The Agony Of Defeat – Turns Out Winning One Of Those BCS Championships Isn’t As Easy As It Looks
by ccmachine on Jan 8, 2010 11:53 PM CST
in Football
54 comments
As much distain we have for all things orange (regardless of the shade) it should be acknowledged that Texas quarterback Colt McCoy is a good dude. We may not care for the program he represents but character quality is character quality and that kid's got it. I didn't expect Texas to win the BCS championship and I'm pretty sure that the majority of the people outside of the Lone Star State agreed with me. The thing is though, I didn't expect the one redeeming quality of the Longhorn nation to go down with an injury either. We figured that Bama would get to the quarterback and that's what they did.
As McCoy left the game with a shoulder injury my heart actually went out to the kid who's been nothing shy of the perfect role model for young boys who want to grow up and be a football star. For the first time in my life I truly felt sorry for a Texas football player, but not the fans. I immediately thought of those Texas fans (and there were several thousand of them) who openly cheered as Sam Bradford lay in pain on the field of the Cotton Bowl. I wondered if they thought that shoulder injuries were still something to joke about on message boards and in emails. I wondered if they still thought that a high profile quarterback not being able to play due to injury was a sign of weakness. Then I wondered if they'd blame their coach for their quarterback's injury like they did Bob Stoops.
Longhorn backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw four interceptions and fumbled once. As the Texas freshman struggled with a five turnover night I thought of Oklahoma's back-up freshman quarterback who had a similar outing just last November against a Nebraska defense who almost spoiled the Texas BCS championship game party before it even started. Then my mind went to the Texas fans who had all the answers about Oklahoma's offensive woes. About how Landry Jones should have received more playing time the year before even though he wasn't even Bradford's backup. And how the OU football program was snowballing down hill because the best option we had a quarterback turned the ball over five times against a top ranked defense. I wonder what Texas fans think about a freshman quarterback filling in for a super star now?
Finally, I thought about all the bad karma comments directed towards Bob Stoops and the OU football program. You know the ones, about how OU was getting what they deserved for scoring a record number of points the season before at the expenses of just about every Big 12 defense. And about how the tables have turned on a team that won six of the ten Big 12 Championships in the last decade. Then I wondered what the perfect punishment (bad karma) would be for ignorant Texas fans like that. Obviously it would be to see their quarterback go down in the biggest game the Longhorns have played in since the 2005 season, to see their offense struggle mightily and to have a championship caliber defense wasted on an offense run by a freshman quarterback that just isn't up to the same caliber as when the star is in there. Injuries are just a part of the game. Sometimes they work in your favor and sometimes they work against you. I wonder what Longhorn fans think of karma now?
As it turns out, winning the BCS championship isn't as easy as Texas fans thought it was. It's a lot more than just showing up. And losing a BCS championship isn't as bad as Texas fans thought it was. You see, they just aren't experienced in being there as OU fans are. They're just now learning what we learned in the 2003 season. Sometimes you are the best team in the nation (OU - 2000, Texas 2005) and sometimes the team lined up across from you is the best team in the nation (OU - 2003, 2004, 2008 and Texas 2009). There's no shame in losing to the best team in the country. You still have the accomplishment of being the runner-up and the conference championship earned along the way. I wonder what Texas fans think of losing BCS championships now?
Somehow, I get the feeling that from their perspective all of these experiences were good for Texas but still bad for OU. You know how Texas fans think. In their minds they can't be wrong. Regardless of how many times it blows up in their face.
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that was great thanks
nailed pretty much what I’m thinking today, and I’d guess what a lot of Sooner Fans are thinking as well.
"You have been banned from the Purple Row, for Inappropriate conduct, profanity, (&) telling site authors their articles are crap."
About that.
I immediately thought of those Texas fans (and there were several thousand of them) who openly cheered as Sam Bradford lay in pain on the field of the Cotton Bowl.
There’s worthless d-bags at every school who openly cheer when a person is injured or hurt. These people are psychopaths. People who derive pleasure at the injury of another (of a young athlete, no less [Jones/McCoy]) are completely misguided and should not even be allowed to enter intelligent discourse (unfortunately the moderators at the Texas A&M blog seem to be such people).
That said, I’m aware I’m not the Texas fan that the above post is addressed to, but if we spend all of our time preaching to the lowest rung of each other’s fanbases, then we’ll have no time left for intelligent, reasonable discourse. Frankly, I find it just as cringeworthy when I see a Texas fan making an ass of him/herself on other blogs (perhaps even moreso because this reflects poorly on my school) as when I see the same from other schools’ fans.
Let’s just all accept that on the internet, as in all of life, there are people that are not worth drinking a beer with. Unfortunately, they’re distributed pretty evenly around the world, so there’s no getting away. If we do our best to ignore them instead of arguing with them, maybe they’ll go away.
