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On Friday, I decided to venture out of Austin and into Dripping Springs, where 2023 three-star quarterback Austin Novosad leads an undefeated Tigers team. On game day, Novosad was tasked with extending his team's season record to 7-0, something that the Tigers could achieve for the third time in the past 25 years.
 
Week 8:
 
Entering Friday's game, the Tigers had a 3-0 district record and were looking to inch one win closer to a potential district title. Standing in their way was the San Antonio Veterans Memorial Patriots, a team that was coming off of a 45-28 loss to an undefeated Buda Johnson squad.
Although Veterans Memorial made some big plays, the game was all about the Tigers. On offense, Novosad and senior running back Preston Alford provided the firepower that Dripping Springs needed to distance themselves early. In fact, Alford was able to score a total of five touchdowns and proved to be a reliable back inside of the red zone. Setting up Alford with beneficial opportunities was Novosad, who showed off his arm strength on a number of occasions. While the junior quarterback threw for both a touchdown pass and an interception, he continued to move the chains all night.
According to 247Sports, Alford has received five collegiate offers from programs such as Arkansas State and Navy. However, I would not be surprised to see Alford's recruitment generate more of a buzz if Dripping Springs can run the table in the state's Class 5A Division I playoff bracket.
Along with Alford, Novosad has also received a decent number of scholarship offers, ten to be exact. Currently, programs such as Baylor, SMU and Texas Tech have been vying for the junior quarterback's services. Despite not necessarily being on his A game versus Veterans Memorial, Novosad has been terrific through seven games - passing for 2,135 passing yards and 29 TDs.
On defense for the Tigers, senior outside linebacker Parker Cooke was making plays left and right, even showing off his vertical on an impressive interception. The 6'2" athlete was certainly the player that caught my eye the most on the defensive side of the ball for either teams.
Although Dripping Springs was ultimately able to win this contest 47-21, both Patriots senior quarterback Alex Alva and sophomore running back James Peoples were able to gash the Tigers for big gains on the ground.
Following Friday night's loss, Veterans Memorial now drops to fifth place in their division with a 1-3 record against district foes.
Extra Point:
I think that Dripping Springs, especially with a quarterback like Austin Novosad, might be a sneaky team to watch in the state's 5AD2 classification. With Novosad and Alford leading the way, the Tigers offense should have no problem scoring points in the playoffs. In fact, Dripping Springs has scored over 44 points in each of their games this season.
Also, I am looking forward to seeing how the recruitment of Novosad, Alford, and Cooke progresses. For Cooke, I am not aware of any scholarship offers that he may have, but I think that he could be a player for some college programs to further investigate.
Miles Logged:
57 Miles (Total)

Another week, another heartbreaking loss for Texas
Let's start big picture. Steve Sarkisian said something after the game that had not crossed my mind previously. He mentioned Texas has a mental block when it comes to making the plays necessarily to put a team away in the second half, and it is his responsibility to help them get over that block . When the Longhorns jump out to an early lead or are off to a good start, it is like the players are almost waiting for something bad to happen. This program has played in so many nail-biters over the last 3-4 years that it almost seems like an expectation to a lot of players. Let me be clear, this is not an excuse for Texas losing games and there are many more issues that need to be addressed but it is just something additional to think about when looking back on the the last two weeks. In terms of the on-field performance, let's start with the defense. Pete Kwiatkowski came out with a pretty good game plan and Texas played winning football on defense for about 3 and a half quarters. The dam eventually broke the last few possessions after they had been on the field nearly the entire second half, but the overall performance should have been good enough for a win. Kwiatkowski opted to operate out of 3-man front for the majority of the game with Alfred Collins anchoring one of the edge spots. This turned out to be a smart decision. The stats show Texas allowed 220 yards rushing, but about 90 of those yards came on the final two possessions (excluding the possession that ended in a kneel down) when Texas was completely out of gas including the drive when the Longhorns effectively let OSU score because they had to get the ball back. DeMarvion Overshown exited early in the contest with a concussion, and Jaylan Ford saw extended action in Overshown's place and played well. Ford ended up leading Texas in tackles with 12. Offensively, Texas started out by marching right down the field on their opening drive and it slowly went downhill from there. Casey Thompson had by far his worst performance of the year (15/27 179 yards 1 touchdown and 2 INT's). His first INT was a pick-6 as Texas was driving deep into OSU territory to potentially make it a 20-3 or 24-3 game. Instead, OSU got to go into the locker room only down 17-13. The second half performance from the offense was awful. Texas scored on their first drive and then did not record another first down. 6 straight drives that ended in 4 plays or less. That's hard to believe. We will likely never know how much Thompson's thumb injury was bothering him, but if I was Steve Sarkisian I would have made a quarterback change at some point in the 4th quarter. The Longhorns offense needed some sort of spark and Oklahoma State was pinning their ears back knowing Thompson couldn't push the ball down the field. Kyle Flood opted to play musical chairs with the offensive line for much of the afternoon. Tope Imade started at LG but ended up splitting a lot of time with Hayden Conner. Christian Jones started at LT but ended up sharing a lot of snaps with Andrej Karic. I would expect those battles to continue throughout the bye week and into the Baylor game. As a whole, the offensive line spent much of the second half on roller skates for the second straight week. Oklahoma State was more physical up front and it showed. Texas needs to be in the market for at least a tackle and a guard in the portal once the offseason hits. They simply can not afford to waste Bijan Robinson's final year on campus with a below average offensive line. Overall, it was another disappointing performance and now Texas is going to have to sit on it for two weeks with the bye week upcoming. This team has a lot of holes and the coaching staff has to find a way to scheme around their deficiencies better. They are doing it in the first half regularly, but the flood gates have now opened in the second half in back to back weeks. 

