attempts, the five kicks made him seven-of-nine for the season at that point. The Owls were 21-67-1 against Texas heading into the game, After their narrow victory over the UCF Knights, the Longhorns remained in sixth place in the coaches' poll and dropped from sixth to seventh place in the Associated Press poll. Jeff Sagarin, whose computer rankings are used as a component of the
Bowl Championship Series rankings, had the Longhorns at number twelve coming into the game. Sagarin's system had Rice ranked as the worst team in Division I-A and 181st in the country, behind many
I-AA teams. Four days prior to the game, Las Vegas favored UT by 39 points. The Longhorns suspended special teams player James Henry prior to the game, The Owls came into the game 0–3 after losing the previous week to
Texas Tech by a score of 59–24. The Longhorns started the game on offense and had no success on their first drive. On the first play, Colt McCoy threw an incompletion, and on the second play, Jamaal Charles fumbled the ball to the Owls. The Texas defense held Rice to a field goal attempt, which was no good. Texas scored a touchdown on a 13-play drive that included converting a 4th-and-two situation. The Longhorns extended their lead to 41–0 before Rice scored a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the first half. In the second half, Texas scored two touchdowns and one field goal, and Rice scored one touchdown. Texas won 58–14. McCoy and most of the Longhorn starting players were replaced by backups after the first drive of the second half. True freshman quarterback
John Chiles made his first appearance as a Texas player in the first quarter, when he participated in a single play. He came out of the game after the play before returning in the third quarter as McCoy's replacement. On his first drive, Chiles led the Longhorns 80 yards to a touchdown, carrying the ball 4 times for 49 yards. He also threw one incomplete pass (one of two he threw in the game) and handed off to
Vondrell McGee three times for thirty-one yards. McGee was the game's leading rusher, and had 8 carries for 80 yards. Jamaal Charles rushed 14 times for 72 yards, and John Chiles ran 9 times for 72 yards. Sergio Kindle injured his knee, and defensive end Eddie Jones injured his shoulder, but neither injury was thought to be serious. prior to the Rice game
Kansas State Texas first played Kansas State in 1913 and held a record of 5–4–0 in the series prior to 2007. In the
2006 meeting, fourth-ranked Texas was favored by 16 points over an unranked Kansas State team; Colt McCoy was injured early in the game and KSU went on to defeat Texas 45–42. This defeat snapped the Longhorns' 17-game road winning streak as well as the national-best 21-game conference winning steak. Kansas State got the ball to start the game and scored a touchdown on their opening drive. Texas answered with a touchdown on a drive that featured backup quarterback John Chiles in the game alongside Colt McCoy for some plays. The first quarter ended with the score tied 7–7. In the second quarter, Kansas State took a 24–14 lead Kansas State had no turnovers and scored 21 points on defense and special teams. The 41 points were the most scored against Texas in Austin since UCLA handed the Longhorns a 66–3 loss in 1997. The loss to Kansas State was the worst home defeat in the Mack Brown era at Texas.
Stewart Mandel of
Sports Illustrated listed several factors that contributed to the Longhorns' struggles. He cited the off-field problems as evidence that no UT player has been able to show the superior leadership skills of Vince Young. Mandel said that McCoy, still only a sophomore, had not been able to completely fill that gap and that McCoy's play had not been as good as during 2006. He also said part of the blame should be placed on an offensive line that lost several starters and had not been able to consistently protect McCoy. Finally, he noted that the running game had been "equally inconsistent". It is Texas' second-longest running rivalry, just behind its rivalry with Texas A&M.
