At the Halfway Mark, Longhorns Show Heart, Resolve

We’re at the halfway mark of this up-and-down season, and [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] here the Longhorns sit, simultaneously out of the national title hunt and one of the favorites to win the Big 12. Yeah, it’s safe to say it’s been a strange season thus far.

The season began with high hopes, which led to disappointment, and was ultimately followed by cautious optimism. With each week filling the Longhorn fan base with intrigue, excitement and occasional grief, the season has played like a weekly drama on AMC (a la “Breaking Bad” or “Mad Men,” minus the drugs and mid-century misogyny). Within the span of seven weeks we’ve seen the lowest of lows and highest of highs, a true story arc. All led by a cast of characters who have garnered blame and harsh criticisms one week, and love and adoration the next (Case McCoy’s Jesse Pinkman to Mack Brown’s Walter White has been awfully fun to watch). This, ladies and gentlemen, is the 2013 Longhorns.

Though most fans have likely ground their teeth to near nubs, it’s not completely out of the ordinary for the Longhorns to be in the situation of underdog. Sometimes I feel too much weight is given to the Longhorns’ history of success (much of this coinciding with the Longhorns’ heightened media coverage). Yes, mounds of success do exist in the dusty books chronicling Longhorn lore, but so does agonizing defeat. A quick glance at the past 20 years should be enough to bring Texas fans back to earth. For instance, the Longhorns have only captured three Big 12 titles in the conference’s 17 years of existence; one a piece going to teams led by Vince Young and Colt McCoy, and one surprising title with John Mackovic as coach and James Brown as QB. Archrival Oklahoma, on the other hand, has garnered eight in that time span. In other words, the Longhorns don’t have to win for us to be fans, they just have to play their hearts out. And this team seems to be coming around.

Every week, the Longhorns are improving in both play and resolve. The big win over Kansas State (a team the Longhorns hadn’t beaten in what seemed like eons) after two embarrassing losses was a good way to kick off conference play. Of course, this victory came with a big caveat: the loss of David Ash.

(NOTE: The loss to BYU aside, Ash was having a great year. He completed over 60 percent of his passes and threw 7 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions. Now, questions remain about Ash’s health and whether he will take another snap this season.)

Despite the loss of their team leader, the Longhorns bounced back by defeating Iowa State on a game-winning drive orchestrated by backup McCoy. But, it was the defense flexing its muscle on a goal-line stand during the previous drive that drew the admiration of Longhorn nation. This was, of course, followed by the Longhorns’ upset over Oklahoma.

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of last week’s win. In fact, I would argue the Longhorns’ unlikely trouncing of their arch nemesis proved their most important victory since hoisting the conference championship trophy in 2009. And it’s not just because, according to the talking heads, Mack Brown saved his job. This game had implications far and wide. Recruits who questioned Texas’ resolve watched closely, fans on the brink of losing interest tuned in, and the players themselves, with an earful of critics and naysayers, showed the world what Texas football stands for.

At one moment in the first half of the Oklahoma game the camera focused on a smiling Mack Brown. Todd Blackledge, who was commentating in the booth, said Brown felt happy because his team showed up to play. Brown was witnessing the team he always thought he had, a team that, though not pretty in all aspects, played their hearts out.

In the past few weeks, I’ve written a couple of retrospectives about previous teams. One, about the 1996 team, I wrote after the Longhorns’ loss to Ole Miss. The ’96 team famously lost two non-conference games but went on to upset Nebraska for the Big 12 title. For those old enough to remember, that game against Nebraska remains one of the most memorable in Longhorn history.

The article aimed to steer clear of the doom and gloom narrative that permeated the media at the time, but has since become a prognostication of the Longhorns’ season.

There’s a lot to like about this team. They aren’t the refined, high-yardage juggernauts fans touted in August, but rather a grit and grind C-130 navigating its way through turbulence. One could say I find any reason to like a team that I root for, but I don’t think that’s the case. There’s something incredibly redeeming about a team that, in the face of long odds and adversity, finds a way to beat Oklahoma.

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