LAWRENCE, Kan. — Texas has won nine games for the first time in six years and secured a spot Friday in the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time since 2009 — sure signs to coach Tom Herman that the Longhorns are ahead of schedule in his second season.
“We’re overachieving right now,” Herman said after Texas beat Kansas 24-17.
Herman, 16-9 at Texas, said his team had done “just enough” to earn its spot on Dec. 1 at AT&T Stadium against the winner of Oklahoma-West Virginia, set to play Friday night in Morgantown, West Virginia.
No. 14 Texas (9-3) won its second straight after a pair of Big 12 losses by holding off Kansas, which scored all of its points in the fourth quarter after the Longhorns built a 21-0 lead. With David Beaty coaching in his final game, the Jayhawks closed to within one score in the final two minutes, but Texas receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey recovered an onside kick to ice the win.
A celebration followed in the visiting locker room at Memorial Stadium.
“There was a lot of dancing, I know that,” Herman said.
Texas beat Oklahoma 48-45 in Week 6 and lost 42-41 to WVU three weeks ago in Austin as the Mountaineers converted a two-point play after a 33-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left.
The Longhorns persevered to beat Texas Tech and Iowa State, then avenged a 2016 loss at Kansas on Friday by completing a 98-yard drive on the opening possession and holding the Jayhawks to 296 yards.
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger threw a pair of interceptions after returning from a shoulder injury that sidelined the sophomore in the second half last week. He had thrown 304 consecutive passes before Friday without a pick, a Big 12 record.
Not that he cared about the streak. Ehlinger described the opportunity as “huge” for Texas to play in a sixth Big 12 title game since the league was formed in 1996. Texas has won three championships, most recently over Nebraska nine years ago.
“It would be awesome for our program,” Ehlinger said.
Herman said it’s great for his program just to get the game in Arlington so quickly in his tenure. Texas finished 7-6 a year ago in Herman’s first season that followed three consecutive seven-loss seasons under Charlie Strong.
“We know we’re an unfinished product,” Herman said. “We know we’ve got a lot of work to do. But We’re not going there just to play it.
“They would be angry if I told you this story was already written.”