Fast Start, Frustrating Finish

ou 55, Texas 48

October 9, 2021 • Cotton Bowl, Dallas

We hoped to capitalize on Brett’s lucky-charm status after that big win over TCU, and at first, it seemed to be working! Brett’s first Texas-ou game started with a bang, our Horns getting a quick 14-0 lead. Our guys even held a 38-20 lead at the half. Too bad we had to play that second half! ou took the lead in the fourth quarter, and even though we tied it up again late, the sooners scored even later, with 3 seconds left in the game. 

But guess what? ou still sucks. And Brett now knows firsthand why the Red River Rivalry game is so special!

 

A few weeks before this game, Ryan had texted me a photo of one of the fair’s winning art pieces. It looked a little familiar!

This was a child’s creation, and I’m flattered if my “mustard art,” like the 2008 pic below, inspired her!

Texas Sports recap

Texas Sports box score

Quadruple the Suckage

ou 53, Texas 45 (4OT)

October 10, 2020 • Cotton Bowl, Dallas

This goes down as the weirdest Texas-ou ever! Because of COVID, there was no State Fair, just a drive-through experience for fair fans to get their fried food fix. As we entered the fairgrounds, we followed the path cars had traveled for that better-than-nothing version of the State Fair. 

A few vendors were set up for gameday, but I only had eyes for Fletcher’s. We got our corny dogs, posed (at a distance) with Big Tex, drank our lucky Fireball shots, and made our way into the 25 percent-occupied Cotton Bowl.

 

It was an exciting game, but missed field goals and a game-ending interception sent us home frustrated. We lost in four overtimes… but ou still sucks! 

Jake Ehlinger, Sam’s brother, got to fire Smokey during the game. Jake passed away just seven months later.

 

Texas Sports recap

Texas Sports box score

Clipped

ou 29, Texas 24 

Oct. 14, 2017 • Cotton Bowl, Dallas

This year’s spelling was inspired by the ou logo, which–unlike the universally known and respected Longhorn emblem–bears a passing resemblance to a common office supply.

The Horns came back from 20 points down to take the lead in the fourth, but ou regained their advantage with just under 7 minutes to play. QBs Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele got the Horns to the ou 31 but turned the ball over on downs with less than 2 minutes left in the game.

So close and yet so far.

The loss sucked, but not as much as ou. And that comeback? So exciting! It was good to see that fire in our guys.

Love it when the whole state (or at least the highway department) gets behind the Horns.

The sun rises over Fair Park

So many trash barrels: appropriate for the sooners

The Breakfast Club

Aw, YEAH.

Pig races!

It’s a BIG day…

…in Big D…

…for these Fletcher’s fans!

Howdy, folks

The big guy rules

Well-stocked

Punny shoe contest

Punny shoe contest

Fried something or other

Ol’ Boris has still got it–or them

Pizza pals?

Our cups are overflowing

Truth in those cups

President Fenves surveys the crowd

Pregame

The Eyes

Nothing like TX-ou Eyes

\m/

Sam back to pass

TOUCHDOWN, TEXAS!

Run it!

Let’s go!

Ryan and XV

 

Texas Sports recap

Too Late

ou 45, Texas 40

Oct. 8, 2016 • Cotton Bowl, Dallas

If only… But we shoulda… Then we coulda… Aw, crap. After going back and forth, we got down by 15. We almost came back, but no.

Budweiser Clydesdales

The Bud dalmatian

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Obligatory Big Tex selfie

Cookie Fries

Butter sculpture

Lego tribute to Dallas PD

Shoe contest

Shoe contest

Shoe contest

You don’t say (take 1)

You don’t say (take 2)

Postgame medicine

 

And ou still sucks.

 

 

 

Fair Weather

Texas 24, ou 17

Oct. 10, 2015 • Cotton Bowl, Dallas

 

 

Do you believe in miracles? YES!

After a week of listening to the haters diss Charlie Strong and make jokes about our sick steer, I didn’t dare dream that this win was possible. But even the impossible dream can come true! The team was fired up, and those of us who chose not to forsake this annual pilgrimage were rewarded, and rewarded HANDSOMELY. Strong got some redemption, and sure enough, our guys came through for Bevo’s sake.

Two weeks ago I made the bold prediction that my Horns would win one of their games against TCU or ou. Then came our shellacking thanks to the Horned Frogs, and I felt ridiculous for asserting we’d win ANYTHING.

From the first two scores all the way to the last massive defensive stop, this game defied all logic. Good thing our guys don’t care about odds or rankings.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

Passing Mustard

ou 31, Texas 26

Oct. 11, 2014 • Cotton Bowl, State Fair of Texas

 

There’s nothing like Texas-ou. Nothing! On what other day can you eat Fletcher’s corny dogs for breakfast, chase them down with 8-ticket Shiner, all while basking in the presence of Big Tex? This year we combined two out of three of those for our Spell Texas pic.

