Yet again, we blew a lead. As we headed into the fourth quarter, one Texas fan stood up and proclaimed, “WE ARE NOT BLOWING ANOTHER LEAD IN THE FOURTH.” I guess the team couldn’t hear him from our far corner of the Baylor stadium.
My special guest this week was Ryan! It was a bummer that he didn’t get to see a win, but it was fun having his company!
Baylor made it closer than it should’ve been with a pick-6 in the fourth, but the Horns comfortably held on to get the win!
The lack of tailgating really opened up our lunch options for that pandemic season. For this game, Dede and I stopped at the Round Rock Salt Lick on our way into town for our pregame meal. It was delicious as always! In spite of that bit of consistency, the nearly empty stadium and surrounding area reminded us that nothing was as it used to be before the blasted virus arrived.
After the previous week’s big win over our biggest rival, Bevo Blvd. was rockin’! Ryan and Katie were with me to see Bevo’s grand entrance, and then we got to pose with the star of the moment, the Golden Hat trophy.
Later, I ran into an old friend from church, and then we caught wind that online quiz show host Scott Rogowsky, the HQ-tie himself, was at the Chase booth, we managed to find him in the crowd for selfies.
In the game, QB Shane Buechele came up big, helping us get a good lead at the half that Baylor couldn’t quite overcome.
For years we had watched Baylor’s new football home take shape, its skeleton rising above the Brazos each time we passed it as we headed down (or up) I-35. McLane Stadium opened in 2014, but the first time the Horns played there in ’15, we were busy and couldn’t make the drive. Seeing a game in this “House That RGIII Built” was a long time coming.
So was this win. After back-to-back losses against those teams from the land of land thieves, it was good to take this big W from Waco.
Hook ’em!
What a beauty! Our seats in the north end zone gave us a gorgeous view of the Brazos and the Baylor campus just beyond the big scoreboard.
That good ol’ Baylor line
Did he catch it?
He caught it! TOUCHDOWN, TEXAS!
After the game, Dede headed home while I went south for a church reunion the next day. So nice to follow the football truck for part of the way!
Oct. 29, 2016 • DKR
Another season, another “Who’da thunk it?” win over Baylor! The Bears came to Austin undefeated. The Horns, battered and bruised from four road losses, were heavy underdogs to #8-ranked Baylor.
Guess this is why they play the game!
Nobody expected D’Onta Foreman to gain 250 yards on the ground. Nobody thought the Horns’ D could force the Baylor offense to turnover the ball or settle for field goals. And after the way this season has gone, nobody felt super confident about that 39-yard field goal attempt with less than a minute to play.
But D’Onta is a beast, the defense was strong, and the kick was good. Horns win!
Sept. 17, 2016 • Berkeley, California
And just like that, our season comes crashing to a halt. The Haribo Gold-Bears were good luck last time we beat Cal, but this season, not even the chewy sweetness could overtake the bitter taste of this loss.
Texas 23, Baylor 17Dec. 5, 2015 • Waco
Who woulda thunk it? If you had told me that the Horns would win just five games all season, I NEVER would’ve guessed two of those wins would come against ou and Baylor.
In the first half, our guys made it look easy. Baylor, in spite of ridiculous injuries, came into the game with the top offense IN THE NATION. The Bears had scored on their first drive of every game this season. This time, though, our D stuffed their fourth down conversion attempt to end their first drive. Then our O came to life and scored on the third play from scrimmage, a 57-yard pass from Swoopes to Bluiett. It was a thing of beauty.
At halftime our oft-maligned Horns were up 20-0 over the 12th-ranked Bears. We all knew that if anyone could come to life in the second half, it’d be Baylor.
After all, Baylor’s been known to play lights-out with the right inspiration.
Injuries had forced the Bears to play their fourth-string QB, which led to this post from another Twitter user:
That didn’t seem to matter, though. The Bears went to the wildcat formation and didn’t even need a quarterback to rattle off 17 unanswered points in the second half and pull within 3. Up 20-17, we finally rediscovered our offense and capped off this game with a Nick Rose FG to win by 6.
