It’s not every game that the MVP award goes to the punter, but man, did Michael Dickson deserve it! Ten of his 11 punts pinned Mizzou inside their own 15, and the Horns made the most of that. Our D score 9 points and forced four turnovers in this big win, which we hoped would send us into 2018 with big MO on our side.
It was great to get back to our bowl game ways, and beating Mizzou? That was SWEET.
Even sweeter? Getting to spend time with our Houston family while we were there.
On the road for Houston
Playing dominoes with Aunt Berniece and cousin Susan
So good to finally meet sweet Baby Benjamin!
Not bad seats
Always good to have a view of this guy (the four-legged one)
Horns score!
Selfie snap with my girl
Fight!
Raise that trophy!
He IS the GOAT! Dickson was a most-deserving MVP.
Another selfie snap
My babies at bowl games: Alamo Bowl 2006 and Texas Bowl 2017
I had the cutest little gummy frogs for this TEXAS, and I was optimistic that our team would really show up for Coach Strong.
But instead, our team was shown up. The gummies were extra-chewy, too.
Gummy frogs for the Horned Frogs
Waiting for the team in the rain
Love Hook ’Em’s coach attire
Still waiting for the team
Nice hats
Bevo’s 100th anniversary card
The front of Bevo’s card
The back of Bevo’s card
LOTS of well wishes…
…including one from me!
Longhorn legends
And the legend whose name is on the stadium
LHB
Bertha
TCU band
We’ll miss you!
SWOOOOOOOPES!
Hi, Matthew
LHB’s Bevo
I spy my signature!
Mighty Fine comfort food (while mourning Florence Henderson)
So that’s all she wrote on the Strong era, D’Onta’s Heisman that could’ve been, the loss of all that promise we felt on opening night after beating Notre Dame.
I never buy Mounds or Almond Joy. Why would I waste a caloric splurge on anything with toenails, I mean COCONUT, in it? Disgusting! With West Virginia next on the schedule, though, I made an exception.
We Texans are quick to point out that the Mountaineers’ home state’s “mountains” aren’t so mountainous. The highest point in Texas is nearly 4,000 feet higher than West Virginia’s tallest mountain! To rub it in, instead of finding mountains, I spelled Texas with mere Mounds.
Almost as disgusting as coconut? Losing our first home game to the #11 Mountaineers.
Much sweeter? Having Katie surprise her brother when we picked him up for the game. 🙂 She drove in from Lubbock Friday night, and we left at early:30 to get Ryan and head to the stadium.
Why I don’t care for 11 a.m. kickoffs
Aren’t they cute?
I made them pose with their dad’s books. They were thrilled.
Hook ’Em dressed in camo for the armed services tribute.
Big fan of the flyover!
UT System Chancellor William McRaven honored.
Lifetime Longhorn Olympians were honored.
Then the LHB did its armed services medley, one of my faves.
After a three-game losing streak, all eyes were on Eye-owa State. Now that the Horns were finally back home, could they get back to their winning ways?
It had been more than a month since we’d won a game, so this victory was sweet! What made it extra special: It was my grand nephew’s first Texas game AND the Alumni Band performance, too!
We spelled Texas with sunflower seeds for the sunflower state, but this game was anything but seedy. Our Horns did exactly what we expected them to do: ran all over the “But We’re a Basketball School” Jayhawks.
Coming just six days before the official premiere of My All American, this game featured a tribute to Freddie Steinmark, the Texas legend whose memory lives on years after he died of cancer. Earlier in the day, UT rededicated the scoreboard to Freddie’s memory.
Back in 2013 when I toured DKR with Katie and her friend, we got to see that scoreboard base up close. Even though it’s now topped with the giant Godzillatron and concealed by endzone bleachers, the scoreboard is still an important part of Texas football. Players touch Freddie’s picture before taking the field.
Other photo highlights:
LHB tribute to our armed forces for Veterans Day
Always a thrill to share the game with my babies!
We didn’t do much tailgating this time because we met some friends for a Capitol tour and late lunch before heading to campus. It was great to hang out with our friends from California, and getting to wander around the Capitol with the state’s preeminent historian was a big bonus!