Years ago we spelled Texas with corny dogs (Fletcher’s, of course–the ONLY State Fair corny dogs, truly),

but this year, we went with the dog-as-canvas approach. One of those delightful mustard-ketchup stations with the red and yellow striped canopies provided the “paint.” After a little creative squirting, Texas was spelled.

For the first half of this game, it seemed like Texas had cast a spell on ou. Our D was solid as usual, giving up just 3 points. (Stupid kickoff return and pick-6 accounted for the other 14 the sooners scored.) Meanwhile, our sputtering offense came to life, scoring 13 in that first half. And the stats were oh-so-lopsided:

Then ou roared back in the second half, breaking the game open and taking a 31-13 lead. It looked like we were in for another spanking, but then it was the Horns’ turn to come to life. With just under 5 minutes to play, we pulled to within 5. Our tenacious D was all over the sooners’ offense, but they managed to convert two third-down plays on the way to running out the clock. In spite of all our mistakes, even though we killed ourselves with poor clock management and penalties, we were just one third-d0wn stop away from getting the ball with plenty of time for another TD.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. None of the numbers matter except the score at the end, so here we are, encouraged by the team’s improvement but bummed with the results. With our 2-4 record, we’re off to our worst start in my lifetime. Funny thing, though: It doesn’t feel that bad. We all know we’re short-staffed thanks to Coach Strong’s newer, tougher standards for players. We all know that injuries have hit us pretty hard. We all know (oh, how we know) how much losing sucks. But we see improvement. Our defense has faced some powerhouse offenses and held its ground, and our new quarterback is coming into his own. And as we saw Saturday, these guys keep fighting, keep hustling.

That’s a big reason why so many of us cheered our losing team after the game. A spontaneous stadium yell (Texas! Fight!) broke out as soon as the team assembled in front of the band for “The Eyes.”

The atmosphere is always amped up for Texas-ou, but this felt different. Even though we lost, we were celebrating that Texas fight, that grit that brought us back from 18 down to within 5. That postgame ovation was our way of saying that we’re here for the losses because they’ll make the victories even sweeter. And we believe those victories are coming! I love that the team seems to have noticed our energy. Coaches Strong and Bedford both mentioned fan support in their Monday press conferences. They know we’ve got their backs. We believe!

We also know that win or lose, ou still sucks.

Some highlights:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sidenote about the Big Tex corny dog photo at the top:

I posted that picture to Instagram and to the Fletcher’s Facebook page, and then something funny happened. Fletcher’s shared my picture with its fans, who seemed to dig the shot. More than 200 people liked the photo, and 36 of them shared it on their own FB timelines. Crazy! My little off-center, too-dark photo was making the rounds.

The University Co-op took notice, too. I tagged the photo with #CoopGameDay to enter the Co-op’s weekly photo contest and was delighted to find this on Monday:

$300 to spend at the Co-op? As Tex would say, “Howdy, folks!” Now if I can just find $300 worth of merchandise there that I don’t already own… Thanks so much, Co-op!

Never Doubt Pumpkin Power

Texas 36, ou 20

Oct. 12, 2013 • Red River Rivalry, Cotton Bowl, Dallas

 

Way back in 1995, the Horns played SMU in the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas. It was strange, being in the same setting as the annual Texas-ou game but without the crazy, hyped-up rivalry environment. It was at that game that Pumpkin Power came to be. My mom had packed us some of those Halloween candy pumpkins because (a) they’re tasty and (b) they’re orange! Whenever our guys needed a little extra mojo, we’d nibble on a pumpkin, and whadyaknow, it worked! Thus began the legend of “Pumpkin Power.” Once October rolls around, either my best football buddy or I will pick up a few candy pumpkins to pump up the power.

So Saturday, there we were in Fair Park, scared to death our two-loss team was going to get clobbered by the #12-ranked sooners. We checked off all our Texas-ou to-do’s: got there early, wore orange, saw Big Tex, ate Fletcher’s corny dogs for breakfast, bought our eight-ticket beer. What else could we do to help our team? Out came the Ziplock baggie with the candy gourds.

Man, those pumpkins must’ve been mighty powerful. How else can you explain this game? Not just one but two 100-yard rushers! A punt returned for a touchdown! A pick 6! The most bee-YOU-tiful over-the-shoulder TD reception! A backup QB looking every bit like the college football hero we dreamed he could be! Even Bevo was going nuts.

AWESOME SCENE.

In many ways, this game reminded me of 1989. That year, we were also coming off a whew-worthy 31-30 win over an underdog (Rice), and no one picked us to beat the sooners. In that game, we took photos of the scoreboard in the first quarter, just because we didn’t expect to see our guys in the lead for very long. When we broke our four-game losing streak to ou that year, it felt like our half of the Cotton Bowl was going to explode with joy. Yes, we were thrilled to beat our arch rival, but more than that, we were SURPRISED.

Fast forward to 2013. A schedule conflict (and dad duties) kept one of our friends from attending the game for the first time in 27 years. Our other tailgating friends had stayed home, unwilling to sit through the beat down everyone could see coming. Turns out only the DFW locals in our group made it to the game. What a shame! About the only thing that could’ve made this day better would’ve been high-fiving our friends who had suffered through all those other losses with us.