Of course, most college fans will say that Texas never would’ve beaten a healthy Baylor team. To that I say this:
(1) But we weren’t healthy, either. Nobody seemed to acknowledge the role huge injuries on D, not to mention our starting QB, had in our losses, especially that Tech game; and
(2) We beat ou. We are the only team that has beaten the sooners, now ranked number-freakin’-TWO, this year so far. How ’bout that?
I know, I know: Even these two huge upsets can’t save this abysmal season. But these precious wins were flat-out fun and desperately needed in this cringe-worthy year.
Ten years ago, we were packing for Pasadena, and this year, we’re not in a bowl at all and our long off-season has already begun. We have a new offensive coordinator aboard AND an ace QB commit headed our way, so hope springs eternal. You know I’m going to be in those stands regardless, so it’d be a whole lot more fun if we could actually get back to that thing we used to do and—what’s it called again? oh, yeah—WIN.
As I write this on Dec. 26, we are a l-o-o-o-o-n-g 252 days away from the next Texas football game, and knowing our first opponent will be the Irish will make the anticipation even greater. But when those gold helmets show up in DKR, we’ll be there. Our guys had better be ready.
Hook ’em.
Baylor 28, Texas 7Czech Stop honey bears, Teddy Grahams, even Waco-born Dr Pepper have all helped us spell Texas for past Baylor games, but this year, we used Pepto Bismol. Why Pepto? To pay tribute to the Bears’ rallying cry, of course. Haven’t you heard of their (much lesser) version of Hook ’em, “Sic(k) ’em, Bears”?
Turns out the Pepto was a pretty good choice considering how many gut punches we took through the afternoon. Ouch. From the blocked FG returned for a Baylor TD (the only score in the first half) to the goal line fumble, from the over-the-top showboating that cost us a huge gain to the atrocious officiating that cost us precious momentum, this one was pretty tough to stomach.
But hey! Our defense made Baylor’s top-ranked offense punt! Multiple times! Our tenacious D did not give up any points in the first half! Except for those two lousy turnovers, our stats on both sides of the ball match up really well with the Bears, who were ranked #7 in the AP Top 25 coming into this game!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s all true, but like UCLA three weeks ago, this was another one that got away. Our D was just worn down and worn out in that second half, and our offense, in spite of some bright spots, struggled to—oh, you know, what’s that word again?—SCORE. Yes, Baylor’s defense has been impressive all year. Yes, we did better than anyone who has tried to contain Baylor’s productive offense. Yes, we can see definite improvement in our Horns. But when can we see that orange Tower?
After the game Coach Strong talked about how our team needs to learn to close out these tough ones. And here I am again, saying I believe in Coach Strong. I just KNOW that big turn-around moment—a massive upset or a come-from-behind, unifying game—is right around the corner. I could feel it against UCLA, and I felt it versus Baylor, which makes those losses that much harder to take.
Maybe, just maybe that big moment will happen Saturday in the Cotton Bowl. Our defining, breakthrough victory is overdue. Surely someone has told Coach Strong how we tell time around here.
Pregame and game photos:
My niece and her daughter were our guests for the tailgate and game. It was fun to see the whole experience through my great-niece’s 9-year-old eyes!
One of our tailgate hosts got us a trailer to keep all our canopies and other supplies together.
He’s been our starting quarterback for just four games, but I gotta say, I like this Tyrone fella!
Apparently, I’m not the only one with Swoopes Fever!
