How did/are you dealing with it?

[alphahydro 334]

meant to add.  i was bummed that evening and about half the next day.  those are the reasons i think i've already started feeling fine about it. 

[AbeFroman 2,202]

I’m not doing it well.  I can’t get my brain and the part that connects to the heart to get over how we handled the last 4 plays.

I’ve let go of pretty much everything else, don’t know if I’ll get over that or let that go.

[AbeFroman 2,202]

It was us, it was all us we had it in our hand.  We got right to the finish line and started overthinking everything and went against what should have been very obvious.  This one I’ll never let go of.

[staboner 4,984]

@AbeFroman right there with you man. not sure i can ever get over the last 4 plays. just so lost as to how that happened. total meltdown head to toe after being gifted a miracle 

pas that the future is bright. happy to like the football again my friends

[TXpride 550]

41 minutes ago, alphahydro said:

Losses always suck, but sometimes they are more or less painful depending on the context.   

Obviously the context of this loss was it took us out of a shot at a national championship, but if you take a step back and look more broadly than just 1/1 to 1/8, I think there are a couple reasons why the loss didn't suck as much as it could have. 

1) Season overall was enjoyable and exceeded any reasonable expectations

Imagine another fanbase of a team that was 8-5 last season, hadn't fielded a top 5 team in a while, but recruits well. They are starting a soph QB, a young OL, and a reasonably young defense.  Pick a random blueblood team in your head.  

And before the season you said, hey, I'm from the future, next year, you guys are gonna

• win the conference title in your final year in the conference 
• get scoreboard on all your old, annoying ass wannabe rivals who are staying in the old conference
• beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa by double digits
• avenge all your regular season losses
• get to CFP.  Draw a tough matchup in semis and unfortunately the opposing QB is going to play absolutely lights out, leaving your team just short on a last minute comeback drive
• pundits and coaching staff will sum up the season as "a young team that was one play away from playing for a national title"

If someone from the other fanbase said, man, what a letdown, you'd think their expectations were a tad high.

Expectations are a lot different when the team is building off a top 5/10 finish the year before and the QB/OL/key players at every level of defense are all upperclassmen and headed to the draft after the season ends.   

Losses in those years hurt more in part because deep down you know there is an ebb and flow to cfb and this is a "ceiling year" for the program/staff.  It's always gonna suck to be close to a national championship, but 2023 was more of a holy shit this is a great opportunity to sneak in and win a national championship with a young team sort of years.  Yeah it still sucks to lose a shot at a national championship, but the downside just isn't the same as it is in a year like 08/09, because the implications are different.

2) Sounds dumb but the end of game mattered imo

In terms of the impact on the program, I know this sounds stupid but I thought it was important that Texas had a shot to win the game at the end.  As opposed to a couple more bad swings and Texas loses to UW by 17.   It also helped that Penix made so many tip-your-hat throws.  From an outsider's perspective, it just wasn't a bad loss.  And I'm just saying that makes a difference in terms of what the pundits are gonna say next year, and what the coaching staff can say on the recruiting trail, etc. 

3) Next game wasn't a gimme

TBH, if Michigan could severely limit the run and get a big rush on Ewers, I'm not sure the next game was a gimme.   Yeah, we could have won, but it wasn't like another team with an Okie state profile was waiting in Houston.  It's not like we lost the national championship, we lost the chance to play in a game where we prolly would have had all our signs stolen been in another really tough matchup, this time for the offense.  All I'm saying is, even if we had won, I wasn't as confident about a Michigan matchup after seeing them in Pasadena.  So, again, yes the loss sucks, but the implications aren't as far reaching as they could be. 

4) The impact of this season and the Sugar Bowl will be decided next year

Someone from the future could have come here in August and said hey, this staff is gonna take an 8-5 team that is still young in key spots and get them one play away from playing in Houston.  Then they are gonna build off that and get the program on the right track.  I think we all would have taken it.  (shit, I would have taken that in October).

If the coaching staff problem-solves and the players are motivated and bust their ass during the offseason, 2023 could be a turning point for the program.   

If not, the loss will sting more over time, i suppose.  But i'm not gonna worry about shit that hasn't happened yet.  hook em. 