CBS Sportsline.com listed the game sixth on its list of games to watch during the 2007 season, saying, "The annual Red River Shootout in Dallas will once again feature two top-ten teams with the winner being the front-runner for not only a Big 12 title but a factor in the national title picture. The game will also feature one of the best match-ups of the year with Limas Sweed and Billy Pittman of the Longhorns facing against Oklahoma's excellent secondary." and tying the school record. The Longhorns had been ranked 142 straight weeks in the coaches poll, the longest UT streak in any poll and the country's longest active streak in the coaches poll. The game was a back-and-forth affair ultimately won by Oklahoma, 28–21. OU's freshman quarterback,
Sam Bradford, was 21–of–32 for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns. UT's McCoy was 19–of–26 for 324 yards and two touchdowns, McCoy threw one interception, and Jamaal Charles lost a fumble inside the Oklahoma five yard-line. For the second straight week, the Texas defense did not cause any turnovers. McCoy, who suffered a concussion the previous week, played the game with his throwing arm bandaged from mid-forearm to biceps and took four
sacks and a blind-side late hit after one play had been whistled dead. With the loss, Texas opened conference play 0–2 for the first time since 1956. Receiver
Limas Sweed left the game early because he re-injured his left wrist. He later had surgery to tighten the ligaments in the wrist Defensive end
Aaron Lewis fractured his elbow in the game and was taken out of the lineup indefinitely. Jeff Duarte of the
Houston Chronicle made note of Charles' fumble, McCoy's interception and the low rushing yardage. He said, "the Texas Longhorns went back and forth with Oklahoma for most of the game Saturday before eventually succumbing to the same problems that have taken them from a Top 10 ranking to the verge of dropping out of the national polls for the first time in seven years." The win kept the Sooners in position to win the south division of the Big12 Conference and could even allow them back into the national championship race. Like Texas, the Cyclones were 0–2 in conference play, but they had only a 1–5 record overall. Their lone victory of the season had been against Iowa when they made a game-winning 28-yard field goal with :01 remaining. As with Kansas State, Texas plays the Cyclones two out of every four years as part of the Big 12 Conference schedule. Mack Brown said that he would not change the game plan in facing Chizik but that he needed to adjust sideline signals and snap counts since they were known to the former Texas co-coordinator. The Austin American-Statesman predicted Iowa State's quarterback
Bret Meyer and wide receiver
Todd Blythe would pose the biggest threat for the Longhorns. The paper also called the Cyclones the worst team in the Big 12 North and predicted that Texas would be 2–2 in conference play after facing Iowa State and Baylor, the worst team in the south division. The Daily Texan reported that the game offered an opportunity for Gene Chizik to get a "signature win" if his team could beat Texas. Two days prior to the game, oddsmakers favored Texas to win by 16 points. The Longhorns were in control from the beginning and routed Iowa State 56–3, the worst loss for the Cyclones since 1997. From that point, the Longhorns never relinquished the lead. They led 14–3 at the end of the first quarter and 28–3 at halftime. In the second half, Texas added another 28–points, en route to a 56–3 blowout. The Longhorns' success passing the ball eventually gave way to the running game. John Chiles led the Longhorns with 54 yards on 9 carries. McCoy rushed for 50 yards, while Jamaal Charles carried the ball 7 times for 44 yards. The Longhorns finished with 514 total yards – 298 via the air, and 216 on the ground.
Robert Killebrew was benched after committing two personal foul penalties, a consistent problem for him in the 2007 season. Without a veteran fullback, Texas planned to either run the ball out of the
shotgun formation or simply focus on the passing game. Representatives from the
Holiday Bowl were in attendance. According to the Austin Statesman, one of them said, "We'd love to have Texas, but they're still hoping to wind up at the Fiesta Bowl." In order to reach the
Fiesta Bowl, Texas needed Oklahoma to lose two games, giving Texas a spot in the
Big 12 Conference Championship game, which Texas would then have to win. Another possibility was for Oklahoma to make it to the
National Championship game and Texas being selected for an at-large
Bowl Championship Series bid." Because home UT games are usually a sell-out, Texas games at Baylor have found numerous Texas fans driving to Waco to watch the game. The Longhorns first played the
Baylor Bears in 1901 and faced them annually during the days of the
Southwest Conference. In the 96 meetings through 2006, Texas' record against the Bears was 70 wins, 22 losses, and 4 ties. The rivalry with Baylor is Texas' third-longest by number of games: only Oklahoma and Texas A&M have faced Texas more times on the football field. He was suspended indefinitely from the program. Baylor's starting quarterback,
Blake Szymanski, was questionable for the game because of a mild concussion he suffered in a game against Kansas. Two days prior to the game, oddsmakers favored Texas to win by 25 points. The game was initially a close-fought contest; Texas led by only a touchdown before Deon Beasley intercepted a pass at the Baylor 43-yard line with nine minutes remaining in the game. Texas scored two more touchdowns to outlast the Bears in a 31–10 victory. Texas accumulated 293 passing yards, all by McCoy, compared to 284 by Machen and Weed of Baylor. Vondrell McGee was the leading rusher for Texas, contributing 57 of the team's 177 yards. Baylor's Jay Finley was the Bears' leading rusher, but Baylor was held to only 8 yards rushing overall because of the sacks forced by the Texas defense. It was the tenth straight victory for UT over Baylor. The weather forecast called for a high of and sunshine with winds NNE at to . Texas stuck with their passing game for three quarters and was trailed Nebraska most of the way; the Cornhuskers led 17–9 to start the fourth quarter. The Associated Press reported, "Once Texas figured out it should be running against one of the nation's worst run defenses, things turned out all right for the Longhorns." Early in the fourth quarter, McCoy took a hard hit as he scrambled outside the pocket. He was shaken up badly enough to leave the game for a play. John Chiles came in at quarterback; his one play, a
zone-read handoff to Jamaal Charles, produced 24 yards. According to the Associated Press recap of the game, "suddenly Texas had figured out how to beat a Cornhuskers' team that had been steamrolled on the ground in recent weeks. Texas only threw three passes in the fourth quarter." The running back was named the
Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week. The game was a milestone for one coach and a millstone for another; it was the 100th win for Mack Brown at Texas; and it put more pressure on beleaguered Nebraska coach
Bill Callahan. Brown remarked on his victory, "A hundred is nice. I knew the game was going to come down like it did. It didn't surprise me. They made sure that I'll remember it the rest of my life."