Other Receiving Votes: Oklahoma
by pleaseplaykindle on Jan 9, 2010 2:54 AM CST reply actions
Very well written article and I agree with it to it's entirety.
After spending seven wondrous years in the state of Alabama, never in my life have I seen fans, who claim to be loyal to one team, spend more time AUbsessing over the other more so than they do their very own.
I couldn't have said it better myself
You know, we all come on these message boards to vent. Being from OK and living in Texas the past three years, it’s mighty therapeutic to vent. It was really great to see UT lose and the fanbase brought down a peg although it wasn’t as satisfying as it would have been with a healthy Colt. As the post-game interview proved, Colt is a worthy foe on the gridiron but an ever better human being. I wish him all success in the NFL and maybe his draft fall will be good for him in the long run. Maybe he’ll fall to a team like the Pats who don’t need a QB right away and he can apprentice under Brady and run passing routes with OKC’s own Wes Welker (who can empathize with his current injury situation). And I dream that Sammy gets to play against him again and gets the chance to beat him again in the pros.
Pleaseplaykindle brings up great points. I’d love to have a beer with a reasonable fan like him who represents his school respectably (presumably because he actually went to school there unlike many message board denizens). But there a lot more d-bag fans wearing burnt orange then he would probably concede. (Admission: I do have several good friends who wear burnt orange and are UT grads, but most of my friends down here are Aggies.) Because I’m a masochist, I sometimes go over to BON (although I vow I will never troll over there) and I see some of the biggest array of douchery on the planet. It is a complete vipers den over there that nobody polices. ccmachine needs to be commended to running a tighter ship over here than over there. It’s one thing to insult the football team (fair game), the coach (fair game), and the fan base (fair game) and tell jokes about the character of those groups. It’s quite another to insult the quality of one’s educational institution, home state, and home town and insult the people who live in that state; it’s quite another to repeat some canard about a state’s history of which you have absolutely no comprehension. I happen to think Austin is a fine place to live just as I think Norman is a fine place to live and raise a family. Norman is just a little sleepier and smaller but just as cultured and sophisticated. (Memo to BON: Not everybody is an OU fan who lives in Oklahoma. There are a lot of Oklahoma A&M Aggie fans and Tulsa fans as well…and even a couple of UT fans,,,who are for the most part well-behaved. There are probably more than a million people in Oklahoma who hate OU. But BON, there’s probably more than 15 million people in Texas who hate you, Aggies, Owls, Horned Frogs, Coogs, and Mustangs just to name a few.)
I wasn’t at the Cotton Bowl this year but watching the game in a sports bar with OU fans…most of the UT fans (I don’t know the percentage.) cheered just a little too long and way too loudly when they knocked Sammy out of the game. It was audible on the ABC broadcast too. The decent UT fans stopped cheering when they realized the extent of Bradford’s injuries and that he wasn’t coming back in the game but too many didn’t stop clapping and cheering. Maybe UT fans don’t do a good enough job ostracizing their douchebags, I don’t know. Maybe there’s millions more UT fans than OU fans and they’re harder to police.
BON
I can’t even count the number of idiotic comments I’ve read from the people you are describing over there taking shots and Stoops and Bradford. They just lost their QB and the championship game and all they want to talk about is Stoops forcing Bradford to come back to early and what a saint Mack is for not playing Colt. I am constantly amused by their false confidence behind their “knowledge” of what goes on at OU and the inner workings of Stoops’s decisions on how he chooses to run his team. They all know that the doctors were telling Sam not to come back, but Stoops obviously ignored their advice and forced Sam to come back and play. I mean I know they’re texas fans so their intelligence has to be suspect, but they can’t actually believe that b.s. right?
My own 2 cents living in Texass.
1) There is an assumption of wives & children as well that Texass is supreme to all simply by its name. Everyone else is a 2nd class citizen. In 2000 I heard on an Austin radio “Like most Texans, Gov Bush assumes that becomes he has a longhorn on the back of his truck he is entitled to everything & knows everything…….” I wont get political, but it is true.
2) Stop whining down here about conference loyalty, I know exactly how loyal you were 1 year ago this time & how loyal you were while we were in Arlington before the BYU game.
3) Stop bng about Stoops supposed involvement with Saban. Number one UT has 2 former Saban staff members. & conversely Satan knows Muschcamps tendencies. Besides OU sucks & why would anyone want that opinion. I am just saying…..
What's your favorite texas cry fest?
1. texas fan whining about Satan running up the score?
2. texas fan crying about McElroy going horns down?
3. texas fan Zapruder film like breakdown about how Colt was illegally speared?