Kirby had some tough setbacks before finally breaking through. I think we could be on a similary trajectory with the way Sark is building the roster. Sucks because we had a legit shot this year, but we should have plenty more.

[Lou Loomis 758]

I’m slowly, painfully coming to the conclusion that we don’t all ‘become better’ or evolve to some higher plane of enlightenment.

I’m a reasonably successful and semi-worldly, educated man in my late 40s who is somehow still extremely hoarse from drunkenly screaming “The moment’s too big for you, DeBoer, you bungling piece of shit!!!!!!” And “Fuck you, refs!!!! They’re not in the Big 10 yet!!!!!!”

Sigh.

[Rimbo 26,054]

1 hour ago, AbeFroman said:

It was us, it was all us we had it in our hand.  We got right to the finish line and started overthinking everything and went against what should have been very obvious.  This one I’ll never let go of.

 

1 hour ago, staboner said:

@AbeFroman right there with you man. not sure i can ever get over the last 4 plays. just so lost as to how that happened. total meltdown head to toe after being gifted a miracle 

pas that the future is bright. happy to like the football again my friends

 

[PTINS 3,481]

On 1/2/2024 at 2:35 PM, MissingInAction said:

Had whiskey been involved things would have been much different.

So I'm curious how the rest of you coped during and after.

Whiskey was involved. More later.

On 1/2/2024 at 2:40 PM, USNALonghorn said:

I was proud of the way the team found away to come within 13 yards of winning it, despite the setbacks.  

On 1/2/2024 at 2:46 PM, Eastwood said:

Disappointed? You bet.

But we just got straight up beat by a QB who had an all-time performance. The team never rolled over. 

Sometimes teams just get beat. They didn’t play their best, but they definitely didn’t play their worst. And Washington, outside of Penix and the receivers …

Disappointed? Yes. Proud? So very proud. After starting with the first two passes batted down, we had a chance to win with a short pass on the last play of the game.

This year far exceeded expectations and energized our fan base in a way that we are lucky to be a part of. Cherish it.

“… other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

On 1/2/2024 at 2:57 PM, cabowabo said:

I am glad I am not driving 10 hours home from NO and have an extra $3k or so in my bank account today.

My piece of the stock market dropped ~$20,000 yesterday. At least I got to enjoy spending my money, the old fashioned way, with cash.

Going to The Big Easy, over New Years weekend, to see Texas take over New Orleans and play for a berth in the National Championship game Is as good as it gets. The Texas Kool Aid will never taste sweeter than it did this weekend. Met a lot of like minded souls, some old, some young, and the continuity of Longhorn love across generations can’t help but to make you feel good about where we are.

Through an error in judgement, this whiskey drinking, firework watching, social security drawing, new year celebrating, 8th generation Texan, saw the southside of 2 am in the Quarter, on 1/1/2024. Woke up later, finished the remaining whiskey in the glass, and started getting ready for game day.

Had some breakfast, got seated at a table next to a guy I used to work with, walked a bit, ended up at Mannings.  Looking at the pictures on the walls, soaking it all in, I thought the next time I come here, Arch will have a place on the wall, wearing a Texas jersey.  Sweet.

”Accidentally” walked into the Green Room where Bobby Burton was chatting with his guests. Talked a while with a grandad, his son and 11 year old grandson (T’Vondre Sweat is his favorite player.) Met some mid-70’s ladies: they have season tickets for Texas football, baseball, basketball, etc., travel to select away games. They’re trying to take it with ‘em, or having some fun on the way.

Texas playing in the Sugar Bowl in Nuevo Orleans, plain ole good times. 
 

I used to live in Houston & Lafayette, so I knew I was driving. Had Taco’s a al Ninfa at Ninfa’s on Navigation, at 10:15 in the morning.

Enjoy the ride…375 miles in 5 hours, including the trip to Ninfa’s (not the time to eat).

Bobby Burton & guests. Recognize them? I started drinking whiskey way too early.

Some guy parting the Red Sea?

One of the many…Did I say Texas travelled well?

