UT 65, NORTH TEXAS 0

Well, originally I'm a Longhorn. From the Houston Chronicle:

After weeks of talking about why this year was going to be different, the Texas Longhorns finally stepped on the field to prove it.

They said the mental breakdowns were behind them, the little mistakes fixed. They said this was the year they would contend for the national title. After one game, it's hard to argue.

The seventh-ranked Longhorns ran away to a 65-0 victory over North Texas on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 82,956 at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

The Longhorns rushed for 513 yards while racking up 673 yards of total offense, and their revamped defense shut down North Texas' highly touted running game, holding the Mean Green to only 38 rushing yards.

Click here for the rest.

For years now, the much-hyped Longhorns have beaten their lesser opponents at the beginning of the season, but not the way a national championship contender ought to, usually by only two or three touchdowns. This is the sort of pasting I've been waiting for, in the style of Barry Switzer's Oklahoma Sooners of the 1980s. It's about time, and it bodes well for a great season. Now about those Sooners...

I also wanted to add one more thing. From the same article:

North Texas coach Darrell Dickey made his second appearance in the stadium that shares his namesake.

Dickey was named after legendary Longhorn coach Darrell Royal. Royal was a longtime friend of Dickey's father, Jim Dickey, who was a successful high school and college football coach.

Believe it or not, Coach Dickey is my mother's sister's son. That is, he's my first cousin. I guess it's a drag that he lost so badly, but then, well, you know...hook 'em 'Horns! Anyway, his father Jimmy, my uncle, was quite a distinguished coach: he took the Kansas State Wildcats to their first bowl game back in the early 80s. Just a bit of family history for all you Real Art readers.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$