AUSTIN, TX -- Mike Gundy's Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0, 3-0) snapped a two-game losing streak to the Texas Longhorns (4-3, 2-2), defeating Steve Sarkisian's team 32-24 at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium.
Texas led in the game until late in the fourth quarter when Tanner Brown kicked a 25-yard field goal with 4:37 remaining to give Oklahoma State a 25-24 lead, their first of the game.  The Cowboys scored again after stuffing Casey Thompson on 4th and 3, securing the win and maintaining a perfect record on the season.
Texas quarterback Casey Thompson played with his thumb wrapped, after injuring it last week in Dallas against the Sooners.  Thompson threw for 179 yards and one touchdown pass, and had two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. He was forced out of the game for one play late in the third quarter after being hit by Oklahoma State linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez.  
Bijan Robinson eclipsed the century mark on the ground for the fifth straight game, finishing with 135 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.
Marcus Washington who started at wideout in place of the injured Jordan Whittington, led all Texas receivers with 60 yards on two receptions.
Oklahoma State rushed for 220 yards and quarterback Spencer Sanders threw for 178 yards and a touchdown.  Utah State transfer Jaylen Warren led all rushers with 193 yards on 33 carries including a long of 29 yards.
Linebacker Demarvion Overshown was injured in the first half of the game and did not return.
Texas falls to 4-3 overall and has lost two in a row.
The Longhorns have a much-needed bye week next week before traveling to Waco to face the Baylor Bears on Halloween Eve.
GAME RECAP
The Longhorns scored on the game's opening possession, marching 75 yards downfield and ending with Bijan Robinson's 1-yard rushing touchdown.
After punting on their first drive, Oklahoma State threatened in the red zone, but ended up settling for a 21-yard field goal by Tanner Brown.
The Longhorns responded with a field goal of their own, courtesy of Cameron Dicker, from 28 yards out to give Texas a 10-3 advantage.
Following another punt by the Cowboys, Bijan Robinson's 26 yard run set up another scoring drive for the Longhorns.  Robinson rushed for another 9 yards before Roschon Johnson entered for a short-yardage play in which he picked up a first down.  Robinson came back in on the next play and caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Casey Thompson, extending the Texas lead to 17-3 over Oklahoma State.
D'Shawn Jamison picked off Cowboy quarterback Spencer Sanders, giving Texas the ball in Cowboy territory.  On the ensuing drive, Jason Taylor II picked off Casey Thompson and returned it 85 yards for Oklahoma State's first touchdown of the game.
The Cowboys added another Tanner Brown field goal just before the halftime clock expired, sending Texas into the locker room with a 17-13 lead.
Oklahoma State's offense went three and out to start the second half, and Texas made quick work on their next possession. 
An 18-yard reception by Xavier Worthy and a 12-yard rush by Casey Thompson set up Bijan Robinson's second rushing touchdown of the day, this time from 38 yards out. Texas led Oklahoma State 24-13 at that point.
After three and outs by both teams, Spencer Sanders was roughed by Texas linebacker Ray Thornton, extending a Cowboy drive that would have been over.  Oklahoma State then drove deep into Texas territory but left with just three points on Tanner Brown's third field goal of the day.  The Cowboys trimmed the Texas lead to 24-16. 
Towards the end of the third quarter, Casey Thompson took a nasty hit by Oklahoma State linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, forcing Thompson to the sideline.  Hudson Card replaced Thompson at quarterback for one snap before Thompson returned.  
Oklahoma State's first drive in the fourth quarter included a Jaylen Warren 27-yard run which set up Spencer Sanders' first touchdown pass of the day, to Pressley Brennan for 7 yards.  The Cowboys went for two to try and even the score, but failed to convert and left Texas holding a 24-22 lead.
The Texas offense continued to be stagnant, punting for the fourth straight time.  Oklahoma State marched the field again but was forced to settle for another Tanner Brown field goal, this time from 25 yards out.  Brown's kick gave the Cowboys their first lead of the game, 25-24, with 4:37 remaining on the game clock.
The Longhorns were faced with a 4th & 3 on the ensuing drive and Casey Thompson was stuffed short of the first-down marker, giving Oklahoma State the ball back.  
Spencer Sanders capped a 3-play, 42-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to give the Cowboys a 32-24 lead, which they would hold onto as the game ended.