Gridiron Girl: Why I Am Not a Psychic
Rebecca May, BA ’91, Life Member, is a Texas ex-pat living in Oregon while rooting for the Longhorns. An attorney by day, she blogs about college football by night as a regular contributor to gridirongirl. This post contains the opinions of one contributing writer; they do not reflect the views of the Texas Exes’ staff, board, or membership.
Greetings. Horns fans! Have you recovered from that game on Saturday? I know many of you are waiting for this, so let’s get right to it:
I WAS WRONG. AND I’M GLAD.
I’ve been busy for the last 24 hours eating all my words. They’re not too bad! A little bitter, but a quick squirt of lime and everything is sorted out. I absolutely kept my promise, too: an entire blog of unicorns, glitter, and rainbows. Don’t miss out! You can see it here.
Just to be clear, so we don’t have any future misunderstandings: I am a Texas fan. I love the school, I love the teams—I grew up with UT. I have burnt-orange hair (fur rills). The opinions I express are simply that—my opinions. As a longtime fan, I’ve seen the lean times, I’ve seen the good times. I always want Texas to win, to be the best, to outshine all other programs. None of my criticisms is ever aimed at the student-athletes who leave it all out on the field every week. They can only do as well as the coaching allows them to. They have to function as a team. And Saturday at the Cotton Bowl, that’s what we saw. A cohesive, functioning team that won on both sides of the ball, from the opening kickoff until the clock read 0:00. The Horns owned OU completely. Brent Musburger only said “Belldozer” twice that I counted. Maybe I passed out or something and missed the others. But the only QB who got sacked on Saturday was … not Case McCoy. Yeah!
More on that in a minute. It occurred to me that some folks might consider me some kind of seer or prognosticator. Look, folks, the Magic 8 Ball is only right some of the time, and it usually tells me to “Ask again later” or gives me the cryptic “Better not tell you now.” To clear things up, I compiled a list of ways I am not like Nostradamus. In case anyone is confused.
1. I was not born Michel de Nostredame in Provence, France, contrary to popular opinion.
2. I am not a dude.
3. I did not survive the plague while my family perished. Well, wait, I guess I did survive the plague? I’ve never been exposed. OK, so jury is out on this one.
4. I have never worked as an apothecary.
5. I did not publish any almanacs or prophesies, predicting world events for hundreds of years into the future.
Me, I am simply a Texas fan and football nut. So let’s talk about the game.
Holy smokes, obviously I would never believe that Case McCoy could command the offense and lead the team so convincingly to victory. This game really will be his legacy, something he alluded to in the week leading up to the game. It sounded a little grandiose, but actually, he did a bit of prognosticating: This game was all the marbles for the seniors on the team. Who have never beaten OU during their time at Texas. It was a big deal, and McCoy played like it. The week-plus of practice certainly did him a world of good. He was calm and in control. He’s not the most athletic QB, but he absolutely made plays when it counted. This was no come-in-for-Ash-and-save-the-win. This was his win, plain and simple. He was confident, and now I am as well—he is a leader. Good work, young man. Now the hard part: doing it again!
McCoy completed 13 of 21 passes for 190 yards. He averaged nine yards per pass. That’s terrific. He also made two TDs, and had that one pick-six late in the game when it was essentially over. Let’s compare him to Blake Bell. Bell was 12 of 26 for 133 yards, with zero TDs and two interceptions. It makes my heart happy to type that. So long as McCoy leads this offense, I won’t mention Swoopes again. Keep the redshirt for now; McCoy’s got this.
During the last two games, Texas was outscored in the first half by OU, 70-12. So going into halftime, up by 13 points, was huge. Absolutely huge.
I’d like to list every player in this post. Sadly, I can’t. Otherwise I’d use up all the Internets and then where would the cat videos go? The whole team gets a virtual high-five or fist bump or bro-shake or hokie pokie or whatever the kids are doing these days. Some standouts have to be mentioned. It goes without saying, but I’m gonna do it anyway–#1 spirit animal, Johnathan Gray. He chewed up yards and the OU D-line like a boss. He racked up an impressive 123 yards. Getting in on that action was Malcolm Brown who ran for 120 yards. Two running backs with 100+ yards in one game. That’s how you dominate.
Daje Johnson gets his own paragraph. He’s a phenomenon, and the most dangerous player Texas has on offense. Excited to see him work his magic against TCU. What’s in store? How about two kick returns for TDs?
The offensive attack was balanced and smooth. McCoy passed when it was time to pass, and was generally on his mark. Kudos to Coach Applewhite on his much-improved play calling. How about McCoy’s long TD pass to “Magic” Mike Davis? That ball flew like a programmed drone strike directly over Davis’ shoulder and into his hands. Seldom has a more perfect play graced our eyeballs. There was a lot of shouting in my house. We also were treated to the occasional “McCoy to Shipley!” throughout the game. Not enough, but there’s always TCU. So many weapons to choose from, and they’re all functioning beautifully.
Coach Robinson has worked nothing short of a miracle with this Texas defense. We all remember (with distaste) the unruly shambles left behind by Manny Diaz. Robinson has simplified the defensive schemes and gone back to fundamentals. There were still some missed tackles, but more often than not, when hands were laid on an OU offensive player, he went to the dirt. Jackson Jeffcoat’s sack of Bell at the end of the game was a thing of absolute beauty. In fact, I still can’t speak from the screaming.
Y’all, that game made me feel all the feels. There’s not enough space for me to fully express how great it was to see the Horns living up to their potential. It seems Coach Brown has some fight left in him yet. I do believe the rumorsphere: Coach Brown will depart at the end of this season, along with Dodds. But he wants to go out as the Big 12 Champ, and right now, Texas is in the catbird seat. Hands on the wheel, gas pedal jammed to the floor. I’m trying to come up with some other metaphors to throw in. Give me a minute.
Suddenly, spirits are lifted, and hope lives again. Look out TCU, Texas is on its way. Until next time, Hook ’em!
Photo by Anna Donlan
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