AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas football team has experienced blowout wins and a one-score victory. They've suffered their first loss of the season, and made it through their first bye week.
But in a matter of days, the Longhorns will do something they haven't done this season: go on their first true road trip – and it's a long one.
The distance from Austin to Morgantown, West Virginia, is 1,400 miles. So, if you're planning on driving to Saturday's game, you should leave sooner rather than later.
Until this point, all of the Longhorns' games have been played somewhere in the state of Texas. Head coach Tom Herman says his team will rely on its mental strength to overcome the road environment at West Virginia.
"When the ball is kicked off, where you're playing the game is irrelevant ... to allow an opposing crowd, or the fact that you're on the road affect your play, that's a choice that you make, and hopefully most of our guys choose opposite of that," Herman said.
Herman is downplaying the impact that the West Virginia atmosphere will have on Saturday's game, but Austin American-Statesman's Cedric Golden believes the Mountaineers unique environment could play a role in the game.
Jeff Jones: "When the ball is kicked off, where you're playing is irrelevant... you've been to West Virgnia, you've seen that environment – what are the Longhorns in store for?"
Cedric Golden: "Well, first of all, it is relevant. I disagree with Tom. It's a lot easier to play in front of 90,000 people who love you as opposed to 60,000 who hate you. So it's a hostile environment. It's one of the toughest places to play in the Big 12. They beat Texas last year – so a lot of the guys from that team are still on this team. They've seen the oddsmakers. They've seen the point spread. (The Mountaineers) know that they're not favored to win this game Jeff. So they're going to have every reason to hit the Longhorns in the mouth, come Saturday."
The Texas-West Virginia game is set to air on KVUE at 2:30 p.m. CT.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: