Kevin Sherrington

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STILLWATER, Okla. – Mike Gundy made it clear what he thought of Texas' national title aspirations by going for it on fourth down three times in the first half Saturday, the first time from his own 28. And that was on Oklahoma State's first drive.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, their coach proved correct, as a 41-14 score indicates.

They couldn't beat Texas straight up or otherwise, and if they can't, who can?

Central Florida? Baylor?

Kansas? Texas A&M?

The Big 12 North?

Answers: No, no, no, probably not and Lord, no.

Before the season, believe it or not, this was the game that over-thinking pundits actually picked as the most likely to wreck the Longhorns' title hopes. But that was before the NCAA muscled up on the Cowboys' great receiver, Dez Bryant, and Kendall Hunter, their terrific running back, had to sit out five games with an injury.

Considering Texas' defensive dominance, I'm not sure how much difference the missing could have made. Unlike most recent games in this lopsided series, which have at least been entertaining, Saturday's installment looked more like what its history suggests. Both of OSU's victories predate Mack Brown, and one of them predates Nuremberg.

Yes, dropped passes cost OSU at least one touchdown, but they were mistakes that only accentuated the difficulty of the task at hand.

Or as Gundy put it: "When you're playing a team as good as any team in the country ... there's not much room for error."

The Longhorns beat OSU just about every way possible. Will Muschamp's defense made a fine quarterback, Zac Robinson, look so bad – four interceptions, two returned for touchdowns – that Gundy felt compelled to announce they would "stick with him."

As for Robinson's counterpart, Colt McCoy picked up from where we last saw him in Missouri, where he raised his scuttled Heisman hopes.

Just like last season, when he was at his best nearly every week, McCoy was Texas' best running threat. His ability to avoid pressure didn't show up much in the stats, where he was 16-of-21 for 171 yards, but it kept drives alive.

With McCoy rolling and the defense the best it's been under Brown, Texas appears destined to run the table.

Unlike last season, when Texas lost to Texas Tech in Lubbock – Michael Crabtree celebrates the one-year anniversary in Indianapolis today – the Longhorns have no challenger left as daunting. For all the hubbub over that game, richly-deserved, at that, Tech was a legitimate contender.

Going into Saturday's game, OSU had already been exposed by Houston and has yet to face Tech or Oklahoma.

And who now stands in Texas' way?

First of all, the Longhorns don't have another game outside of Texas. Of the four teams left on Texas' schedule, none has a winning conference record. Only A&M poses a threat, and that's based as much on the rivalry as the sudden revival of Mike Sherman's career.

The Aggies can be explosive when their big quarterback, Jerrod Johnson, is on. But I don't like his chances against the schemes of Muschamp, who puts his defense in place to make plays. They broke on balls before Robinson's receivers did.

From here on out, the biggest problem facing Brown will be from within. He's had to sell his team on the rigors of a soft nonconference schedule, a Tech team without an experienced quarterback and a Sooner bunch missing most of its offense.

He was at it again even after a 27-point win on the road.

"We can get so much better than this team has played," he said, making a reporter wonder out loud if that might scare a lot of people.

"But we can," Brown insisted. "We really can."

If you're going to have to give this speech five more times, Mack, you're going to have to do better than that. Come to think of it, might be the hardest thing you'll have to do. Until you get to Pasadena, anyway.