Texas football coach Tom Herman has said all along that a Big 12 Championship is a major part of this season’s goals for this program. It is now within reach for the second year head coach and the Longhorns, who head to Arlington on Saturday to play CFP No. 6 Oklahoma for the conference title.

Here’s what Herman had to say in his weekly press conference on Monday.

Meeting with Beaty

Reports surfaced Sunday evening that former Kansas football coach David Beaty would be visiting Austin to help the Longhorns prepare for the matchup with Oklahoma. This comes after the Jayhawks put up a fight against Texas on Friday, falling 24-17 in Beaty’s final game as head coach.

Herman confirmed that he had planned on meeting Beaty, but said that this was not an uncommon practice.

“I don’t know why that’s news,” Herman said. “Whenever you play an opponent and then you don’t play that opponent again, and you have friends on that staff, you’re going to call them and say, ‘hey, what did you have on us.’”

Herman said that the face-to-face visit never actually happened due to weather complicating travel from Kansas City. However, the two coaches did converse “extensively” on the phone.

“It’s always nice to have a fresh set of eyes… it’s very common,” Herman said. “It just so happened that we’re playing this [upcoming] week, and they weren’t.”

Twice in one year

The first meeting between Texas and Oklahoma this year was an epic clash of two offenses that were absolutely rolling, ending in a last-second victory for the Longhorns. Yet both teams have changed in the last month and a half, including the defensive coordinator position with the Sooners.

“One of the challenges for us, is it’s a new defensive coordinator,” Herman said. “You’ve got to assume they’ve corrected some of the issues as well. That’s the biggest challenge, is what are the wrinkles you’re going to see.”

One of the biggest things that has changed for Texas is the growing confidence in Sam Ehlinger. Despite a shoulder injury that Herman said “is going to bother him”, the coaching staff has a world of confidence in the ability of this offense to put up huge numbers passing, in addition to a well-established run game.

“We’re running the ball more consistently,” Herman said on what this team is doing better since the last time they met with Oklahoma. “Offensively, we have learned that if we need to throw it for 320 yards in a game, then we can.”

Playing in a track meet

Last weekend, Oklahoma and West Virginia wrapped up Big 12 regular season play with a 59-56 thriller, a game that epitomized what the landscape of the conference looks like in this modern day. That doesn’t mean that Herman relishes in these types of games.

“No, I’m not comfortable [playing in a track meet-type game], but we’ll do whatever it takes,” he said. “Our offense is capable of doing that.”

There’s little doubt that Oklahoma is going to be able to move the ball. They lead the country in total offense and points per game. Herman said in order to keep up in a shootout, it’s going to come down to who’s faster.

“We need speed. You’ve got to be able to run with these guys.It’s an offense that has done some things that haven’t been done in college football, or are done very rarely, and we’re going to need everybody on [our defense], and we’re going to need them at their best.”