MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Twelfth-ranked West Virginia looks to get back on track today against 15^th-ranked Texas at sold-out Darrel K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.
 
It's the eighth all-time meeting between the two schools and the fifth in Austin.
 
"This is one we've been looking forward to for quite a while," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "It didn't quite end the way we wanted to last year, and we haven't forgotten about that."
 
Not only did the Longhorns turn a rainy afternoon in Morgantown dark, but quarterback Will Grier's broken finger in the first quarter sent West Virginia's season into cardiac arrest.
 
The 24^th-ranked Mountaineers were doubled up by Texas, 28-14, and also lost their remaining games of the season at Oklahoma and against Utah in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl to finish with a 7-6 record.
 
This year, the Longhorns are looking to recover from their 38-35 loss at Oklahoma State that saw their coach Tom Herman lose his mind momentarily as the Cowboys were taking a knee at the end of last Saturday's game in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
 
During the prior play, Texas defensive end Breckyn Hager crashed into the line and knocked over a couple of Oklahoma State players to begin some pushing and shoving that ended before something more serious could materialize.
 
Among those caught on the television cameras was Herman, flagged for a penalty when he ran onto the field shouting at Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy in response to Gundy coming onto the field. Afterward, Gundy said he came out to try and help maintain order.
 
Hager, incidentally, didn't make it through the entire game last year in Morgantown after he was tossed in the fourth quarter for targeting backup quarterback Chris Chugunov.
 
Before the Oklahoma State loss, Texas (6-2, 4-1) was in the driver's seat to claim its first regular season Big 12 title since 2009. An exciting, 48-45 victory over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas early last month temporarily put it there.
 
Texas also shows league victories over TCU (31-16), Kansas State (19-14) and Baylor (23-17), along with non-conference wins over Tulsa (28-21) and USC (37-14).
 
The Longhorns' other loss came at Maryland in the season opener, 34-29.
 
Texas is 4-0 at home this year, but is only outscoring its opponents by an average of 12.8 points per game there.
 
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger bounced back from a shoulder injury he suffered in the Baylor game to complete 22-of-42 passes for 283 yards and run 10 times for 47 yards in the Oklahoma State loss. He is completing 63.5 percent of his pass attempts for 1,817 yards and 13 touchdowns. He has also run 86 times for 277 yards and has scored a team-best eight rushing touchdowns.
 
"He's heavily involved in their run game," Holgorsen noted. "He has scored eight touchdowns with his feet, so they rely on that, and they've built their offense around it. It's no different than what coach Herman did at Houston, or even in his days at Ohio State."
 
Freshman tailback Keaontay Ingram led the Longhorns in rushing with 52 yards against Oklahoma State and is expected to get the starting nod on Saturday against West Virginia. 
 
He leads Texas in rushing with an average of 65 yards per game.
 
Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson give Texas two big-time, pass-catching targets standing 6-feet-4 or taller. The 6-foot-6-inch Humphrey shows 46 catches for 645 yards and four touchdowns while 6-foot-4 Humphrey also has 46 grabs for 628 yards and five scores.
 
Senior rover Gary Johnson's 56 tackles lead a veteran Longhorn defense that shows nine of their 11 regulars with at least 15 game's worth of starting experience. He also has 11 ½ tackles for losses, a number that compares favorably to what West Virginia's David Long Jr. has done this year in that category.
 
Texas' most impressive team number is turnovers lost, the Longhorns checking in at No. 4 nationally in that category this week having coughed the football up just six times this season.
 
West Virginia, last week in its 58-14 win over Baylor, was the recipient of four Bear turnovers.
 
Overall, West Virginia (6-1, 4-1) owns a 4-3 record in the series, and the Mountaineers have surprisingly been successful in Austin, winning three of four meetings there.
 
"They have loads of talent," Holgorsen admitted. "Our guys are going to be excited about going to Austin to play in that environment. We're looking forward to it and I know we'll be ready to go."
 
Today's game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on FOX (Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft).
 
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show (Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning) at noon leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Drenning at 2:30 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
 
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:
 
10 – Holgorsen's West Virginia teams have scored at least 50 points in a game TEN times during his eight-year tenure in Morgantown, including the last game against Baylor, a 58-14 victory.
 
9 – Quarterback Will Grier and receiver David Sills V have hooked up for touchdowns 27 times since the beginning of the 2017 season – NINE more than the next closest FBS quarterback-wide receiver duo during that span of time.
 
8 – West Virginia has won EIGHT times on the road in November under Dana Holgorsen, the Mountaineers owning an 8-4 overall road mark during the month.
 
7 – Kenny Robinson Jr., Dravon Askew-Henry and Keith Washington Jr. are tied for SEVENTH in the Big 12 this week with two each.
 
6 – West Virginia has had just SIX scoring drives of 10 plays or longer this year as opposed to 21 scoring drives of five players or fewer.
 
5 – FIVE of Will Grier's 25 touchdown pass this year have been for distances of 50 yards or greater, including an 82-yard TD toss to Marcus Simms in the Kansas State game.
 
4 – The WVU defense ranks FOURTH nationally in tackles for losses, averaging 9.3 per game heading into today's game against Texas.
 
3 – Grier ranks THIRD nationally in passing efficiency this week with a 188.7 rating.
 
2 – Sills V is tied with Tavon Austin for SECOND in school history with 29 touchdown catches. Stedman Bailey is No. 1 with 41 TD grabs.
 
1 – The Mountaineers are ONE of just four Power 5 schools to rank among the top 25 nationally in scoring offense (16^th) and scoring defense (23^rd).
 
Enjoy today's game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.