4. texas fan’s claims that Garrett Gilbert was “amazing?” (This one is a personal favorite of mine after scrolling through their open game thread)
5. texas fan predictable “what if” analysis of how they should/would have won if this happened or if that didn’t happen?
6. texas fan also predictably ignoring the “what if” scenario of Colt staying in the game and texass still losing the game (that’s probably just crazy talk, what was I thinking?)
7. texas fan’s continued love affair with the most over rated coach in waiting in the country while ignoring the simple fact that Alabama just had two RBs go 100+ against the “best” run defense in the country?
I’ve got to go w/ #4. Admittedly, he was thrust into a game no freshman in the country would be ready for, so any criticism of his performance has to be put in the proper context. That said, I simply fail to see how his performance has instantly instilled an obnoxious (redundant w/ texas I realize) level of confidence in texas fan? So I’m curious how 15-40 w/ 2 TDs and five TOs equates to “amazing?” He threw both TDs (to a wide open receiver) and eight of his 15 completions to a 12th year senior who, pending NCAA appeal/changing of the eligibility rules for UT players exclusively, will finally be forced off campus. It’s funny to me because this misguided optimism is transferred to the entire 2010 texas team as well. They lose McCoy and Shipley (their entire offense), the entire left side of their o-line, and arguably their top four players on D yet they are a “lock” to win the South again next year? I love horn logic. Everyone they’re losing is being replaced by someone that was better than they were to begin with. Nowhere is this illustrated better than w/ the recent announcement of Earl Thomas declaring early. Evidently someone named Christian Scott, who was ineligible for a majority of this year, is the greatest safety who’s never played a game. So Earl Thomas who would have won the Thorpe award were it not for Eric Berry was really just a glorified backup to this Scott kid except for the fact that Thomas started and had an amazing season, but those minor details are of no importance to texas fan.
Oh, and one more
8. texas fan crying about the refs. Really texas fan? Really? If this isn’t the definition of irony then I don’t know what is.
1. I agree. Though while watching the game I was wondering why they wouldn’t just take the knee since Texas wasn’t using their timeouts, but thought it was kinda dumb to get mad about.
2. This always rubs people the wrong way for some reason. I think it’s dumb for it’s unoriginality, but it’s something I completely expect. It’s about as original as the “We’ll Mess With Texas” signs. Wow, that was ingenious.
3. Most the responses agreed with him that is was probably a spear, but disagreed that it should of been called. That happens in just about every game, and mostly never gets called. So you are singling out one fan. Imagine all the things we could say about each other if we singled out just one fan.
4. This was by far your dumbest point. As I have pointed out at BON, the excitement has nothing to do with his stats. Looking at just stats, he was simply awful. Unfortunately for him two of his picks was a case of it being the receivers fault but the QB taking the blame. The part I took away from it was his maturity as the game progressed. He started out bad; which unless your a delusional fan you would completely expect. But as the game went on he calmed down, he started to make reads, and he started to make better throws. They showed a stat line that said something along the lines he started 4-20, but on that particular drive was 10-12. He kept himself in the game, he didn’t melt down, and that shows a lot of character. That is hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel with this kid.
5. Alright, maybe this was your dumbest point. Doesn’t matter who you play, if you lose a close game you always think about those couple of plays that swung the game the way it did. To say this is a Texas thing is stupid, it’s completely universal. All I heard after TX/OU was “what if” Colt didn’t make that tackle when he was picked and that player took it all the way. Things would of been a lot different.
6. Obviously we are in different areas hearing different things. I think losing that game with Colt playing would have been an easier pill to swallow. Simply because we would have at least had all our best players playing and simply lost to a better team.
7. It was a second quarter meltdown. The second half they were pretty solid against the run.
8. Another universal point that can be said about every team. Yes, some Texas fans are whining about the refs. Just like some Texas fans cheered about Bradford. But every team has a fan base that will always complain about the refs, and maybe I’m wrongfully assuming, but if Colt got hurt and not Sam I’m sure there would of been a OU fan base that would have cheered. Which is why the terms “class” and “classless” are completely overused on both sides.
7) It isnt hard to be “pretty solid” against the run in the 2nd half when Ingram was out for 20 mins….
The minute he stepped back on to the field Texas couldnt stop the run, look back at the runs he ripped off to keep the clock running & in control…
True
Those chunks of yards hurt a lot. And not taking anything away from Bama’s backups, since they could start on a lot of good teams, but it is different without Ingram. Bottom line is the the defense played well enough to win the game. And this was with being out there a lot more than they should have with the O not able to pick up many 1st downs.
by randomguy on Jan 9, 2010 6:35 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
my personal favorite here in west Texas is that they “stopped Ingram” that he didnt have anywhere near is average : Newsflash he hurt a hammy/cramped & didnt play for like 22 mins of the 2nd half morons!
