With '30 days of focus' underway, Texas bests Kansas State, reenters Big 12 title chase

MANHATTAN, Kan. — After Texas left the door open Saturday night, Keondre Coburn slammed it shut.

With less than a minute left in the game and No. 13 Kansas State trying to force overtime with a touchdown drive, Coburn forced a decisive fumble that was recovered by linebacker Jaylan Ford, securing the Longhorns' 34-27 win at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

One year after going 5-7 and missing out on the postseason, Texas (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) became bowl-eligible. But more notably, the Longhorns regained control of their own destiny in the conference race. Now tied for second place in the standings with Kansas State and Baylor, Texas still has conference-leading TCU, Kansas and Baylor left on the schedule.

The math is simple: Win out and the Longhorns will reach the Big 12 championship game.

"We knew this week was a championship game, no matter what," Coburn said. "We knew that we had to get it done. We knew if we beat them, we have a chance against anybody right now in our conference. Our main goal was this week, even though we had two weeks to prepare for them. Next week, it's on to the next."

A strong finish to the second quarter allowed Texas to build a 31-10 halftime lead. The Longhorns, though, have lost five times under head coach Steve Sarkisian in games in which they held a second-half lead of at least 10 points. And they faced another rally by an opponent Saturday.

After Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez accounted for two touchdowns and the two teams traded field goals, Texas clung to a 34-27 lead with 2:43 left. Martinez's 7-yard toss to Deuce Vaughn converted a fourth-and-6 play and moved the Wildcats into UT territory.

With time ticking, Kansas State opted not to use one of the two timeouts it had saved. Martinez dropped back to pass, but Coburn knocked the ball loose as the Wildcats quarterback stepped up to throw. Coburn was unable to fall on the fumble — "I think my stomach made the ball bounce," the 344-pound defensive lineman said — but Ford was there for the recovery at Texas' 39.

Only 24 seconds remained, so Texas was able to celebrate the snapping of a five-game road losing streak and its first win over a ranked team since the 2021 season opener.

"I just went out there and executed like we do in practice," Coburn said. "I love this team, and just whatever I can do to help us get a win, that's all that matters."

Added Ford: "He had a heads-up play punching that ball out. I watched the replay; he just dominated the O-lineman."

That fumble was Kansas State's third of the game, but turnovers were avoided on the first two miscues. Just seconds before Coburn's game-sealing strip, teammate Moro Ojomo had swatted the ball away from Martinez, but it rolled out of bounds before either T'Vondre Sweat or Barryn Sorrell could control it.

"The ball had been out (two) times previously to that last fumble recovery where we just didn't get it," Sarkisian said. "It was kind of like sooner or later, the ball is going to bounce our way. Great sack by Coburn and nice recovery by Jaylan Ford."

As expected, the start of Saturday's showdown was a showcase for the Big 12's top two running backs. Bijan Robinson and Vaughn had entered the game as the conference's two leading rushers. And Texas' Roschon Johnson had rushed for 318 yards and four touchdowns over UT's last two games against Kansas State.

Those three backs accounted for the first quarter's three touchdowns. Robinson rushed for a 36-yard touchdown, Vaughn scored on a 28-yard catch, and Johnson took a 9-yard trip into the end zone.

In that first quarter, Kansas State averaged 7.5 yards per play and outgained Texas by a 142-130 margin. The Longhorns fared better in the second quarter.

More:Golden: Even in a loss, battle-tested Sam Ehlinger proves he belongs on the NFL stage

Kansas State opened the second with a first down at the Texas 11, but the Wildcats were held to a short field goal. Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron later broke up a fourth-and-2 pass into the end zone in the direction of receiver Phillip Brooks. A couple of minutes later, Ford intercepted a Martinez pass.

Offensively, Texas responded to the defensive highlights by Barron and Ford with two scoring drives in the final two minutes of the first half. A 28-yard field goal and Xavier Worthy's 3-yard touchdown catch extended the lead to 31-10 by halftime.

"We've been preaching complementary football, and that's the sign of a team that is understanding," said Sarkisian, whose defense held Kansas State to 96 yards over 16 second-quarter plays. "It's one thing to get turnovers; it's another to turn it into points. We were able to do that in that sequence, and I thought that that changed a lot of the momentum in the game."

While reflecting on the Longhorns earning a bowl berth, Sarkisian said he told the players that they weren't done yet. Work still remains. He recalled asking the Longhorns on Monday for "30 days of focus" in November.

He got five. Can he get the other 25?

"Absolutely," Robinson said. "It's on the leaders to harp on everybody that every single day matters and it means something. We can't go into these days lackadaisical or it won't mean nothing to us. ... When we have that mindset, I think that the sky's the limit, and we have so much that we have in front of us still."

Robinson finished with 209 rushing yards — his second-best effort as a Longhorn — and has now eclipsed 1,000 yards for the second straight season. And after catching the 20th and 21st touchdown passes of his 21-game career, Worthy bumped Limas Sweed from third place in the Texas record books.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Big win in Manhattan moves Texas into second-place tie in Big 12 race