Mussatto: Does Texas belong in College Football Playoff? Longhorns looked the part vs. OSU
ARLINGTON, Texas — OSU belonged in the Big 12 Championship Game. OSU was no match for Texas.
Both things can be true. Both things are true.
Texas’ 49-21 shellacking of Oklahoma State on Saturday did not expose the Cowboys as frauds. Rather, it confirmed the Longhorns as contenders. As a true College Football Playoff threat, should the Longhorns get one of the four coveted spots.
Texas could not have sent a stronger message to the playoff committee. Texas pummeled an 18th-ranked OSU team that beat OU, the only team that beat Texas. Even Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, mercilessly booed by Texas fans, lobbied for the Longhorns to get in.
Texas strutted around AT&T Stadium like a pro wrestler, knowing its victory was all but predetermined. Fitting that the game was filled with WWE propaganda — a partnership Yormark, a master marketer, cooked up.
With Texas, all the clichés fit. Texas was bigger, faster and stronger than OSU. The Longhorns looked, dare I say it, like an SEC team.
More: Oklahoma State football grades vs. Texas: Cowboys fail to slow down Quinn Ewers, Longhorns
“Live, they’re actually better than what they look like on tape,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “Very fast, very explosive.”
Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat made the Heisman pose after catching, yes, catching, a touchdown. The same Sweat, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, who helped swallow up Offensive Player of the Year Ollie Gordon II and OSU’s ground game.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who set records galore, also played the part of a Heisman. Running back Keilan Robinson tiptoed down the sidelines for a touchdown and Texas pass catchers Ja’Tavion Sanders, Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell shared in the wealth of Ewers’ 452-yard passing day — a Big 12 Championship Game record.
“We knew it was going to be a heavyweight battle,” said OSU linebacker Nick Martin, holding a bag of ice to his face. “We knew they were going to have blows and we are going to have our own blows. Ultimately, they had more than we did.”
No team was taking down the Longhorns on Saturday. The Dallas Cowboys — with their home-field advantage and all — sure, but certainly not the Cowboys of Stillwater.
What about OU, which tied OSU at 7-2 in the conference? The Sooners, which beat Texas in October, would surely have made it a fairer fight. A moot point, though. OU should take pride in that Red River win, but the Sooners look silly poking fun at the Pokes when, you know, OSU beat OU in Bedlam.
More: Quinn Ewers sets Big 12 passing record & more key stats from Oklahoma State loss to Texas
OSU’s road to Arlington had plenty of detours. Solid wins against Kansas State, Kansas and OU, a blowout loss to UCF and clutch comebacks against Houston and BYU brought them here to the World of Jerry.
In the preseason, the Cowboys were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12. Gundy, having led OSU to a second-place finish, was named conference Coach of the Year.
“What our guys were able to accomplish, I mean, they had a great year and I couldn’t be any more proud of what they did and what they accomplished,” Gundy said. “They deserved to be in this game today.
If one team didn’t belong, it was Texas.
The Longhorns were the real impostors, masquerading as a Big 12 team with SEC players at every position.
“I would guess that team could play with anyone in the country right now, just from what I saw live,” Gundy said. “Maybe I’m wrong.”
Maybe he’s right.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Texas beats Oklahoma State, looks like a College Football Playoff team
