STILLWATER, Oklahoma — All losses are disappointments, but the Longhorns' first loss in Big 12 play -- a 38-35 loss at Oklahoma State -- was not expected.
"That's an upset and dejected locker room, but they are together and one loss hurts really bad," said Texas head coach, Tom Herman. "It matters this much. It means we're headed in the right direction".
Headed into the right direction?
RELATED | RECAP: Texas Longhorns' comeback effort falls short, lose to Oklahoma State Cowboys, 38-35
Yeah, the Longhorns trailed 31-14 at halftime after a disastrous first half where Oklahoma State thrashed the Texas defense for 378 total offensive yards. But, the Longhorns rallied back after making defensive adjustments and trailed by three points late in the fourth quarter.
Texas just ran out of gas.
"Yeah, losing sucks," said Texas sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger. "We're certainly not going to get used to it. That's never going to be the standard and we're not going to be ok with it."
Ehlinger finished the game completing 22-of-42 passes for 283 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Defensively, Texas allowed the Cowboys to garner 502 total yards of offense.
The frustration by the Texas defense boiled over late in the game when the Longhorns' emotional leader, Breckyn Hager got into a tussle with an Oklahoma State offensive lineman. Cowboys head coach, Mike Gundy, sprinted onto the field to protest Hager's actions and Texas head coach sprinted out as well to defend Hager.
Fellow team captain, Texas tight end Andrew Beck wasn't pleased.
"That's not us," Beck said. "That's not our program. I love Breckyn to death, but y'all know. I live with him. I'm disappointed in him and I'll tell him to his face. That's not us. That's not him. That's not this program."
Each team in the Big 12 Conference has at least one loss and Texas hosts West Virginia on Saturday Nov. 3 at 2:30 p.m. with conference title goals still attainable.
"Our long term goals are still ahead of use," said Herman. "We need to learn from how we fought in the second half (versus Oklahoma State)."