In Stillwater on Saturday, the Longhorns once again blew a double-digit second half lead, something that has become a staple of head coach Steve Sarkisian’s tenure thus far. In all three of Texas’ losses this year, the opposing team has come back in the second half.

This time it came in the form of a 41-34 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma State at Boone Pickens Stadium, a game in which Texas held a ten-point lead late in the third quarter.

Under Sarkisian, Texas is now 1–6 in true road games.

“This is on me,” Sarkisian told Longhorn Radio Network after the game. “Clearly, we’ve got to get some things fixed and get ourselves healthy coming out of the bye to play better football.”

After impressing in the Red River Showdown and winning against Iowa State, it looked like Texas was on its way to Big 12 championship contention with redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers’ return. 

But Ewers faltered in his first taste of football in a road environment. 

Offensively, Ewers was out of sync with his wideouts. Ewers completed just 19 of his 49 passes on the day. While the heavy winds were certainly a factor, the young quarterback consistently overthrew his targets.

Ewers went through growing pains in Stillwater, throwing interceptions on both of the last two drives of the game after Oklahoma State took the lead.

“We have to look at this game as a wake up call and turn the tide,” Ewers told Longhorn Radio Network after the game. “We have a good group of teams coming up towards the back half of the season. I think all of the guys are pretty upset about this one but I think it’ll just add fuel to the fire.”

Ewers specifically had a hard time finding sophomore wide receiver Xavier Worthy, whom he connected with efficiently against Iowa State. While Worthy’s four receptions for 78 yards with a touchdown made it seem like the receiver had a solid outing, the receiver was targeted 16 times.

“We just weren’t on the same page on a couple of throws,” Ewers said. “It’s a lot to learn from, and I’m excited to see what we do after the bye week.”

The penalty margin also hurt Texas. While the Cowboys avoided a single penalty being charged to themselves, the Longhorns committed 14.

Perhaps the most costly penalty came on Texas’ offensive drive that immediately followed Oklahoma State’s game winning touchdown. Facing a second-and-12 at his own 32-yard line, Ewers broke free for a huge gain before being tackled at Oklahoma State’s 35-yard line. However, a holding penalty negated the huge run and put Texas in a desperate position.

“That’s (118) yards right there that we lost just in penalty yardage,” Sarkisian said.

The loss brings Texas down to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play, placing it firmly towards the middle of the pack in the Big 12 rankings. With the bye week next on its schedule, Texas will have to dwell on its devastating loss for an extra week before getting back on the field. 

“We got to make sure everybody stays level-headed,” senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said. “We can’t go down in that dark space. Hopefully, in two weeks when we strap it up again, everyone is ready to go.”