But I also like that fact that conveniently ignore Bama tried really hard on special teams to give Texas any advantage they could….. really. If Texas doesnt fumble/INT can be turned to If bama could field a kickoff….
Waaaawaaawaaa
I'd like to echo "pleaseplaykindle"
CF Rivalries are supposed to be respectful and are one of the main reasons that I love CF and find it difficult to get as interested in the Pro’s. That said, there will always be those that screw that part up.
Yes, some Texas fans are whiners. Yes, some Texas fans are jerks (I’d user stronger language but don’t want to be banned). Yes, some Texas fans represent their school badly. But there are just as many (if not more) Texas fans who do none of those things. The problem is, it’s the loudmouth idiots that always get the most attention. The same holds true with Sooners, Aggies, etc.
I felt horrible for Sam when he got hurt against BYU. I thought he played a tough game against Florida (and yes, I was rooting for OU – although I admit it was hard considering how the three way tie played out). And I didn’t cheer when he got knocked out of the RR game. I wanted to play OU at their best, and I want OU to succeed, because if Texas wins then it really means something.
Likewise its hard to celebrate too much when you beat a team playing with a backup QB behind an O-line that’s been devastated by injury and attrition (especially when it was far closer than expected).
Alabama played a great game and are the National Champions, period. Would the game had played out differently had Colt not got injured? Sure. But that doesn’t mean Texas would win. Of course you could “what if” the whole season to death (for instance I’m sure Nebraska fans could “what if” 15 seconds of the Big 12 title game). It sure felt like everything that could have gone wrong for Texas did…I’m sure that when I watch the game again it may not be as bad as I recall but for now my only “gripes” are a) that I thought the last touchdown by Bama with 47 seconds left and a 10 point lead was a bit much. Again, maybe watching it again will change my mind, but I sure thought that they could have simply run out the clock and ended the game, and b) the crowd breaking into chants of “SEC”.
While there’s no doubt the SEC is having a banner run as of late, I can’t recall the other conferences being near this obnoxious about it (I could certainly be wrong). I’d love it if more Big12 schools came together the same way. It’s not as if the SEC doesn’t have their intense rivalries, but they put it all aside to root for their conference, and I was amazed at how many Aggie, Tech, and yes, Sooner fans openly rooted for and cheered for Texas to lose (one Aggie friend of my was openly gleeful when Colt got hurt and had to leave the game – proving that bad taste isn’t restricted to UT fans alone). I cheered for OU over Stanford (congrats by the way) Nebraska over AZ (Alabama did not have the most dominant defense, Nebraska did. Wasn’t even close), and A&M against Georgia (A&M will be better next year, especially if they start to get more defensively consistent).
I’d like to propose that all Big12 teams call a truce once bowl season hits and cheer conference, regardless of whose playing. How cool would it be to hear “BIG12” chants from fans after a OU/NU/A&M/UT/TT/etc. victory?
by BurntOrangeForever on Jan 9, 2010 2:25 PM CST reply actions
While I appreciate this somewhat I woul ask
Did you root for OU in 2003, 2004, and 2008?Let’s assume OU won all of those years. Now assume your Darius White, where do you go to school?
It’s easy to root for OU when their in the Sun Bowl but would you want to recruit against a five time national champion in the BCS era?
by SoonerDutch on Jan 9, 2010 7:42 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Can you root for in conference rivals or cant you?
So I guess the non-answer means you won’t/can’t stomach the proposal around Big 12 Solidarity during Bowl Season?
"Please God, Send us a Stable of Running Backs!"
Yes
Yes I did…I thought the hurry up offense you ran in 2008 kinda bit you against the Gators, because they had the speed on Defense to take it away.
As for recruiting against a 5 time national champion – even if that had come to pass Texas has the advantage in their own backyard. Too many of the kids grow up wanting to play for Texas (or A&M, TCU, TT, etc.). It would help OU, lure more kids to Norman, but UT would still get a majority of the recruits they wanted to.
Will I be thrilled if OU is a 5 time champion? I’d prefer Texas to get another 5, but I’d rather the NC reside in the Big12, than the Big10, SEC, Pac10, etc.
by BurntOrangeForever on Jan 15, 2010 1:43 PM CST up reply actions
Jackass fans everywhere
There are plenty of jackass fans everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. Aside from growing up in TX and going to school there, I’ve lived in OK for 4 years, HI for 3 years, WI for 3 years, TN for a year, VA for 2 years, SC for 4 years, CA for one year, and the FL Panhandle (think FL, FSU, AL, Auburn all in one place) for 2 years. As a huge college football fan, I see jackassery all over the country. If anyone thinks that other fan bases has more morons than their own fan base, then they are delusional. I’ve seen it everywhere, and that includes Norman.
