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October 12th is a special day. Â It’s the day Christopher Columbus discovered America and it’s the day I was born. Now, it’s going to be an important day in Longhorns history.
I was a guest on the Orange Report with Big Mike and Matt this week and they talked about how this game felt more like a funeral. Maybe that’s an exaggeration but most fans were rather somber about the state of the Texas program to-date. Â As far as the game was concerned, nobody believed in them. Â I certainly didn’t. Â So the question begs to be asked: Â What motivated them to do so well?
They had nothing to lose.
The team came out confident and they were obviously ready to play. If you were like me, you were on the edge of your seat, praying that Oklahoma didn’t jump out to an early big lead… like we expected them to do.
It never happened.
The defense finally played up to their potential, blitzing appropriately and playing fully capable against an undefeated Sooner team. Â Mack Brown played role-reversal with Bob Stoops, jumping out to an early lead and, frankly, “taking it” it the Sooners early and often. The once maligned offensive line finally overpowered an opponent’s defensive line.
Now that the win has been notched, the question needs to be asked. Â What in the hell just happened in Dallas? Â Did we just watch an episode of the Twilight zone? Are we in a dream inside of another dream like in the movie Inception? There is really no plausible explanation except maybe Greg Robinson’s hard work actually paid off with the guys, or Case McCoy is a bonafide fortune teller… Â I like to explain it best with the following phrase: Â “It’s about damn time.”
Now on to Mack. Â I am still of the belief that this is his final year. I don’t think a new athletic director will want Coach Brown to stick around until 2020. Â Even though the Longhorns beat their arch-rival Oklahoma, it doesn’t erase the painful memories of what happened in Provo. Â It doesn’t erase Mack Brown’s decision to keep Manny Diaz a year too long. Â It doesn’t excuse the myriad of inexplicable losses and scheme disasters, but…. Â Mack should enjoy this win. Â He should bask in the glory that it was, and is. Â He will say he didn’t pay attention to all the outside conversation surrounding the game and what it meant to his fate as head coach and Longhorn lore, but I don’t believe him.
Case McCoy told the media last Monday that he could be remembered for a long time in Austin if he was able to win this game. Most Longhorns probably chuckled at that statement but it looks like Case had the last laugh on all of us that didn’t believe.
October 12th, 2013 will be a day that Longhorns fans look back on 5 years from now and say “That’s when Texas got it’s swagger back.” That’s how huge this win is for the Texas football program. The team now controls their destiny in the Big 12 Conference, currently holding the top spot prior to heading to Fort Worth in two weeks to take on TCU.
If the Longhorns play like they did in the Cotton Bowl against the rest of their opponents this season, they have a chance at what seemed like the unthinkable two weeks ago – winning the Big 12 Conference.
