FROM THE REAL ART SPORTS DESK
FUCK YEAH!!!
Texas builds on second-half momentum to drop Oklahoma

From the AP via ESPN:

The Texas Longhorns came into their annual showdown against the Oklahoma Sooners with a quarterback they could trust and a defense playing great under an aggressive new coordinator. Yet even after five solid wins, coach Mack Brown still wondered how good they were.

Now, everyone knows.

Trailing the No. 1 Sooners nearly all game, Colt McCoy and the No. 5 Longhorns grabbed control in the fourth quarter and refused to let go, pulling away for a 45-35 victory Saturday in one of the greatest games in the storied series between these Red River rivals.

More here.

Like the sports writers are saying, this game is now a classic, one of the best I've ever seen, right up there with Texas' stunning defeat of USC to win the national championship in the 2005 Rose Bowl. It was the kind of game that I can really enjoy only when I don't give a shit who wins. I was nervous and on edge until we were finally up by ten late in the fourth quarter--again, this kind of tension reminds me of that Rose Bowl win.

But don't get me wrong. I did enjoy this. I'm still enjoying it. I mean, we won. And Texas is now the number one college football team in the nation. I may only be able to dig such a hard fought game when I don't care who wins, but I don't jump up and down in front of the TV yelling repeatedly "GO TEXAS!!! YEAH!!! FUCK YEAH!!!" either.

It's also nice to note that we won it in the only way I thought we could: efficient, businesslike, serious play. Indeed, this is the only way we were capable of winning. Oklahoma is that good, maybe even better than Texas in terms of sheer talent. Many of Doctor McCoy's passes went through microscopic windows in OU coverage that were open only milliseconds--that takes intense focus and concentration from pretty much everybody on the offense to pull off. And the defense was brilliant, too. They were incapable of stopping the Sooners' fierce passing attack, but they slowed it down just enough, to give the offense a fighting chance: you've just got to love the pressure the Longhorns' front four were able to put on Bradford. I mean, fuck man, we were collapsing the pocket every other fucking play with only four linemen! Hardly any blitzing at all! It was also beautiful to see the offensive line outlast the Sooner defensive line in the second half, when Texas finally got the running game going--it took a while, but our five guys were ultimately able to manhandle the guys in red on the other side of the scrimmage line. Beautiful.

We've really got some fucking great linemen. I usually don't go on about linemen - nobody does, really - but our guys are just incredible. Some of those surges were amazing.

Anyway, we're number one now. And we can keep it by doing what we've been doing all season. No bullshit play. All business. All focus. You know, I recorded the game on the trusty old school VCR. I think I'm going to watch it again, this time with the outcome already known, so I can actually experience this now legendary game in the more academic and abstract way that most of the country saw it. Is that weird? Watching a game for a second time? Fuck it; I don't care.

Hook 'em 'Horns!


Texas wide receiver Quan Cosby (6) pulls in a 36-yard pass in the third quarter
in front of Oklahoma defensive back Brian Jackson (2) during an NCAA college
football game, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

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