Welcome to the Extra Points, our weekly college wrap-up at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. This is your one stop to quickly get up to date with all the most important FBS happenings in the state from Week 10. 

AUSTIN -- Texas football was especially dejected after losing to No. 13 West Virginia on Saturday. It wasn’t a bad loss, but the second straight L quickly brought the program back to earth.

A few weeks ago, the Longhorns seemed almost a sure thing to make the Big 12 title game. Texas was undefeated in conference play and had a manageable path. Road games against Texas Tech and Oklahoma State were tough, but Texas would be favored. Escaping home games against West Virginia and Iowa State unblemished would be tough, but one loss would be fine.

But after an emotional 42-41 loss to No. 13 West Virginia on Saturday, the Big 12 title hopes might quickly be slipping away. After the Oklahoma State two weeks ago, the Longhorns have now lost consecutive games for the first time since Oct. 21, 2017. A Sugar Bowl trip is quickly starting to look like an Alamo Bowl trek if things can’t get back on track.

“The silver lining is that we play in the Big 12, and everybody plays everybody,” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “We're not out of any race at this point. We certainly don't control our own destiny. We need a couple things to happen.

“At the end of the day, our program is built on going 1-0, and we didn't get that done tonight, but we had a great week of practice, great week of preparation, and I thought our attitude was phenomenal heading into the game.”

It didn’t help that the Longhorns lost several key playmakers to injuries. Cornerback Davante Davis and defensive linemen Breckyn Hager and Marquez Bimage all went out early in the game.

“Whoever is out there, you’re obviously recruited here for a reason,” defensive end Charles Omenihu said dejectedly after the game. “You’re supposed to make plays. Do what you’re supposed to do. If you don’t, then we lose. And we lost.”

It’s not all bad news. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger was the best player on the field against the Mountaineers, and that’s a field with Heisman hopeful Will Grier on the other sideline. Ehlinger completed 25-of-36 passes for 354 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. He added another score on the ground. More importantly, he went his eighth straight game without an interception.

The Longhorns also had one of the best atmospheres of the season. Herman credited the crowd for helping Texas stay in the game. It’s been a gradual growing process, but the energy has returned to Austin in a big way since Herman joined the program.

However, the pressure will be on Texas to try and prevent this from turning into a landslide. That urgency is especially true for the seniors. None of the seniors on this roster have won more than seven games at Texas. Ten wins in still in play, but it would take an undefeated slate and a bowl win.

Last year’s senior class was the first at Texas not to win at least eight games in a season since 1989. This year’s group surely doesn’t want to repeat that, especially considering that the Longhorns are still in the Big 12 title race. It was enough that one Longhorn senior even forgot the company line momentarily.

“We need to win games,” Omenihu said. “We need to win the rest of our games.”

Then, Omenihu correct himself.

“Excuse me, we need to win the one we’ve got next and go from there.”

The streak is over

UTEP football marched into Rice Stadium in Houston and decided enough was enough.

The Miners had lost 20 straight games dating back to Aaron Jones’ final hurrah in 2016. To give context for how long ago that was in football time, that win was over North Texas.

But on Saturday, the Miners finally put it all together against a conference opponent. UTEP overcame a late charge from Rice to beat the Owls 36-28 to move to a cool – and encouraging – 1-8 on the season. It was UTEP coach Dana Dimel’s first win as a head coach.

“Give credit to Rice, they came back and did some really positive things and hung in there,” Dimel said. “That team’s got a lot of fight. but our guys found a way to win...overall, I was very, very happy with the way our football team played and very excited to get the victory.”

The Miners knew that they are heavy underdogs in the final three weeks of the season, so beating Rice was a must. Right from the start, the Miners punched Rice in the mouth. Quarterback Kai Locksley and running back Quardraiz Wadley each scored a pair of first-half touchdowns to push the lead out to 27-0.

Rice never quit in this game. The Owls scored 23 points in the final 16 minutes to cut the lead to one score. But in big moments, UTEP’s defense forced a punt and an interception to get the Owls off the field and clinch the game.