 

 

 

[gmr548 16,608]

I’m not doing it well.  I can’t get my brain and the part that connects to the heart to get over how we handled the last 4 plays.
I’ve let go of pretty much everything else, don’t know if I’ll get over that or let that go.

It was us, it was all us we had it in our hand.  We got right to the finish line and started overthinking everything and went against what should have been very obvious.  This one I’ll never let go of.

This game, both in a macro matchup sense (defending the Washington passing game) and how it actually played out in terms of game script (multiple fourth quarter red zone opportunities) challenged Texas to be better than they have been all year and overcome what had consistently been weaknesses. They simply weren’t good enough. It stung but even in moment was predictable. This was a really good team that was a lot of fun to watch and brought home a conference championship that will be savored until Texas stops playing college football. They just weren’t a national championship caliber team and that’s okay.

[alphahydro 334]

41 minutes ago, TXpride said:

Kirby had some tough setbacks before finally breaking through. I think we could be on a similary trajectory with the way Sark is building the roster. Sucks because we had a legit shot this year, but we should have plenty more.

Yeah, there's a big gap between where we are today and back-to-back national championships, but I see your point. 

I look at it like this.  

Year 1, Sark took over someone else's team.

Year 2, he showed he can take step one to build a team with a winning record.  (not too hard at a school like Texas)

Year 3 he showed he can take step two to build a big xii conference champion level team that is probably at worst a 6th-8th best team in any season.  (It just so happened this was a rare season where a team that good had a puncher's chance at a national title).

The question is - can he take the next step and build a team that is a legit national championship contender? (step three)

And after that can he build a program that reloads? Step four. 

At the end of the season, you have to say this was a scrappy team that overachieved and did a good job of problem solving and improving over the course of the year.  (If anyone doubts that, just check where your expectations were after Rice or Wyoming)

And so, for now, Sark is at least on the right trajectory.  And we will see what additional steps he is able to take.

In the meantime, we should celebrate the efforts of the players on this team.  Who balled out and overachieved over the course of the season and made it entertaining for the fans, imo. 

[CurlyDumps 4,478]

I beat a hobo to death.

[El Squared 1,813]

On 1/2/2024 at 3:05 PM, Not a cat said:

I had everything set up other than game tickets for my son and I to go.  Friday he calls me and says my stomach really hurts kind of on the lower right.  24 hours later he's getting appendectomy.  So I guess he saved me a few grand.

Well, did he tho? You have gotten the hospital bill….

[Stunns38 3,538]

Coping. Just trying to convince myself that it’s only a game.

Question, has a team won a recent championship without an alpha-dog HC and/or QB? That extra “it” factor to get you over the hump.

The coaches that were not alphas seemed to have Superman QBs(Mack-VY; Chizik -Cam Newton; Dabo-Watson/Lawrence; Jimbo-Winston).

We all know that Saban, Kirby, Urban are alphas.

We seem to have neither at this point.
Just an observation.

[TXpride 550]

1 hour ago, alphahydro said:

Yeah, there's a big gap between where we are today and back-to-back national championships, but I see your point. 

I look at it like this.  

Year 1, Sark took over someone else's team.

Year 2, he showed he can take step one to build a team with a winning record.  (not too hard at a school like Texas)

Year 3 he showed he can take step two to build a big xii conference champion level team that is probably at worst a 6th-8th best team in any season.  (It just so happened this was a rare season where a team that good had a puncher's chance at a national title).

The question is - can he take the next step and build a team that is a legit national championship contender? (step three)

And after that can he build a program that reloads? Step four. 

At the end of the season, you have to say this was a scrappy team that overachieved and did a good job of problem solving and improving over the course of the year.  (If anyone doubts that, just check where your expectations were after Rice or Wyoming)

And so, for now, Sark is at least on the right trajectory.  And we will see what additional steps he is able to take.

In the meantime, we should celebrate the efforts of the players on this team.  Who balled out and overachieved over the course of the season and made it entertaining for the fans, imo. 

I would say he already accomplished step 3. You don't have to have an all-time team to win an NC (although it certainly improves your chances). This team wouldn't beat 04 USC, 05 Texas, or 19 LSU, but they could definitely hang with 07 LSU, 09 Bama, or 13 FSU.