Oklahoma State is displayed on the
jumbotron behind the field. From 1916 through 2006, Texas had played the
Oklahoma State Cowboys football (OSU) program 21 times and held a 19–2–0 record. The pre-game festivities included an appearance by
Challenger, the first
bald eagle ever trained to free-fly into sports stadiums, and a fly-over by four
F-16 Fighting Falcons from the
Oklahoma Air National Guard's
138th Fighter Wing piloted by Oklahoma State alumni. It was the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in
Texas Longhorn history.
Fox Sports selected Jamaal Charles and Jacob Lacey as their players of the game for Texas and Oklahoma State, respectively. Charles averaged 11.3 yards per carry. ESPN remarked, "For the second straight week, Jammal Charles led a late charge for the 15th-ranked Longhorns. He scored two of his three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Texas (No. 14 AP) outscored Oklahoma State 24–0 in the final 15 minutes." Oklahoma State ran 87 plays and used 35:11 minutes of ball possession, compared to 70 plays and 24:49 for Texas. The Longhorns suffered several injuries during the game. According to the
Austin American-Statesman, "Center Dallas Griffin left the game with a knee injury, linebacker Jared Norton left with a right shoulder injury and Eddie Jones left with a shoulder injury. Brandon Foster injured his chest in the third quarter, and Drew Kelson left the game with a left knee injury." The paper also reported that Griffin's removal from the game may have contributed to several mistakes in
snapping the ball to McCoy and that UT might not have been able to win if any of the resulting handling mistakes had been picked up by OSU. Pre-game speculation continued about what bowl game might select Texas. Various media predictions included the
Gator Bowl,
Cotton Bowl Classic, and
Holiday Bowl. Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski said his bowl would be very interested in pitting Texas against the
USC Trojans, whom Texas defeated in the
2006 Rose Bowl. A BCS bowl was also still mentioned as a possibility, with
Sports Illustrated saying the Orange Bowl could take Texas. Texas Center Dallas Griffin injured his
anterior cruciate ligament against Oklahoma State and was out for the season. Griffin was a senior, meaning his career with the Longhorns ended due to the injury. Backup defensive end Eddie Jones and reserve safety Drew Kelson were also out for the game against Texas Tech. Linebackers Jared Norton and Sergio Kindle were listed as "questionable" and "probable", respectively. The Red Raiders were 7–3 on the season and 3–3 in the Big 12 after beating Baylor 37–7 in their most recent game. Quarterback
Graham Harrell passed for over 4,000 yards for the second season in a row, becoming the fifth quarterback in NCAA Division I-FBS (formerly Division I-A) to have multiple 4,000-yard seasons. The Austin American-Statesman reported, "Defensively, Texas must hope that the injured are quick healers because it's a given that the Longhorns will need every available body against the Red Raiders. Texas Tech fields the most dynamic passing offense in the country, and the Red Raiders also stay on the field an average of 77.3 plays per game. Tech further frustrates a defense by often going for fourth downs. They've been successful on 14 of 23 fourth-down attempts this season. A year ago, Tech was one of three on fourth downs in a 35-31 loss to Texas." The temperature at kickoff was 84 degrees. On their first offensive series, the Horns scored a touchdown on a pass from McCoy to Shipley. Their defense held Tech to a field goal. Texas offensive tackle
Tony Hills injured his leg and left the game on a cart. Texas scored another touchdown on a run by Vondrell McGee to create a 14–3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Tech's Graham Harrell threw a touchdown pass and Texas answered with a rushing touchdown. On the ensuing kick, Texas used a
pooch kick which was tipped by a Texas Tech player. The Longhorns' kickoff team recovered the ball, helping put their offense to rush for another touchdown. Tech brought the game to 28–20 with another touchdown. Texas drove into field goal range but tried to throw a touchdown pass with 11 seconds remaining in the half. The pass was intercepted for a
touchback and the Red Raiders ran a short play to end the half. Tech attempted two