Of course there are idiot TX fans. They are ignorant and embarrassing, but don’t fool yourself by thinking that OU is running a deficit on their own jackass fans. You’re not. I’ve seen them. I’ve LIVED among them. If you don’t think there were both OU and AL fans aplenty that were overjoyed at seeing Colt McCoy injured, then you have your head buried in the sand.
TX morons who cheered at Sam’s injury are no more despicable than those OU and SEC fans who cheered at Colt’s injury (and there was plenty of cheering here in the Panhandle).
Everybody plays the “what if” game. AL beat the team that they played. They are the BCS champs. Injuries are part of the game. I actually picked AL to win the game in our local football pool with a significant level of confidence. This was due to my perception of TX performance against Neb. After the Husker’s bowl game, I realized that they, not AL, had the very best defense in college football. After watching TX-AL, I believe I was wrong. If the game were being played tonight with everyone healthy, I would pick TX because I believe they had the better team. They just didn’t win on the night in question. There’s nothing wrong with saying that; the best team often doesn’t win. That’s why you play the game. Miami was better than OSU in 2001; New England was better than the New York Giants in the SB a few years ago; OU was better than KSU in the 2003 Big 12 Championship. Interestingly, listening to the local radio stations here in FL on Friday morning, about 3 out of 4 callers stated they would pick TX over AL as well. The 1 out of 4 who disagreed where almost all AL fans as you would expect. With that said, I don’t think TX would have beat FL last year. Our D just wasn’t up to par to pull that game out.
to clarify the above
My family & I went to Orlando, specifically Disney, was at the resort where the awards show held, stayed almost 2 weeks, was in Gainseville & Tallahassee as well as Mobile, AL for a week visiting family. Then in New Orleans, LA for 3 days. The entire time we heard how much everyone hates Nick Saban. Gas station guys, wendy’s drive thru, the At&T store, resort staff, we were at the Montleone in NO while ESPN was there with the Dallas/Saints game. Never once, not even in Mobile, did a single person say “Roll Tide”, “beat Teax” or anything. They said Bama philosophy is “This is Nascar country, if you aint cheating, you aint trying”. For a Tx fan in Florida to say no one would pick AL over TX on a call in radio show, this just doesnt surprise me. No one in Florida the 3 weeks we were there (or in LA or in Mobile, AL) said a positive thing about Nick Saban or Alabama. I am not tryint to start anything, just replaying the “chatter” we heard while in Florida….& the college awards show…
You are right: there is no love for Saban in most of FL (and especially LA). Here in the panhandle, however, Bama gets a lot of love. Floridians in the area seem to be about 40% Gator, 35% Bama, and 25% FSU. Of course, they are incestuous about pulling for other SEC teams. That’s understandable though, as I too have my “Bowl Game Sooner Fan” t-shirt, et al.
thanks!
Thanks I really didnt mean to start some “nonsense”. The panhandle was kinda weird while we were there, it was in that 10 days of constant rain, LOL. Our lone bama positive was in a parking lot where I guy yelled at me that he hated Texas ?!? Weird…..
I was shocked at what a rundown place UF is….compared to FSU/TX/OU even our little 1-AA college here…
We have gotten a lot of rain; more than anyone can remember in several years. Right now it’s freezing! I think we’ve had lows in the lower 20s for a week and a half. It’s really getting in the way of my fishing.
I had the same impression about UF. It is not one of the nicer college campuses. I’ve spent a lot of time in Norman; it’s nice. Athens, GA and Madison, WI are also nice.
lol, my 3 y/o wouldnt get out at UF to go the bathroom it was so shoddy looking when we were checking it out. FSU is nice, nice. Athens is beautiful, the Grove at Ole Miss is pretty awesome, never been to Madison. I was “academically recruited” & visited quite a few colleges. USC is alright, but I was scared to be there from my OK hometown of 2000. LOL. But we were underwhelmed by UF, it also had kind of a Texas State Mental Facility to it, if you know what I mean. We live in Wichita Falls & the 1-AA campus here is nicer than UF.
ahh
are you refferring too midwestern state? if so that is a nice campus for a smaller school alot better than UCO
BevoinFL
Ummmmm, yeah. Maybe Nebraska was the stiffest defense against TEXAS. You have to take into consideration that when the huskers played texas, that was only a WEEK after their last game! When Bama played you, it was a MONTH after the fact. I don’t care what anyone says, time off makes you rusty! As far as you winning with Colt, I don’t think that can be proven either. It was crystal clear that after halftime, we drastically changed our gameplan. It is easy to stop a team when you know their play calls are gonna be; run, run, run, etc. Do you think for a damn minute that we would have given Mccoy near as much room as we gave Gilbert? Mccoy or no Mccoy, if you guys truly were the better “team” keyword being “team” then you should have won with all the damn chances we gave you with the failed fake punt on OUR side of the field, and the botched kickoff returns, and the onside kick…..I mean come on, do you honestly believe that you can try to make other people believe your delusion that Texas was the better team? We had a terrible game overall, and OUR quarterback was playing with two broke ribs. Still with the mediocre performance, it was enough to put away the Wronghorns…..