Oh, and the weather. THAT could’ve been better. With temps in the high 80s and direct sunlight on us most of the game, we were melting out there. This was the hottest game we’ve seen all year since the others—even our August game—were in the evening with pleasant breezes.

But you know, even though we were sweating like crazy, we still got goosebumps. How could we not? Our guys were playing their guts out, making big play after big play on both sides of the ball. Was it better coaching? The determination of our seniors? Just a bad day for the Land Thieves? Maybe. But I wouldn’t discount the pumpkins!

Lots of photos this week: game pix with a Big Tex and a little Nutella thrown in. Be sure to scroll down past the slideshow for a couple of fun videos!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

From my phone:

 

 

From TexasSports.com:

 

A GIF of Chris Whaley’s rumbling pick-6 (which was the first time I’d ever heard of the internet sensation, “Fat Guy Touchdown”):

 

And this goofy GIF of Daje’s punt return for a TD:

Far from a Fair-y Tale

ou 63, Texas 21

Oct. 13, 2012 • Cotton Bowl, State Fair of Texas

As the kids would say, “Oh. Em. Gee.”

What else can you say about a game that’s over in the first quarter, a catastrophe that results in not just a loss but also complete exposure of ineptitude? We were outcoached, outmanned, outplayed. (If I were a headline writer, I’d oh-so-cleverly capitalize the “ou” in each of those words, but I don’t capitalize “ou.” So there.) To add insult to injury—make that INJURY to injury—our star quarterback broke his left wrist before all was said and done. He’s out for at least one game.

This was not the game we thought we’d see when we pulled into the State Fair parking lot bright and early Saturday morning, our stomachs ready for corny dogs and our minds set on VICTORY. Although I was concerned our D would give up lots of points, I really thought our offense would be able to more than make up the difference. I thought our stud running backs would open up the passing game so we could amass yardage on the ground and in the air.

That’s what I get for thinking.

Speaking of “stinkin’ thinkin’,” I had a vision for how this week’s “Spell Texas” would go: I would find items around the fair that looked like the letters in Texas and put them together, all artistic-like. Riiiiiight. The result wasn’t quite what I’d hoped, but hey, you’ve got to try something new now and then, right? (Certainly would’ve been nice to try something new in our offensive plays, that’s for sure. Sideline passes and 5-yard routes on 3rd and 9? What, was this Iowa’s bye week? I would’ve sworn Greg Davis was back in that press box.)

For a more thorough review of what this loss means for us Horns, check out this great commentary from Barking Carnival. (Well, I hate to use the word “great” for anything related to this game, but anyway…)

It certainly seems like it’s time for a massive culture change at Texas. It may be time to give up my role as a Mack Brown apologist. I love Mack, but for goodness’ sake, I can’t stomach seeing so much talent wasted year after year. As the BC writer said, that second national championship is never going to happen if we stay the course. The ship is sinking. (Or should I be punny and say ’ship?)

I don’t have the answers, but this I know:

• David Ash is a stud. Even in this loss, it’s easy to see he’s a great QB in spite of poor play-calling and a weak O-line. But what really got to me Saturday was when he left the field with a fractured wrist. Before I even knew he was injured, I heard the boos, a loud chorus from the ou side of the stadium. Then I noticed one of our guys walking past those fans with his Horns held high. The whole way to the tunnel, he hooked ’em. Only after he turned to go up the tunnel ramp did I realize that was Ash. Again, what a stud.
• There’s nothing like seeing a player carted off the field to put things into perspective. We couldn’t see what was going on with our DT Brandon Moore, but the texts and tweets said he was motionless on the field before the trainers got him on a backboard and into an ambulance.  Scary stuff. By the time the game was over, we got word that he was moving his arms.
• Fletcher’s corny dogs rock.
• Shiner rocks, too. Especially when it comes in a wax cup.
• I know he’s a steer, but Bevo is the man. Our mascot is just a thing of beauty. When the ou players first entered the field and took a knee in our endzone, Bevo promptly turned his back. Good call, dude.
• I love my Longhorns, and I will support my team forever and ever. Several have asked if I stayed for the whole game. Well, DUH. The only way I’m leaving before “The Eyes” are sung at game’s end is on a stretcher.

I also know the answer to this question: Does ou still suck?

Even though there’s much about this game I’d like to forget, here are a few images from the day, including butter statues, a Lego Dirk Nowitzki and Yoda, the breakfast of champions, and more:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

OUch!

ou 55, Texas 17

Oct. 8, 2011 • Cotton Bowl, State Fair of Texas

Fried food, ESPN College Gameday, 7-coupon Shiner and that big ol’ Texas Star ferris wheel. The day had all the makings of greatness; then the game started. Oh, well. Any day that starts with Fletcher’s corny dogs and ends with fried bubblegum can’t be all bad!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.