The Miners still have a significant amount of growing left to do. UTEP has still lost eight games and ranks in the bottom tier of the state. But finally, after nine games, Dimel has something to build on.

Growing pains

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher signed a 10-year, $75 million contract before he took the job in College Station. Obviously, he’ll need time to put his stamp on the roster. Regardless, Saturday’s road loss against Auburn sure felt like the same old Aggies.

The Aggies choked away a double-digit fourth quarter lead to fall 28-24 against the unranked Auburn Tigers. Texas A&M was ranked No. 20 heading into the game. That will change soon.

Quarterback Kellen Mond played his worst game of the year, completing just half of his passes and adding a touchdown and a pick. On the last play of the game, a likely Hail Mary, Mond ran right into an Auburn defender for a sack and fumbled the ball as time expired.

The Aggies had several opportunities to put the game away on the Plains. Texas A&M missed a makeable field goal as the fourth quarter started that could have made the lead 13 points. One drive later, Mond threw an interception that led to an Auburn score.

Texas A&M then had 1st-and-10 at the 50 with 2:50 remaining and a chance to bleed plenty of time off the clock. The next two plays were a run for loss and a sack, which forced a punt. The Aggies allowed a 28-yard return, which meant the punt only went 13 net yards. Auburn scored a game-winning touchdown right after.

“We need to find those one more play, two more play, three more plays down the stretch,” Fisher said.

With the loss, Texas A&M is potentially heading towards its fifth straight season of five or more losses since Johnny Manziel left the program. That mark is exactly what got former coach Kevin Sumlin canned.

Fisher deserves a whole lot more time to put his imprint on the program. Every contributor on the roster was recruited by the previous staff. Mond has made plenty of steps, but the sophomore is still young and wasn’t Fisher’s guy.

But still, the draw of bringing in Fisher was finding a coach that wouldn’t lead late-season collapses. November has come once again for the Aggies. It sure seems that this November won’t be much different than recent years. With a game against LSU – and a sneaky one against UAB – remaining, things could get frustrating.

Around the state:

• No. 7 Oklahoma 51, Texas Tech 46: The Red Raiders gave Oklahoma everything they could handle in a wild Saturday night Lubbock. Quarterback Alan Bowman and linebacker Dakota Allen both went out with injuries, but Jett Duffey gave the Red Raiders a chance at the end. Bowman suffered a recurrence of his partially collapsed lung injury. We’ll know more information soon.

• Baylor 35, Oklahoma State 31: Baylor wide receiver Denzel Mims caught a 6-yard out in the end zone with just seconds remaining to lead the Bears to a Homecoming win. The Bears now sit at 5-4 and just one win away from bowl eligibility. There are relatively winnable games against Iowa State and Texas Tech coming up. However, the most satisfying for Baylor fans is a home game against TCU in two weeks.

• SMU 45, Houston 31: The Mustangs flipped the script on Houston and dominated them from the start. SMU took a quick 31-14 halftime lead and managed to keep Cougars quarterback D’Eriq King under control. SMU quarterback Ben Hicks dominated with 318 yards and four touchdowns through the air. King mustered just 175 passing yards.

• Texas State 40, Georgia State 31: A few weeks ago, it seemed unclear whether Texas State would beat an FBS opponent this season. The Bobcats put that question to rest with a dominant performance. Quarterback Willie Jones threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns, and added 62 yards and another score. Tight end Keenan Brown added a Wildcat rushing score. This is the first winning streak of the Everett Withers era.

• TCU 14, Kansas State 13: This game came down to a missed extra point by Kansas State. All things considered, that’s the wholly unsatisfying ending this game deserved. TCU quarterback Michael Collins threw for 218 yards and a score, but the Horned Frogs mustered just 2.2 yards per rush. Kansas State was the easiest game remaining on the schedule; it only gets tougher from here. Next up, it’s road games against West Virginia and Baylor.

• UAB 52, UTSA 3: The Roadrunners completely embarrassed themselves against UAB. The Blazers averaged 9.5 yards per play and only threw the ball 14 times. UTSA averaged a cool 3.6 yards per play. This is a loss that is going to resonate through the rest of the year.