Bama’s has a very good front four. They are just not as good as Nebraska’s. Cody is big, takes up space, and is very effective at stopping the run off center, but he is also slow and a bit lazy. Scouts have noticed that he gives up on a lot of plays. He is also not going to get to the QB very often. Bama gets the edge at LB, but Nebraska again gets the nod in defensive pass efficiency and scoring defense. They’ve also got Suh, a man playing among boys. Sorry, but Nebraska does have the better D. The SEC has had a great run of defenses, but this year, the Big 12’s top three are better than the SEC’s top three. It is what it is.
Bama is the BCS Champs. They are a great team and deserve a lot of accolades. They beat the team they played on the field, and they were better than the team they played on the field…barely. I am just saying that I don’t think they are better than the team that they didn’t play, and a lot of America agrees. You are right, it can’t be proven. Neither can it be proven that Bama would have won with McCoy in the game. It’s all speculation, and I’m not sure why Bama fans would be concerned about it at all. You won the game that WAS played. The only reason I can think of as to why a Bama fan may be upset about such pure speculation is that they have a seed of doubt themselves. That’s understandable. The game should not have been close, but with 3 minutes left in the game, TX had a legitimate chance to tie or go ahead with a true Freshman QB that had only thrown 26 passes all year! That just doesn’t engender a lot of confidence in Bama being a better team than a McCoy QB’d TX team. I just find it heartening that a lot of people would change their office pools if two healthy teams were playing tonight.
Nice play on “wronghorns.” You’re right of course…it was the wrong Longhorns team on the field. Enjoy you’re moment. It won’t last long. Either the Big 12 or the Big 10 will field the next championship team.
Yep, we honestly believe it.
But we also admit that AL won fairly on a neutral field. No asterisks needed. BUt on the flip side, you beat a freshman QB with no starts ever in college football. Wow. Good for you. You must be so proud.
"Please God, Send us a Stable of Running Backs!"
Don't take it personal
But after watching both Nebraska and Alabama on defense, Nebraska was by far more dominant. Yes, a month off can make you rusty, practices aren’t games and can’t match that intensity. But that cuts both ways. If the Alabama D was rusty, so was the Texas Offense and they were working with a rookie QB to boot.
You have to understand that for CF fans around the country and especially for Texas fans, we were expecting more from Alabama’s D. The Texas O line struggled all year. Against great Defenses and sometimes even against not so great defenses. After the Nebraska game, all anyone could talk about was how the Alabama D was going to steamroll Texas and how Mt. Cody was “licking his chops” (mind you this is the pundits, not the players talking). While they did knock Colt out of the game, the defense had only one sack the whole game and Terrence Cody had only a single tackle. I actually thought he was more effective on offense (trying to stop Richardson or Ingram is challenge enough, when Mt. Cody is running in front, that’s damn near impossible).
As to “changing your gameplan”. The passing game wasn’t going to happen, Texas had 5 sacks and was constantly pressuring McElroy. Between the pressure and McElroy’s injury Bama simply didn’t any better option, and they have always been a run first offense. That said the Texas D played very well in the 2nd half (Ingram had 26 yrds on 9 carries, Richardson had 43 yrds on 12 carries).
In short both teams had injuries to key players (McCoy, Ingram, McElroy), and neither played their best game. I actually thought that both teams matched up quite well (both had their strengths and weaknesses). I don’t think Alabama was heads and shoulders above Texas, nor vice versa. Both good teams, but Alabama had a few bounces go their way and they capitalized. They earned their NC, no asterix required.
But Nebraska had the most dominant Defense in the country, and Suh should have won the Heisman.
by BurntOrangeForever on Jan 15, 2010 2:19 PM CST up reply actions
Also,
if you are wondering why I am on a Sooners blog, it is because they are the team that I pull for second. I don’t know what it is about Sooners brand of football, but I like it…..
Another Sooner in Texas here. D/FW area.
I work with a guy who is a card carrying Texan. He actually gets pissed when I talk about my kid wanting to play football at OU. Not jokingly, he really gets pissed.
Before the season I was talking to him about how crazy it was going to be here in town in October. The re-match of Colt and Sam, the controversy over the Big 12 Championship. It was going to be so hyped up it would be insane.
