Hope springs eternal with each new college season. Every year we have dreams dancing in our head, "If we could only get to that Nth win" -- "If we could just win the conference" -- "If we could just make the playoff" -- "If we could win the national championship".
Some years these dreams are more realistic than others. More years than not, reality does come a knocking.
It's that time of year, our first loss of the season.
In the 132nd season of Texas football, it's only NOT happened 9 times. (2005, 1969, 1963, 1920, 1918, 1914, 1900, 1895 & 1893)
In six seasons, our first loss came the last game of the season! (2009, 1983, 1977, 1970, 1913 & 1894)
This pain is visceral, like a punch to the gut or a bad burrito. I felt it when we were down 23-0 at half time. I felt it again when we failed to hold them on 3rd and 10 backed up against their own end zone late in the third quarter.
The crowd was electric, deafening at that moment. The air just got sucked out of the stadium with the 21 yard completion.
It hit hard and with finality when Quinn Ewer's 4th down completion stopped 2 yards shy of the first down with 5 minutes left to go.
We lost. We got humiliated at home. One of the biggest losses by a #1 team, at home, in history.
I'm not going to tell you that loss shouldn't hurt. In fact, I'm celebrating the hurt. It hurts because we love the game. We love the spectacle, the poetry and the brutality. We love Texas Longhorn Football.
We share the pain of thousands of fans before us felt the 123 other times that first loss of the season tarnished our dreams.
So, if you like, share some of those painful memories of games you attended or just have stuck in your mind over the years.
Keep dreaming big.
Hook 'em Horns 🤘