Curse of November gets to Texas

November 2, 2008

The 'Dream Season' ended tonight for the #1 ranked Texas Longhorns as the Curse of November returns from last year.

...with the National Title picture being taken off the wall, a look at next season too.

Final
#1 Texas 33
#7 Texas Tech 39


The madness is back in the BCS. The curse began last year when the calendar turned its page to November. 8 different teams ranked #1 and/or #2 lost in the last four weeks of the season last year.
Well the curse isn't over. The plague hit my beloved Texas Longhorns who were ranked #1 for the first time since after the national championship in the 2005 season.

Texas got off to a slow start and were shut out in the 1st quarter for the first time all season. They trailed 22-6 at halftime, but history was on the Longhorns' side. To me, history means nothing. What happens in the past in sports has no effect on the outcome of today's game. But Coach Mack Brown emphasized the story telling his team that the last time they played in Lubbock, they were down 21-0 at the half and won the game 35-31.

Texas trailed the entire game, it was only the second time all year that they were losing in the 2nd half, the other was when they trailed then-No. 1 Oklahoma 21-14. Colt McCoy, the leader of the pack in the race for the Heisman Trophy up until this point this season, has already led six 4th quarter comebacks in his career.

In the 2nd half, the Longhorns cut the deficit to 32-26. With 5:46 remaining, McCoy led the Horns down field 80 yards for a touchdown drive finished by Vondrell McGee's 4 yard run to give them the 33-32 lead after the extra point by Hunter Lawrence. This came after a pivotal defensive stand when Texas Tech had 1st and goal inside the 10, but the Texas defensive front, without All-American sure 1st round NFL Draft Pick Brian Orakpo, who left the game with a left knee injury, pushed Graham Harrell all the way back to the 25 with a sack by Sergio Kindle for a 16 yard loss. Tech's previous possession ended with a 32 yard field goal attempt by Matt Williams that was blocked by Texas. This time, Tech went to the regular, but often off-target kicker Danny Carona. Carona nailed the 42 yard attempt straight through the uprights.

With the loss of Orakpo, Texas failed to put significant pressure on Graham Harrell for the remainder of the game. And on the offensive side, Texas played without one of their top receivers, senior Quan Cosby, who left in the 1st quarter with an injury also.

Replacing Cosby in the lineup was freshman Malcolm Williams who came up big with touchdown catches of 37 and 91 yards. Colt McCoy who had led the nation with an all-time record 81.3% completion rating went 20 for 34 today, but started out poorly. McCoy, who rarely ever turns the ball over, did just that -- turned the ball over, and it was the crucial point of the game. Last week when Texas survived against Oklahoma State 28-24, McCoy lost a fumble and threw an interception --- neither resulted in points for Oklahoma State. Tonight, McCoy's interception was returned for a touchdown and those 7 points turned out to be the ones that broke the hearts of Longhorn Nation.



This was called "The Dream Season" and maybe that's why it had to end. Dreams are not reality and it's impossible to make them reality. The players thought they were living the dream, but dreams are over before you know it. They didn't live inside a dream. This Texas team is as good as it's ever been. These players had tremendous heart and lived in the moment...but the moment can only last so long.

The past 4 weeks have been a "Gauntlet" for Texas. They beat #1 Oklahoma, then #11 Missouri, then #6 Oklahoma State before falling tonight to #7 Texas Tech. Only one team in history (Notre Dame) has ever been beaten four straight Top 12 teams, and that's a stat that will stay in tact for many more years to come.

So again, I bring it up, my opinion is the same as many others around the country, the BCS System is wrong. Tradition or not, abolish it. The national championship should not be given to the #1 or #2 team. All of the top teams in the country should have an equal chance to win. There MUST be a playoff system. All talks of a playoff system being implemented were shot down by the NCAA this past summer. It's not fair to teams like Texas though who play such a tough schedule. To play through the schedule they have playing in the Big 12 Conference, the toughest Conference in the country, it is hard impossible to finish undefeated at the end of the season plus the Conference Championship Game. Will Texas Tech finish undefeated? No. They've still got Oklahoma State and Oklahoma to play and they'll go down to one of those teams. The system has a major flaw that can't be fixed without equal opportunity being enforced.
I don't want to go on about the BCS. I could criticize it for days. Actually, check out my other note on here "The Flaws of a 'Precise' System". That's all about the BCS.