He responded with, “I hope Sam Bradford breaks his leg”. Again, not jokingly, but it was hard to tell. When Sam got hurt he said, “Oh well, it wasn’t his leg, but at least he got hurt”. I was befuddled by his attitude. I really thought he was joking in a weird way, and after he got hurt he would admit it. But no, he was actually happy as a loon. I know that he doesn’t represent the majority of their fans, but there’s enough of them that they stick out.
I could go on and on about some of the insane conversations that I’ve had with my Longhorn friends. I usually avoid the subject because I only get a severe case of tired head. It is like trying to argue with a tree.
Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.
Barry Switzer
1) Anyone cheering an injury is garbage, regardless of their team.
2) I see people being rather creative in their alleged citations of BON threads. There’s a TON of criticism that the coaches didn’t get Gilbert enough reps to be prepared for the situation. And there’s a number of people who are far from thrilled with his performance in the game. I know it’s more convenient for some here to paint a monolithic picture in their head of the crazed evil Texas fan, but you’re not that close.
3) People trashing Texas fans for going through the stages of coping with a heartbreaking loss….really? Yes, when you eat it in a big game you discuss"what ifs"; you complain about obvious bad calls; you vent about things the other team did which in your eyes lacked class (rightly or wrongly). You mean to tell me OU fans didn’t yell at the screen when Tebow pulled his Gator Chomp nonsense last year? Nobody complained? Losing a game like this, especially under these circumstances, sucks! And honestly I say this without a hint of trash talk, you of all people should know this from experience.
by the chairman211 on Jan 10, 2010 2:59 AM CST reply actions
Look
Take away school pride and just look it at from a neutral perspective. Anybody with a brain and any football knowledge knows that Texas probably wins with McCoy in the game. We bitched when Bradford got hurt let them bitch about McCoy getting hurt. Its the equivalent of when the Rockets won their two championships in the ’90s when Jordan was retired. They still count but their will always be a yeah but.
A couple of thoughts on ‘Bama. I don’t know why Ingram won the Heisman? He wasn’t even the best back on his own team. Richardson should start next year but he won’t. Julio Jones maybe the most over hyped recruit in history. He is not a play maker. Not a very good receiver. I think we know why SEC defenses are so good. Their quarterback play is just awful. If McCelroy is the second or third best quarterback in that conference something wrong. If his first read wasn’t there he just panics. He got outplayed by a freshman.
Alabama joins Ohio State as the worst undefeated team of this decade and in the group of ‘06 Florida, ’03 and ’07 LSU as the worst national champs of this decade. If Texas won the same thing would have been said. Two very flawed teams in a very flawed year for college football. This entire season never lived up to the hype. McCoy’s injury kind of summed up this entire year. Just never failed to live up to expectations.
There was a firefight!!!!
I don’t think Ingram should have won the Heisman either. He’s a good back, but not the best college football player in the country. I thought Ndamukong Suh should have won the Heisman this year.
The worst undefeated team of the decade is probably
probably a Boise State in 06 or 09.
by SoonerDutch on Jan 10, 2010 9:16 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Forgot National Champ
I meant to say the worst undefeated National Champ this decade.
There was a firefight!!!!
by ThePhenomenon on Jan 11, 2010 12:54 AM CST up reply actions
BevoinFL
Wow, you are hard to argue with….lol. I love a sensible college football fan. Someone that takes all perspectives into account and bases their opinion on that. You are an intelligent football man. To be honest with you, I will get stoned by a lot of SEC fans for saying this, but I think there is virtually no difference in the BIG12 and the SEC. I personally love both conferences. A dream season ranking for me would be;
1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. South Carolina
That is what I would love to see as far as the season ending rankings.
Texas is Number 2 for 2009
Which shows a TON of respect by the writers AND the coaches after the MNC game to rank Texas over all other BCS bowl winners. Hook ’Em!
"Please God, Send us a Stable of Running Backs!"
Yeah,
I was just saying those are my favorite teams to watch and that it would be cool to see a top 5 like that.
by AlltheGreatQBs on Jan 11, 2010 11:32 PM CST up reply actions
The Phenomenon
Mark Ingram got most of his yardage against true highly ranking defenses whether you wanna believe it or not! It is not all about the stats. You have to take into account what these players mean to their teams. As much as Richardson is talented, he has not come in and saved a game for us. Ingram as single handedly been our offense in a few games this season. There are literally two games that come to mind that HE won for us. Without his performance in those two games, Alabama would not be in the championship game. As far as McElroy, yes Gilbert did out perform him. McElroy had two broke ribs though, not a supposed pinched nerve in his throwing shoulder…lol. You should consider the fact that we only threw the ball 12 times……12 times! How can you have a good game when you throw so few passes? He completed 6 of those passes, which is 50% and 4.8 yards per pass, and that was actually .2 YPP better than Gilbert. Another thing, He threw ZERO interceptions, versus your homeboy’s four. We nor any other team in the SEC goes and recruits a Chase Daniels, or a McCoy or a Bradford. Your (Big12) conference is a pass-first conference, ours simply is not. Why would we have needed to throw the ball more anyway? Considering the success that we were having against the nations #1 Run D. I bet that if McElroy would have thrown the ball 42 times like your beloved Gilbert did, he would have had overwhelming better numbers. If you look at what McElroy has done this season you will see that he does not make bad decisions, not very often anyway.
