Texas’ football program is no stranger to trap games. In fact, it’s safe to say for the past decade that the Longhorns have fallen victim to at least one trap game per year.
This past season it was Texas Tech in overtime, the season prior Kansas defeated the Longhorns in Austin, and the season before that it was a loss to TCU. Each one of these games was decided by an average of two points and were all equally as detrimental as the other.
When fans look at Texas’ 2023 schedule combined with the returning production on offense, there are believers that the Longhorns could win every game on the schedule.
If there were any year for Texas to win the Big 12 and make the College Football Playoff, it would be this one. However, Texas has often been plagued by the “this is our year” mentality, and has come up short every year since 2009. It typically feels as if the only thing getting in Texas’ way the past few years have been themselves, and that is typically when they fall victim to a team they should beat.
I decided to break down the three games that I think could be possible trap games for the Longhorns in 2023. It is worth noting that a trap game cannot be against a ranked opponent. Texas has to be favored in the game and Oklahoma never counts as a trap game because Red River is always ultra-competitive and unpredictable.
First, a trip to Waco in Week 4