The OU game was an aberration, one of those deals where everything goes wrong for one team (always seemingly the Longhorns) and not only do the wheels come off, but someone steals the rims, too. That game was Renee Zellweger/ Kenny Chesney wrong. But the Longhorns can’t be bad enough to lose to Oklahoma 55-17. Can they?

We will find out on Saturday when Brandon Weeden, the flaming ginger whose 28th birthday is the day before the game, leads the # 6-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys against a Longhorns team that was just plain rank last week. Weeden is seven years older than his favorite target Justin Blackmon. Larry King and some of his wives were closer in age.

Garrett Gilbert’s gotta be kicking himself for not working harder on his curve ball. Instead of transferring from UT, he could be playing minor league baseball like Weeden did, then come back to college six years later and compete against minors. It's kinda cheating. If you had your first kiss after a Stone Temple Pilots concert, you're too old to play college football.

OSU coach Mike Gundy once famously took a bullet for a young quarterback by declaring himself to be a full grown man, so pick on him instead. By that criteria, Weeden, who’s heard every leather helmet joke there is, is fair game. It's a little weird that he yells out "Get off my lawn" to blitzers, but Old Man Weeden is having a sensational year, leading OSU to national No. 1 rankings in scoring (51.4 pts per game) and first downs (29.6). OSU is no. 2 in total offense (577.4 yards) and passing offense (431.2),

Forget “Three Days Of the Condor,” sophomore CBs Carrington Byndom and Adrian Phillips star in the thriller “Seven Days On the Corner.” From Oct. 8- 15, they’ll have had to cover Ryan Broyles, Kenny Stills, Justin Blackmon, plus the strong support staff that includes some guy named Jaz who’s a third-and-forever specialist for the Sooners. Those Okies ain’t the Joad Family, people, so the Horns DBs have to bring more to cover them than a tarp and a few nails.

Those Horns on an island are gonna need help from the linebackers and safety Blake Gideon- something they didn't have against Oklahoma. Saturday might be a good time to play #33 Steve Edmond, the true freshman linebacker from Daingerfield, who's been getting no respect from coaches.

Four-year starter Gideon, who is closing in on the record for most consecutive player press conference appearances, has got only seven or eight more games left to redeem himself for “Gideon’s bobble” in the 2008 Texas Tech game. The only way the Gid's's gonna be playing on Sundays is if he takes up steel guitar and joins Austin country band Heybale. But the stage is set for #21 to step in front of that Wes Welker clone Josh Cooper and take it all the way back. Weeden needin’ to make a tackle is a good thing.

Perhaps inspired by the Longhorn basketball team’s free-throw percentage last year, Head Coach Mack Brown came up with “Brick By Brick” as this year’s football slogan. But then came that Oklahoma tornado to blow the house down.

What happens now? Is it 2010 again? (And if so, I need to find something time-consuming to do on Saturdays.) There are worries about the O-line and the young and the restless QBs, just like last year. Texas recruits the best players each year and sends the most to the NFL, but the problem seems to be in between.

Horns fans are shellshocked thinking of last year's 5-7 team. But on Monday, Coach Brown said this team is different. "We're not going to let one loss beat us twice like we did last year. We used to do that well around here, and last year we got down on ourselves and didn't play well."

Now that everybody’s favorite scapegoat Garrett Gilbert is gone (most likely headed to SMU to put up Timmy Chang numbers for June Jones’ playground offense), who are the fair-weather faithful in burnt orange going to boo if the game is not to their liking? Mack Brown? For $5 million a year, he can afford a self-esteem trainer. (“They're not booing, they just want you to put in Luuuuuke Poehlmann.”)

You know fans won't get on their pet Major Applewhite. Some blame Chris Simms for the dreadful offensive game plan against Oklahoma. This may have to be a game where the entitled orangebloods are forced to watch without trying to make some 19-year-old cry.

Call me crazy, but I still think this team is a special group who will bounce back. But even though it's worked well for Texas in the past, it would be wise to forego last year's stragedy of letting the former "Choke State" have a 30-point lead early.

What do you say we play ‘em tough for 60 minutes and eke out a 30-28 win? With a Gideon interception setting up the go-ahead FG. Texas beat OSU with Rashaun Woods and Dez Bryant and Brandon Pettigrew: why can't they beat 'em with Justin Blackmon?

We've been hearing all about the Longhorns' 24-hour rule—all wins and losses are forgotten after 24 hours and the focus turns to the next opponent. That's sometimes easier for players than fans. Watching the Oklahoma game was like being in a car flipping down a hill. You just kept telling yourself that it’ll be over soon.

That shouldn’t happen again on Saturday. But we should all buckle up just to be safe.