That said, I don't think this is our final form. We still have a lot of room for improvement in the secondary, edge, and interior OL. Even Quinn this season was probably around the baseline for what Sark wants at QB.

[B00M 6,458]

1 hour ago, Stunns38 said:

Coping. Just trying to convince myself that it’s only a game.

Question, has a team won a recent championship without an alpha-dog HC and/or QB? That extra “it” factor to get you over the hump.

The coaches that were not alphas seemed to have Superman QBs(Mack-VY; Chizik -Cam Newton; Dabo-Watson/Lawrence; Jimbo-Winston).

We all know that Saban, Kirby, Urban are alphas.

We seem to have neither at this point.
Just an observation.

The recruits seem to like Sark and perhaps just as importantly, the NIL money seems to like Sark. His program has steadily looked better in all 3 phases. I don’t give a shit if he’s not a yeller or whatever makes those other guys alphas in your mind. Bo Pelini was alpha as fuck!

Edited January 4 by B00M

[MissingInAction 25,172]

3 hours ago, CurlyDumps said:

I beat a hobo to death.

Whew.... it wasn't me... 

Edited January 4 by MissingInAction

[Longboard Horn 40,448]

18 hours ago, NYBevo said:

Sucks seasons over, but holding eternal scoreboard over the hateful 8 eases the pain.

And not just over them, but everyone in the new Big 12(except Cincy since we've never played)

[BurntOrange&White 39,963]

17 hours ago, B00M said:

This thread has been a mix of sarcasm and nice stories about kids becoming fans. You’re the only one that cares about what aggy makes fun of anyway. Maybe these idiots should read this thread and reflect because they’re what the rest of college football is judging us for. How not to deal with it:
 

 

 

12 hours ago, Ignatius said:

What a fucking jerkoff; take the loss, pussy….

 

12 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not sure who you're referring to, but the UT fans mouthing off to UDub players should fucking grow up.

Apparently Twitter found the guy and he's a UTEP/Tech grad.

[alphahydro 334]

11 hours ago, TXpride said:

I would say he already accomplished step 3. You don't have to have an all-time team to win an NC (although it certainly improves your chances). This team wouldn't beat 04 USC, 05 Texas, or 19 LSU, but they could definitely hang with 07 LSU, 09 Bama, or 13 FSU.

That said, I don't think this is our final form. We still have a lot of room for improvement in the secondary, edge, and interior OL. Even Quinn this season was probably around the baseline for what Sark wants at QB.

yeah, my bad.  i meant building a team that is good enough to be a legit title contender in 8/9 out of 10 years.  

Just a slightly different ceiling from being able to build a team like 07 LSU.  

I actually think there are decent odds that Sark has the ability to this next step, given what he's shown so far.  *knock on wood*  I would say some of the key components are

• high quality assistants 
• high level recruiting
• high level understanding of how to address roster needs / build a complete roster over time
• high level problem solving to address the inevitable deficiencies you'll have on your roster
• luck w/r/t QB development, injuries, etc.

Some guys are brilliant x's and o's coaches, but can't recruit at a high level, or they hire their buddies as assistants, or they are stubborn in their approach to football and get caught flat footed when they are lacking in a position group that is a key component to the offense/defense they want to run.  So they can get to 07 LSU quality team, but they can't get to that next step. 

The hardest step to take, imo, is getting to that next level where you can reload every year.  I think it's really just hard to build a successful program and have it shed complacency every year.  You prolly have to be a bit of a psychopath. 

I like your point a lot, though.  It helps me articulate why the loss isn't as devastating as it could be.  If you had a coach in year 9 the AD was never gonna fire, and it was clear that 07 LSU was your ceiling, a loss like the Sugar Bowl would be a little tougher to take.  Because that's it, that's your chance.  

But if you see more potential for what's being (re)built at your program, and you see the potential for a coach (whether it's Sark or someone who takes the baton) to get to that next level, you can see the Sugar Bowl as a step on the journey.  

Will be interesting to see how we view that game in 4/5 years. 

[BurntEyes 6,008]

16 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

Whew.... it wasn't me... 