Other shots:
Baylor 30, Texas 10For 30 minutes, we hung with ’em. Tied 3-3 at the half, it looked like the impossible could come true. The hated land thieves had stolen the Cowboys’ conference title, and we were THIS CLOSE to nabbing it for ourselves. All we had to do was beat the Bears. We could almost taste the Tostitos…
Alas, we let that big ol’ bag of chips slip right through our frozen fingers, just like that Case McCoy pass did through Kendall Sanders’. Baylor’s offense came to life in the third quarter, scoring 17 unanswered points, and the writing started to appear on the frozen Brazos. Then came Jaxon Shipley’s electric 50-yard punt return, followed closely by Case McCoy’s Bridgewater-esque TD pass. The glimmer of hope was reignited, only to be snuffed out by subsequent defensive and offensive lapses. We really missed the spark Chris Whaley or Johnathan Gray could’ve provided, not to mention Joe Bergeron (who left the game with a bum ankle in the first half). Our guys kept fighting, but a late INT and Bear score signaled the end of our BCS dream and the culmination of Baylor’s. The Bears won the conference crown and earned a trip to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
Baylor won its first Big 12 title in its last game at Floyd Casey Stadium, a.k.a., “The Case.” All week BU fans had been sporting “Case Closed” T-shirts to mark the occasion. Of the 224 Longhorn games I’ve attended, most have been in DKR (duh). My next most-visited venue would be the Cotton Bowl (27 ou games plus a few bowl games, and even one Texas-SMU contest). I’m not sure exactly where Floyd Casey would fall on my all-time list, but it’s got to be up there in the 3 or 4 spot. Waco’s just an hour and a half from DFW, and we made the 90-minute drive from Austin a couple of times during our college days, too. Since it’s so close, it’s a pretty easy day trip to catch a game there. This year, we didn’t get tickets, and thanks to a massive ice storm that has enveloped the Metroplex, we would’ve had a doozy of a time getting out of here anyway. And watching all those fans huddled together in the 12-degree wind chill, I’ll admit that my living room, with the fireplace and comfy couch (with electric blanket!), was mighty cozy. Still, I always feel like I’m missing out when we don’t make the Baylor trip. I’ve really enjoyed our last few visits to Floyd Casey, and not just because we won. The parking is close and well-organized, and everyone, from the gate attendants to the concession stand workers, are super-friendly. And with 50,000 seats, there’s not a bad view in the house.
So this week, TEXAS is spelled with iPhone cases, a tribute to Floyd Casey Stadium’s 64 years of service to football fandom. I was hoping the cases would refer to heroics from a certain Mr. McCoy, but alas, he looked less like his brother and more like a backup QB in this outing. In the end, not only did this Baylor win close The Case, it most likely closed out Mack Brown’s career at Texas.
We have a few weeks off before our Horns head to either Phoenix (for the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl) or San Antonio (for the Alamo) or maybe a bowl even closer to home (please, Cotton, pretty please?). Until then, our plan is to stay warm, get some rest, and dream of all the titles that WON’T slip away once we have a new head coach.
Sweet dreams! And as always, HOOK ’EM, HORNS!
Texas 56, Baylor 50Oct. 29, 2012 • DKR
After two consecutive losses, this win was particularly tasty, but nothing could be as sweet as these “Honey Bears” from the Czech Stop in West. For past games against Baylor, UCLA and Cal, we’ve spelled Texas with honey, gummy bears and plenty of Teddy Grahams. This time, though, it was time to pay homage to that United Nations of college football fans, the little Czech bakery at exit 353 on I-35, where Texas, BU, Texas State and aggy fans all seem to converge on football weekends.
From the outset we knew this game would not be a repeat of last week’s loss shellacking debacle. On our first play from scrimmage, Joe Bergeron exploded off the line, running 84 yards for a touchdown. That would be his first of five TDs for the night.
A defensive stop on Baylor’s first possession made us think that maybe our defense had turned the corner, too. But no. Of course, our special teams play didn’t help matters. On our next possession, we had to punt, but when the ball sailed over the punter’s head, Baylor got the ball on our 8. One play later, and the game was tied.
That’s pretty much how the evening proceeded: good defensive play followed by stupid misread; great run followed by unwise pass. For every gem (such as Johnathan Gray’s first of what should be many, many touchdowns) there was a D’OH (like QB Ash running for 6 yards before throwing the ball away).
With five games left in the season, it’s easy to see that that will be our lot: explosive moments on offense, total meltdowns on defense, and smart plays mixed with bonehead moves all around.
So Longhorn Nation begs for change, calling for new schemes, new coaches, a new direction for this program. Something or someone has got to get us back to our standard, but for today, I’m thankful for this sweet W.
Spell Texas 
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