Oh
Something else to ponder. You do know that McElroy is just a first year starter right? How can you say someone sucks when they have just played this one year with a team that throws the ball considerably less than the rest of the FBS?
I'm gonna put a clown suit on you
Let me just put a clown suit on you. The reason Ingram “carried your team to victory” was because he got the carries and not Richardson. If Richardson got the carries he does the same thing probably. I’m not discrediting Ingram I just think Richardson is better. Also the Heisman trophy winner should not get benched against his team’s arch rival in the most important game of the year to date. He didn’t get hurt, he got benched ‘cause he couldn’t find holes against Gene Chizik defense.
Trying to make light of McCoy’s injury is pretty dumb and stupid and shows you don’t know anything. If he played any other position and didn’t come back then, yeah, he is a pussy. The thing with that injury is that you can’t feel your arm and you have no control of your arm. Your arm has zero strength in it. It literally is a noodle arm.
Just because he threw the ball 12 times doesn’t mean he doesn’t suck. He does. Those 12 attempts don’t take into account the 6 or 7 times he got sacked. So in reality he threw the ball about 20 times. He can’t make simple progressions and panics when his first read isn’t open. I don’t care about Gilbert and he isn’t my homeboy. What do you expect from a freshman getting his first signifcant playing time? You just don’t want to admit that Texas wins that game with McCoy in. Its okay. I’ll admit that we would have beaten Texas with Sam Bradford healthy. It doesn’t matter, but at least be honest with your self.
Your argument about why the SEC can’t throw the ball is like saying I can have sex with Megan Fox, but I don’t need to. See doesn’t make sense.
Just admit McElroy is a mediocre quarterback and his team won in-spite of his play. Hell we won a National Championship with a Junior College transfer from North Dakota. I’ll take it.
I can say somebody sucks because I saw a guy who hasn’t played at all outplay a guy who started the whole year and has a running game and had a lead do absolutely nothing. I saw McElroy against Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas suck. Believe me if Alabama had Bradford, Mallett, McCoy they would have thrown the ball more.
There was a firefight!!!!
by ThePhenomenon on Jan 11, 2010 1:08 AM CST up reply actions
Seriously?
I guess I should just shut up now since you’re the designated “internet bad-ass” and it makes your points more valid than eveyone else’s, lol! You are a joke, and an Alabama team that is so mediocre beating the Longhorns makes them an even bigger joke. Why don’t you watch the game again and tell me something. If his arm was so “dead” then why the hell was he using it in the huddle after halftime trying to rally the team? why was he using it to pull on his shoulder pads to adjust them? why are you such a douche? Oh, that slipped right out, my bad. See, nobody is making excuses for why the SEC can’t throw the ball, just excuses why we don’t. At least I am not making excuses why Texas lost.
Really?
You are a pathetic. You absolutely didn’t refute any of my arguments except by just denying and making some absurd observation. Look its not like the guy’s arm was chopped he just couldn’t throw the ball. Its like getting your knee blown out. You can still walk on it doesn’t mean you can play.
“See, nobody is making excuses for the why the SEC can’t throw the ball, just excuse why we don’t.” That makes no sense. Its still the same thing. It means you can’t. You don’t throw the ball because you can’t.
I may not be the “designated internet bad ass” but you are the designated internet village idiot. I thought at OU we received a mediocre education, but Alabama makes OU look like an Ivy League school. You probably have no affiliation with school except living in the trailer right next to it.
There was a firefight!!!!
by ThePhenomenon on Jan 11, 2010 10:58 AM CST up reply actions
see
that is exactly what i mean. You feel like attacking someone through a blog makes you more correct. I dont even live in Alabama or near it. I actually graduated from UCF. Not that its any of your business. by attacking me, you are probably taking out some aggression from your girl sleeping with one of those guys from the trailer park…lol. I had some really good points that many people agree with, well, except you. I didn’t come here to arue with some lonely piece of trash. I come to talk football, and then you come and had to embarrass yourself along with anyone associated with you. Wow, I don’t blame your girl for going “down the street” while you are at work.
by AlltheGreatQBs on Jan 11, 2010 11:31 PM CST reply actions
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