onside kicks in an effort to come from behind, but Texas recovered both kicks. During his post-game
press conference, Texas Tech head coach
Mike Leach excoriated the officiating crew for incompetence and bias. He speculated that the officials may have favored Texas because the head official lived in Austin, because the officials were incompetent, or because the conference wanted Texas to appear in a BCS bowl because of the increased appearance fees that such a bowl generates for the conference. Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press wrote "Leach was upset officials disallowed two Tech touchdowns in the third quarter. The first was overruled when video replay clearly showed the receiver let the ball hit the ground. On the next play, a touchdown pass was negated by a holding penalty. Leach also wanted, but didn't get, a flag for roughing the quarterback." The
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported, "Big 12 policy prohibits coaches from commenting publicly about game officials, so Leach's actions leave him open to reprimand, fine or worse." The Big 12 fined Leach $10,000, the largest fine in conference history. The win ensured that 2007 was the 10th straight season the Longhorns won nine or more games, a record streak for the Horns. Including Mack Brown's final two seasons at
North Carolina, Brown became the only coach in the nation to lead his program to nine or more victories in 12 straight seasons. Texas A&M came into the 2007 contest with a 35–73–5 record against Texas. Since the series began in 1894, the game has traditionally been played on
Thanksgiving Day or Thanksgiving weekend. The 2007 game marks the fourteenth straight game to be scheduled the day after Thanksgiving.
Holiday Bowl The Longhorns concluded the season in the
2007 Holiday Bowl on December 27 against the
Arizona State Sun Devils. With the loss to Texas A&M, the Longhorns fell out of contention for a
Bowl Championship Series game; their bowl situation was to be decided largely by the play of other Big 12 teams. Number four
Missouri beat number two
Kansas to win the Big 12 North Division. Missouri rose to the top spot in the BCS rankings prior to facing Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game. Oklahoma won the game to become the Big 12 Conference champion and secure a berth in the
2008 Fiesta Bowl. Even though Missouri defeated Kansas, won their division, and outranked Kansas in the BCS standings (sixth compared to eighth) the
Orange Bowl selected Kansas instead of Missouri to play in the
2008 Orange Bowl. The Tigers were invited to play in the
2008 Cotton Bowl Classic; the Cotton Bowl Classic had first pick of Big 12 teams after BCS bowls have made their selections. The
Holiday Bowl had the next selection and chose Texas. Arizona State University was ranked number 11 in the BCS standings; they completed a 10–2 regular season and won a share of the Pac-10 Conference Championship. The Sun Devils finished the regular season ranked number 11 in the final BCS rankings, number 11 in Coaches poll and number 12 in the AP rankings while Texas was number 19 in the BCS and number 17 in both the coaches and AP rankings. Texas dominated the first quarter and set two Holiday Bowl records. The Longhorns' first score, a two-yard pass from Colt McCoy to nose tackle Derek Lokey, was the quickest in game history, and took place with 13:39 remaining in the first quarter. The Longhorns scored 21 points in the first quarter—two more than previous record-holder
SMU scored against BYU in 1980. Texas' defense forced two turnovers and held the Sun Devils scoreless for the period. The game included one of the most bizarre plays of the football season.
Chris Jessee, a member of the Longhorns football operations staff and Mack Brown's
stepson, stepped onto the field and may or may not have touched the ball as it bounced near the sideline. The ball was recovered by Texas, seemingly preventing an ASU touchdown. However, after a twelve‑minute review, the officials awarded the ball to Arizona State; the Sun Devils scored a touchdown on the next play. The Longhorns won the game, 52–34. The 52 points were the most ever scored by the Longhorns in a bowl game. Joseph Duarte of the
Houston Chronicle called the Holiday Bowl the "biggest victory of the season in what could serve as a springboard for a preseason Top 10 ranking next season." ==After the season==