So anyway, well don't get me wrong, the season is certainly not over for Texas. On the schedule we still have 3 games, Baylor at home, Kansas on the road, and the rivalry with Texas A&M at home. You can't overlook anybody but potentially, that's a 3-0 end to the season. Texas will finish 11-1. Yeah, it won't be the 13-0 that the Vince Young led team of 2005 had in their national championship run, but it's a big step up from last year's 10-3, and more importantly, the BCS. They won't get in the BCS Title Game because of the system, but they'll definitely make a BCS Bowl appearance. It's important to continue to take steps up. I mean really, since the 2005 National Championship, how much farther up can you go? Essentially, none. so the team took a couple steps back the past two seasons and this year statistically, the team was better than '05 national champions. But again, stats mean nothing. You still have to go out there and execute the plays. That's what Colt McCoy and this Texas team have done so well this year.

Failure is nothing but a state of mind. The team needs to realize just how difficult it is to win a national championship and stay ranked #1 for as long as they did. It's not done by just anybody, only by the best. They'll sit down and ponder about what they did wrong and cringe at seeing how close they came before it ended, but they didn't fail. Coach Brown needs to tell them that. They did not fail.

Another thought for my Longhorns... "Success is never final, and failure is never the end."

Ya know, shit, now I'm looking back the game and you have no idea how much pain it brings to you to wonder what could have been. Look at the last game winning drive for Texas Tech. If freshman star safety Blake Gideon doesn't drop that interception, Texas wins the game right there. And again at the very last play, Curtis Brown, our most unexperienced corner was put on the All-American Michael Crabtree and missed a tackle and instead of going out of bounds, Crabtree ran in for the touchdown. What could have been? If that tackle is made, the clock runs out right there, and Texas wins.

But it's those of kind of mistakes you look at on film and build off of. As a player, the season is not over, but as a fan, it's time to look towards next year. This experience today has the team better prepared for adversity next season. Everyone will be a year older and with all of the star freshman Texas has in place now having a year like this to remember, Texas is without a doubt #1 next year. Even in comparison with the other powers in the country like USC and Florida.

Texas will return 15 of 22 starters next season (not including any underclassmen that may enter the NFL Draft). On offense, they'll lose both receivers Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby, runningback Chris Ogbonnaya, and offensive lineman Cedric Dockery. But filling those holes, well, it's already done. Next year Texas will have one of the best receiving corps in the country with current freshman Malcolm Williams and Dan Buckner leading the way and we've also seen glimpses of the future in Brandon Collins and James Kirkendoll. And even tho he hasn't played much this season, freshman DJ Grant was also a highly touted recruit out of high school. The one flaw on offense for the Horns this year was at tight end. Ever since the injury to sophomore Blaine Irby, no other tight ends have stepped up. Irby, if healthy next season, will be an All-American. And look at the Texas running game next year. Colt McCoy has led the team in rushing this year because we've had a runningback by committee. Before the season it was thought that redshirt Fozzy Whittaker would be the featured back before he went down with an injury and hasn't been 100% healthy all season, but next year he'll be back and explosive. Put him as the featured back along with Vondrell McGee to get a few touches and big Cody Johnson who is more than just a short yardage back, Texas will have a full throttle running attack next season.

On defense, Texas loses key lineman 'the monster' Brian Orakpo, Henry Melton, and Roy Miller. They also lose the owner senior defensive back on the roster, cornerback Ryan Palmer who has been out with an injury. But next year, freshman safeties Blake Gideon and Earl Thomas, both with superstar potential, will unleash that potential and have big years. Don't forget about freshman safeties Christian Scott and Nolan Brewster either. They've barely played this year but they were big time recruits as well. Also in the secondary, the freshman Aaron Williams, especially after tonight's performance, is becoming a star. Not only will Texas have the best offensive line in the country next year, they'll also have the best linebacker corps in the nation as long as juniors Roddrick Muckelroy, Rashad Bobino, Sergio Kindle, and Jared Norton do not leave early for the NFL.

Colt McCoy has already pledged that he will return to the University of Texas for his senior year. McCoy has broken every quarterback record set by Vince Young before him. Young was the 3rd overall pick by the Tennessee Titans in the 2006 NFL Draft.
Right now, excluding the NFL, there is only one thing V.Y. has that Colt does not --- a national championship ring. He'll get it next year.