You know, it is possible more than one hobo was beat to death.

[thunderlounge 7,914]

On 1/3/2024 at 6:28 PM, MissingInAction said:

I'm ready for group if yall are.

 

 

[MissingInAction 25,172]

1 hour ago, BurntEyes said:

You know, it is possible more than one hobo was beat to death.

That's why it's fun.

[DanTheHorn 4,960]

23 hours ago, TXpride said:

Kirby had some tough setbacks before finally breaking through. I think we could be on a similary trajectory with the way Sark is building the roster. Sucks because we had a legit shot this year, but we should have plenty more.

Until Sark finishes building Sark we will have these setbacks. He could have run the ball with the two back set but he reverted to his comfort zone when under pressure. Gameday management is Sark's issue and it may be his blind spot and like the rest of us when people point out a blind spot we consider those folks to be morons or envious of us. So it is hard to fix what one does not believe is an issue.

[tx 3 putt 77,344]

[Stunns38 3,538]

The recruits seem to like Sark and perhaps just as importantly, the NIL money seems to like Sark. His program has steadily looked better in all 3 phases. I don’t give a shit if he’s not a yeller or whatever makes those other guys alphas in your mind. Bo Pelini was alpha as fuck!

You confuse an alpha with a thin-skinned man boy who can’t control his emotions.

[Jkwellborn 6,724]

You confuse an alpha with a thin-skinned man boy who can’t control his emotions.

You mean bladder right?

[horn4life 3,783]

It's painful.  No other word accurately describes being "so close, and yet so far away."  But if you look at it objectively two things are true.  First, Washington played a great game. Penix was very accurate and mobile, and their receivers flat out went out and made plays.  The muff was costly so not a flawless game, but nearly lawless when you look at the penalty perspective comparatively. If you don't give them credit for a great game, you actually discredit our players.

Second is that played far from a perfect game, and nearly won that mofo!  If we simply get almost anything going our way we win it.  But that's what makes it so damn painful, knowing you honestly did not come close to playing your best game, and still being so very, very close.  Just one or two less unforced errors and we are playing next Monday night.  But if you don't love the character of this team, you simply don't have a heart.  They scratched and clawed despite all odds damn near overcame all the miscues!  The team we had two short years ago would have lost by 30+ to this Washington team.  So pain must be viewed with perspective.  

The one thing I just thought of while typing this, brought a little grin to my face.  Texas IS Back!  And now we have set a team standard to play up to that is truly on a championship level.  So let's lick our wounds, tip our hats, and get back to work. 

That made me think about what I might tell the guys if I was Sark- First off' let me say how proud I am of all of you.  Each of you put in the hard work over the the last year so that for the first time in more than a 15 years (yelling) anyone could honestly say Texas is Back!  But now you all know what it takes from a commitment and intensity level to make it this far.  I want each of you to look at the man next to you, and know that each and every one of you helped raise the bar and get us back.  I want you to look at the man next to you and commit to putting in the work it's gonna take to get back to this place.  It's not gonna be easy.  But we know know how to rely on our family, support each other, and now what it takes to get this far.  Look at the man next to you again, and commit in your mind to push past what you did this year.  Raise the bar again!  You know what it takes, so let's do what we need to do  in the coming year to once again PROVE that Texas really is back!  Love you guys! Let's huddle up...

[hornian 5,222]

On 1/3/2024 at 9:41 PM, CurlyDumps said:

I beat a hobo to death.

I fed a cat to an ATM. 

[Guadaloopy 11,012]

Went to the zoo, flipped off the monkeys.

[Enemy07 335]

Drinking. Business as usual.

[Knoxtnhorn 6,065]

I got so drunk w/ @Jameslaw121 I don't even recall him leaving sometime during the game.  I threw a 10 second bitch fit after the last play.  The thing that stings, at least to me, is that I was pretty confident about a potential Michigan matchup.  I have no special skills or insight as to why, I just felt very confident in that potential matchup.  After they won, I mentally switched from, "OK.  You're preseason expectations have been met" to "Fuck it, let's win the whole thing".  

I did enjoy being relevant again and hearing the pundits discuss Texas for 6 weeks - especially during the aggy game.