KitKats are the fallback spelling medium whenever we face the Wildcats, and for this game, we had to keep it simple. The 100% chance of rain in the forecast all week turned out to be 100% accurate, so the kitty litter I’d planned to bring to the tailgate stayed in our (dry) home. Fortunately, unlike many of the times we’ve faced K State, we were spared from shouting, “GIMME A BREAK!”
Even in the rain, our guys, especially J Gray, racked up the yards, and the Horns came through with a big ol’ W. Coming after the upset over ou, this win made our losses to Cal and Okie State even more painful to recall, but whatcha gonna do?
Because this was our first game after Bevo XIV’s passing, the stadium’s mood seemed a little somber at times. But the rain, instead of exacerbating the gloom, actually helped alleviate it. The fans who endured the precip were having a blast. What’s a little water among friends? Besides, a little rain is all you need to distinguish between the true fans and the fair weather ones.
Some pics from the day:
Why I DON’T like 11 a.m. kickoffs.
Longhorn faithful
Bevo’s ranch family and Silver Spurs during pregame
Bevo’s halter and the Golden Hat
The sad, empty corner
Back to the Future halftime: DeLorean
Touchdown, Texas! SWOOOOOOPES!
Rain? WHAT rain?
Rain-soaked crazies
Horns up. Sing The Eyes.
Always in our hearts, Big Guy.
Sunday morning brunch at Kerbey
Kerbey Queso: The real deal
And a little bonus: Our favorite little Longhorn fans!
We could’ve been makin’ bacon out of those Hogs, but instead of taming the “Woo, Pig Sooie,” our team looked like chop suey. If I had to pick one photo to represent this outing, it’d be this:
What an exercise in futility! You know it’s not your day when your QB goes 13 of 25 for 57 yards and your leading rusher racks up a measly 25. Our one moment of glory came late in the first half, when down 17-nothin’, Swoopes scrambled for a touchdown right in front of us.
Oh, it was glorious!
Katie and I were even on TV during the big celebration. See us?
How about now?
To be down by 10 at the half seemed not-so-insurmountable. But of course, we couldn’t even hang on until the intermission before Arky scored again.
That’s pretty much how the game went: a few precious good plays completely undone by major lapses on offense or defense. Blech. Even when we lose, though, if my Horns are on the field, there’s no place I’d rather be. From Eyes to Eyes.
“Script Texas” remains one of my favorite Longhorn Band halftime shows, so it’s no wonder it shows up so often when it’s time to spell. Fortunately, sunflower seeds (representing Kansas, the Sunflower State) are pretty easy to “write” with. Unfortunately, our team’s slow start made us feel like we had a mouthful of those seeds: ready to SPIT.
It’s hard to know what’s going on with this team. We lost two non-conference games early, looking inept on both sides of the ball, but then we went on to win five straight, including a MASSIVE upset victory over the sooners, with a relentless running game and tough D. So what’s up with this struggle against Kansas, football’s 98-pound weakling? Really, until Chris Whaley rumbled into the endzone with another turnover-turned-touchdown, we weren’t feeling too comfortable.
But Whaley DID score that TD, and Malcolm Brown added four rushing scores, too. And just like that, our guys are 5-0 in Big 12 play! If I didn’t know better, I’d be tempted to think that maybe, just maybe, this could be the year we finally win another conference title. But then I look at our remaining sched: West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Tech, Baylor. Which team will show up for each of those contests, the BYU Horns or the ou Horns? Anything can happen, so of course, we’re holding out hope that the “anything” is WINNING.
This win was especially fun because my husband attended the game with me. The last time he saw the Horns play in DKR, we weren’t even married—and we’ve been married 19 years! It was extra special to share the whole tailgating, game and yes, spelling experience with my man.
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!
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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:
Aren’t they cute?
I made them pose with their dad’s books. They were thrilled.
Hook ’Em dressed in camo for the armed services tribute.
Big fan of the flyover!
UT System Chancellor William McRaven honored.
Lifetime Longhorn Olympians were honored.
Coast Guard
Army
Navy
Marines
Air Force
, this game featured a tribute to 
Spell Texas 
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