“Texas is back, folks.â€
These words from Joe Tessitore as Tyrone Swoopes plunged into the end zone in double overtime to knock of the 10th ranked Fighting Irish sent chills down my spine. I’ve probably watched that final play 50 times since Sunday and it still gets the heart racing every single time.
Let me begin by saying that I’m extremely happy for senior Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes. As much adversity Swoopes has experienced since he arrived in Austin in 2013, he absolutely deserved a moment like that on Sunday. If you flash back to the debacle in South Bend in 2015, Swoopes was a horrendous 7/22 passing for 92 yards and was promptly benched the next week for Jerrod Heard. Getting benched is something that is incredibly difficult to handle mentally as a player. It’s more or less a mark of failure and sometimes there is no coming back from it.
So what did Swoopes do in response to his demotion? He didn’t pout or disappear into the Texas bench. Instead, he embraced his new role in his package of plays. When the “18 Wheeler†package was born there was a different person on the field under center. Swoopes was confident, he ran with power and conviction, and he played with a swagger. With true freshman quarterback Shane Buechele getting the starting nod in the season opener, we once again saw Swoopes’ selflessness. It’s not often you see a coach opt to go with the young and inexperienced true freshman quarterback over a senior in an opener of this magnitude. This was another opportunity for Swoopes to get down on himself, and once again he did not. Instead Swoopes played a very key cog in a win that can best be described as a game changer for the Texas program on the field and off the field.
Speaking of Shane Buechele, for me it is hard to put his performance into words. The true freshman from Arlington Lamar High School went from making a playoff start against Mansfield High School to playing against the 10th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish and he didn’t flinch in the least bit. Did he make some mistakes? Of course he did, and he is going to make plenty more because that’s what freshmen across the board do as they are adjusting to the speed of college football. The main takeaway from his performance is that he played with confidence and poise beyond his years. He had absolutely no problem leading the offense up and down the field throughout the night. The same mental processing that folks have been raving about since seeing him in the spring game earlier this year was on full display again for the entire country to see.
We knew coming into this matchup that Notre Dame’s defense was going to show a variety of looks and blitzes in an attempt to try and overwhelm Buechele, and despite following through with that game plan they were unable to get to him all night. Not one sack. That can be attributed to the offensive line’s ability to hold up well in pass protection as well as Buechele’s propensity to get rid of the ball when he had to, avoiding negative yardage. Either way you slice it, Buechele played a pretty clean game for a true freshman given the overwhelming circumstances.
A win of this magnitude in week one means I have to completely recalibrate my expectations for the Longhorns’ season going forward. Cautiously, I predicted an 8-4 season, but I was not expecting a win over Notre Dame in any scenario I had in my head. I also did not think that Buechele and the offense would look this good this early in the season. While the defense obviously has plenty of work to do, I want everyone to keep in mind that Deshone Kizer is a future NFL player. The defense is still very young, but has plenty of talent to make strides as the season progresses. I do not think it is unreasonable to say a 3-0 OOC record is a must at this point. I’ve said before that I think that Cal is more than beatable after watching them early on and now having seen what Texas is looking like this year, I believe that even more.
What this means for Charlie Strong and Texas on the recruiting trail can’t be understated after Sunday’s win. They had over 102,000 people in the stands at DKR on Sunday with 11 million more watching at home; I think it is safe to say the Longhorns stole the nation’s attention. If Texas continues on this trend throughout the season, I think we need to prepare for an even more ridiculous recruiting finish than we saw last February. There is a buzz and a feeling around the team and among the fan base that we haven’t seen in sometime.
Football on the 40 is fun again, guys. Buckle up for an exciting ride.
