HOUSTON, Texas — In situations such as the one put in front of the Texas Longhorns, it could be easy to fall into what some call a "trap game."
Texas dropped a heartbreaking game at home to LSU, 45-38. The next opponent: Rice. A team that hasn't defeated the Longhorns since 1994 and lost to UT 41 of the last 42 matchups.
Rice also entered the matchup 0-2 on the season, losing to Army and Wake Forest in the first two weeks. All signs indicated to what should be a convincing win for Texas, and the Longhorns did not disappoint.
Texas looked very good on all sides of the football: offense, defense and even special teams. Sam Ehlinger picked apart Rice's defense, going 23-for-27 passing, 279 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in three quarters of play.
Ehlinger led his team to a 38-0 lead before resting for the remainder of the night.
UT even scored on special teams as D'Shawn Jamison put the final stamp on the game with a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown with 53 seconds left in the game.
If there were a way you'd want a team to respond to a tough loss, this would be it. But how does this help the Longhorns moving forward?
Texas can move onto next week with the LSU loss behind them, they responded with a dominant win on all sides of the football, and hopefully that can rekindle any lost swagger or confidence -- that's even saying if there was any lost in the first place.
The Longhorns will return to Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as they host the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who come off their third straight win of the season. The Cowboys will be 3-0 when they enter DKR, looking to knock off Texas as they did last season, 38-35.