If you are a head coach on the hottest of seats at one of the biggest college football programs in America then there are a number of agenda items you would like to avoid. One such item is falling victim to a team that has not beaten your school since 1938. That is exactly what happened on Saturday, as Charlie Strong took his Texas team to Lawrence and was on the wrong end of a 24-21 overtime scoreline against Kansas in Big 12 play.
MORE: Beating Texas Was a Huge Deal for Kansas Football
Strong was indeed fired on Sunday after the Longhorns lost to a team that they had beaten every time they faced since before the US decided to enter World War II. It was the end of an ignominious three-year stint in Austin for Strong, who never seemed to find a comfortable spot (or an offensive game plan, or a defense) while he was in charge. That fact that Strong did nothing with the all-time production of star running back D'Onta Foreman (who had another two touchdowns here) is a prime example of why his time was up.
This highlights package shows in a microcosm the problems with the Strong era. Texas turned the ball over a miserable six times in the loss and even blew an 11 point fourth quarter lead to a team that had not won a Big 12 game in its last 19 attempts. The Texas overtime possession culminated in a horrible overthrow by true freshman quarterback Shane Buchele that was picked off by Kansas defensive back Mike Lee. Kansas finished the game by running the ball down the Longhorns' throat, before kicking a chip shot field goal.
Lost in this somewhat is the work being done by head coach David Beaty at Kansas. The Jayhawks may be just 2-9, but the team has shown a huge improvement over the 0-12 season it put together last year, which was Beaty's first in Lawrence.
Find more highlights like this on the Big 12 Digital Network YouTube Channel.
