Longhorns try to rebound

AUSTIN - No one ever said rebounding from a loss in college football was easy.

"You see Oklahoma State's ahead 56-7 at halftime as we're getting on the plane to come home is not very exciting," head coach Mack Brown said. "It's, 'Hey guys, let's look forward to next week.' And then they win 70-28."

For the second straight week, Texas faces a top 10 team. Senior running back Fozzy Whittaker said it reminded him of the stretch in 2008, when Texas faced four straight teams in the top 11.

"This is similar to that type of atmosphere which is similar to going up against the top ten team in the nation and then coming back against Oklahoma State, who I feel is also a top five team in the nation," Whittaker said. "It will be a great test to see how we bounce back from last week."

Despite the loss to Oklahoma, the Longhorns say they're ready. They say playing the sixth-ranked Cowboys just after OU is a welcome challenge.

"It forces us to grow up," senior safety Blake Gideon said. "We're going to get a chance to see what kind of maturity and see what we have as a team this week because like you said, we're playing another top ten team. We're not going to have time to sit around and mope and think about last week because that's how you get beat twice in one game. A loss is a loss, no matter what the margin of defeat was, or whatever, it counts as one loss. So we need to understand that and realize we're still 4-1 and in a very good position. We've got to move on and get ready to play a really good team."

For coaches, the challenge of facing the number one scoring team in the nation after facing the number one ranked team in the nation is motivating.

"Here's the whole point," defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. "That's why we come to Texas. That's why we play, too. As a competitor, that's what you want. "