We are in a very similar spot to where we were in 2001. Coach with mostly his players in his 3rd year (4th for Mack) that made it to the CCG despite a loss to OU and playing an opponent we clearly should beat with a chance at playing for the national championship on the line. That year felt like we had stepped up to a new level, but left a bitter taste knowing the opportunity we had let slip away. We don’t have the regular season head to head with OSU the way we did with CU that year, but that CU team was really peaking coming into that game, having just ran all over an undefeated Nebraska team the week before that ended up playing for the BCS title. I don’t think OSU is nearly that good.
Even with that result in 2001, in retrospect that was the year where Texas got truly back on the national stage. It was the first year of Mack’s 9 year run of winning 10+ games every season. It really feels like Sark has us heading in that direction, so I have to consider this season a success.