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Associated PressVince Young scores on fourth down as Wildcats drop second straight.
AUSTIN, Texas - Enough talk about Texas being soft. The 13th-ranked Longhorns showed they can gut out a big win - and with a freshman leading the way.
Vince Young shook off a sore right ankle to rally Texas, and he got the winning touchdown from a yard out on fourth down with five minutes left as the Longhorns beat No.16 Kansas State 24-20 on Saturday.
Texas' reputation suffered after a 38-28 home loss to Arkansas on Sept.13. It faces No.1 Oklahoma on Saturday in Dallas.
"This brings back the swagger," Longhorns tailback Cedric Benson said. "We can get rid of the "soft' talk."
"We needed a tough win," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "We needed a come-from-behind win. I'm proud the guys did what they needed to do to win."
What the Longhorns needed was someone to make big plays late to steal momentum and win the game. They got it from Young.
The backup to starting quarterback Chance Mock, Young led Texas to a second-quarter field goal on his first drive but limped off the field after rolling his ankle when he was sacked in the third.
He returned in the fourth to lead the Longhorns to the winning score after Mock had little success getting the nation's best scoring offense moving.
"They said it was a bad sprain. I thought he was through," Brown said.
Young said he feared the worst when his ankle rolled. Television replays showed a gruesome-looking twist and he clutched it immediately.
"It felt like it was gone," Young said. "Once I got to the sideline, I was able to walk it off."
Young's fourth-down dive over the line capped an 88-yard drive that started after Texas recovered Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson's fumble.
The big play in the drive came when Young completed a 52-yard pass to Tony Jeffery, who got the first touchdown on a blocked punt in the first quarter. Jeffery went over cornerback Cedrick Williams to make the grab, and Young scored five plays later.
"We always knew Vince could run the football, but he went out there and made plays," Texas receiver Roy Williams said.
The Longhorns gambled by not going for a tying field goal on fourth down, and Young's stretch with his 6-foot-5 frame made it pay off.
"If you can't make 6 inches," Brown said, "you can't win the game."
The Wildcats' second straight loss knocks them out of the chase for the national title.
"It was a devastating loss," linebacker Bryan Hickman said. "It was probably the biggest game of the season."
In his return from a hand injury, Roberson ran for 87 yards and two touchdowns - including a 1-yard run that gave the Wildcats a 20-17 lead. But he had three turnovers with two interceptions, including one in the end zone that killed a scoring chance late in the first half.
Instead, Young grabbed the spotlight and took a huge step toward grabbing control of the offense.
"Vince is just a scary guy," Kansas State defensive coordinator Bob Elliott said. "You can tell he's going to be one of the great ones."