State of the Union: Texas
12 comments so far
January 31, 2007 by
The eighth in a twelve-part series on the Big 12.
Aside from a rare win over Oklahoma, the 2006 season had a familiar feel to Texas fans. OU went to the Big 12 championship game and Texas ended the year as a runner-up in the South division yet again. The recruiting is as solid as ever in Austin. Only USC and Florida really compare on a year-in and year-out basis.
The real pebble in the shoe of Texas is the Sooners. One way or another the team to their north usually gets the last laugh. As a result, there are Texas fans who still doubt Mack Brown's coaching ability. There are a number who believe that Vince Young deserves all the credit for the 2005 national championship and Brown none. Not that his job's in danger. No more than Tom Osborne's was when he struggled against the Sooners. Winning ten games year-after-year is still enough to be sitting pretty in college football. And since the Longhorns continue to load up on blue-chippers, they're bound to eventually find another talent like Young.
So all's still well in Texas, whether their fans realize it or not.
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Brian Jan 31 07
OU usually gets the last laugh? The Longhorns are 4 - 5 against the Sooners under Mack Brown and have won two in a row, I'd hardly call that usually.
And I don't think you've accurately characterized the Longhorn fan, there's only a tiny minority doubting Mack Brown's coaching ability. There's a lot more who doubt Greg Davis and Brown's reasoning for keeping him around.
Steve Jan 31 07
Brian,
Do you think those first two wins over OU that Mack had mean anything in the current series? The first was before Stoops even arrived and the second when the program at OU was still being built. Since then:
2000 OU National Champions
2001 UT South Division Champions
2002 OU Conference Champions
2003 OU South Division Champions
2004 OU Conference Champions
2005 UT National Champions
2006 OU Conference Champions
To read the last 7 years as anything other than OU having the upper hand is intellectually dishonest.
And in the same paragraph where you say people aren't questionning Mack, you point out they doubt him for keeping Greg Davis (who only was part of the coaching staff for the 2005 national champion team). I'd asked a group of Texas fans whether Mack was now above question in Texas and they said even Darrell Royal never achieved that status. Face it, there are a load of Texas fans who always see the glass as half full.
justin Jan 31 07
as an alumn and long time sooner fan, currently living in chicago away from the ou/tx drama, i would hope that the majority of longhorn fans would appreciate how far their coach and program have grown. i am no longer a "hater" of ut for the simple fact that i no longer hear the excuses coming from within the program. brown has been a stand up guy the last three years and the players attitudes have followed. i no longer see your players as just a bunch of 5 star talent crying babies....two of which i still have to hear from far too often being in nfc north territory. c.benson & r.williams. whether v.young changed that attitude solely is irrelevent to me and something that i will let you all debate.
Pete Jan 31 07
I'm a KU fan, but I can see the pain of that late loss to Texas in '06 still stings Little Red.
Steve Jan 31 07
Pete,
I don't follow. Are you saying that you take issue with the statement that OU has usually had the last laugh on Texas? Or that as an NU fan, pointing that out is somehow motivated by the disappointment of losing to Texas? You might have missed it, but the Huskers also lost to OU this year. That game was WAY more disappointing because NU outgained the Sooners both rushing and passing.
If I'm guilty of being stung by a loss to Texas, then I suppose I could say that your comment was motivited by about 40 losses in the last 40 years or so by Kansas to Nebraska.
Randy Jan 31 07
Steve, thanks for and please keep the analysis coming.
I live in extreme southeast Nebraska. Within a handful of miles from both Missouri and Kansas. Talk about some lame digs from the opposition. D1 football teams on the other sides of the border have spent so many decades in mediocrity that the jealousy is rampant. Their greatest fear, I believe, is the inevitability of Nebraska once again reaching the pinnacle and meting out their annual thrashings to the neighbors.
James Moore Feb 01 07
Brian. Spot on. Oklahoma is still the 1000-lb gorilla in the conference. They way Texas marks Oklahoma every year as the measuring stick shows that they still are insecure about themselves although down in Austin they are on full tilt at the moment. However, warning to Oklahoma and Texas, we are in Texas and have a formidable presence on the recruiting trail down there. The Big Red is starting to make up the difference between the two.
n Feb 02 07
Every fan base has it's Eeyore crowd, that's not specific to us. To say we're still terrified of oklahoma is to dismiss the fact that we've hammered them the last two years and loved every minute of it. Any momentary pain I had that the sooners slipped into the BCS due to our lack of pass defense and QB injury was all but removed at the sight of them losing their umpteenth big game in a row.
x Feb 02 07
This year had anything but a "familiar feel" for Texas fans. Texas beat OU for the second year in a row and was dominating the conference, for the second year in a row, until the K-State disaster.
Sure this wasn't a National Chamipionship-level year (nor was it for any program in the conference -- don't be fooled by OU's whining about the Oregon game outcome), but no one expected it to be in Austin.
While disapointing, I'll take it over the medicore programs in the Big 12 North, where losing 5 games in a season is considered "progress."
Steve Feb 02 07
(Are you) n,
I'd definitely place the voices of dissent in Austin above those of other places. Find me a K-State fan with something negative to say about Bill Snyder. I haven't encountered any. Ditto that for Tom Osborne even during the scandal-plagued 1995 season (prior to the national championship game).
I'm not putting Texas fans in the category of Philadelphia Eagles fans or anything, but they definitely are quick to jump on their coaches (e.g. Greg Davis) when they could certainly look the other way.
(Malcolm) x,
Outside of fans of USC, Florida and maybe OU, I don't know of too many fans that wouldn't trade places with Texas in terms of the strength of the program and recent success. But I certainly remember some optimistic Texas fans (yes, I grant that there were some) after the 9-5 season of 1999. So understand that Texas fans were in the exact same place just a short time ago.
In fact, the Big 12 South was pretty weak (despite scoring some upsets) in the 1990's. The parallels are eerie.
Also, I'm sure there wasn't a single Texas fan boasting about Texas winning the Big 12 South in 2001 even though the Sooners beat them.
Alex Feb 03 07
Rather than looking at the last seven years, you should look at Mack performance vs OU as having 3 separate phases. We are currently in a phase when UT has handled OU for the past two year. We are throttling them in recruiting. It will be interesting to see this years game. The recruiting classes that make up OU RS senior, senior, and junior classes for next year are all top 10 class. For Texas none of these classes where top 10 recruiting class (per rivals). And yet the feeling among Texas fans is that we have the momentum in the series. The failure to earn the Big 12 title can be attributed most to one thing, Colt McCoy's injury. If we can get a healthy year from McCoy we will rule this conference with an iron fist. At least that is what it feels like.
Steve Feb 03 07
Alex,
It's obvious why a Texas fan would want history to begin in 2005, but if we're looking at "programs" there's no reason to be bound by so little history. Both Stoops and Brown have been at their schools since the late 1990's.
And even if you want to write off 2006 due to Colt's injury, who's to say it won't happen again? Maybe the guy's injury prone. Besides, it wasn't Colt's job to stop KSU from hanging 45 points on the Longhorn defense. The 42 points Texas got with their backup QB should have been more than enough to put away the Wildcats.
Now you bring up this year's game and certainly I'd agree that Texas looks like the early favorite. Then again, I was ready to write off the Sooners in 2006 after they kicked Bomar off the team. That's why they play the games.