Texas Longhorns Finally Finish Strong in Win Over Iowa State Cyclones

The Texas Longhorns have been plagued by weak second-half showings for the last month, but finally figured it out.

The Texas Longhorns have seemed unable to win in a quick and easy matter over the past handful of weeks. 

That appeared to be the case once again for the first two-and-a-half quarters of their Week 12 matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames on Saturday evening. The No. 7 Longhorns were in a hostile environment that was outside of the state of Texas for the first time since their win over Alabama on Sept 9. While Iowa State was overmatched, they gave the Longhorns all they had in the 26-16 win for Texas.

Heading into halftime, the two teams were only able to exchange a few field goals as Texas led 6-3 thanks to having multiple touchdowns called back because of penalties. However, unlike in recent weeks where the last two quarters were when Texas collapsed and let its opponent crawl back into the game, the Longhorns stepped up.

Texas takes the field ahead of their game at Iowa State :: Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Longhorns scored 20 second-half points, and while they did give up 13 Iowa State points, they were firmly in control of the game. The offense schemed up good looks, as Quinn Ewers connected with Jordan Whittington and Gunnar Helm who were both wide open on their respective 23 and 31-yard touchdown passes. Special teams got a huge block on an extra point by T'Vondre Sweat which was returned for two points, and the defense added a massive pick from Jerrin Thompson and a clutch fourth-quarter stop to ice the game while up by 10.

If one had to choose which version of the Longhorns they got, it would have to be the one that explodes in the second half rather than the one we had been seeing the last few weeks that limps their way to victory. This was Texas' most convincing win since its meeting against BYU on Oct. 28 and couldn't have come at a better time with in-state rival Texas Tech looming next week.

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