[BlackCat 441]

Cant beat the refs. 

[RAMBONE 109]

I did not expect us to beat UW, but the team fought and almost won and I am proud of them. They were a bad matchup with a QB who should be in the NFL (damn you COVID).

I am extremely pleased with our season. I did not expect a CFB berth. I expected 10 games. We beat Bama and all of the H8, and said fuck you to the B12 on the way out. I did not go to the Bama game, but I had a gump friend tell me he's never seen a team so cohesive on the sideline. They played for each other.

We are building something special, but its not a finished product. 

We got help coming in 2024 and I trust Sark to keep roster building, and I am admittedly struggling to trust the process and play calling at times, I'm worried about him being a big game coach, aside from Bama, who he is familiar with. However, we should extend him and give him a raise, but not anything crazy a la Jimbo. I'm willing to give him time, because the past 12 years sucked. This year did not. I do expect playoffs next year.

Despite our great season, we have a lot to fix in 2024. We need to get better at generating  pressure (and we lose 2 of the nation's top DT's)  I think we need to do better in the redzone, finishing games,  and establishing or maintaining rhythm on offense. Quinn played well this season, but I expect him to take another step next year, especially with the deep ball and with progressing through his reads. I am happy with him, overall - best QB since Colt.

Also, we would get discombobulated, especially late in games and we would play down still and become complacent late in games. We must do better.

Looking forward to top 5 classes, UM, the SEC, and aggy tears in 2024. And OU sucks. 

Edited January 7 by RAMBONE

[Jameslaw121 4,448]

19 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

I got so drunk w/ @Jameslaw121 I don't even recall him leaving sometime during the game.  I threw a 10 second bitch fit after the last play.  The thing that stings, at least to me, is that I was pretty confident about a potential Michigan matchup.  I have no special skills or insight as to why, I just felt very confident in that potential matchup.  After they won, I mentally switched from, "OK.  You're preseason expectations have been met" to "Fuck it, let's win the whole thing".  

I did enjoy being relevant again and hearing the pundits discuss Texas for 6 weeks - especially during the aggy game.

Funny -I don't remember leaving during the game......

[wood 11,244]

On 1/2/2024 at 2:38 PM, 6th Street said:

Yep. The Horns had already exceeded my preseason expectations by making the playoff. I said all along that priority #1 was to win the Rig 12, and that anything beyond that would be gravy. Of course I wanted them to win the Sugar Bowl, and the loss was disappointing, but I was proud of the way they played in a close loss against a legit team.

Looking forward to next year and the years to come. This is a program that's very much on the right trajectory.

[Thermos H. Christ 478]

Being drunk in New Orleans is fun even if your team lost a heartbreaker after getting your hopes up right at the end. 

[Thermos H. Christ 478]

Also if you can’t find a way to be happy about a 12 win season with a conference championship and appearing in/almost winning a CFP semifinal you are not doing football or life correctly

[JGrayDBU 344]

we got beat by the 2023 version of Vince Young, minus the running.  Agree with the dude who said 2010 was much worse.  2010 stuck with me a long, long time, because we all knew we had the better team.  This time I knew Wash would win if we didn't pressure Penix heavily, which we didn't.  

 

 

[Grande Mart 517]

On 1/3/2024 at 10:19 PM, B00M said:

The recruits seem to like Sark and perhaps just as importantly, the NIL money seems to like Sark. His program has steadily looked better in all 3 phases. I don’t give a shit if he’s not a yeller or whatever makes those other guys alphas in your mind. Bo Pelini was alpha as fuck!

He reminds me so much of Captain Sobel in Band of Brothers in that GIF.

[bullet 1,597]

On 1/4/2024 at 12:39 PM, alphahydro said:

yeah, my bad.  i meant building a team that is good enough to be a legit title contender in 8/9 out of 10 years.  

Just a slightly different ceiling from being able to build a team like 07 LSU.  

I actually think there are decent odds that Sark has the ability to this next step, given what he's shown so far.  *knock on wood*  I would say some of the key components are

• high quality assistants 
• high level recruiting
• high level understanding of how to address roster needs / build a complete roster over time
• high level problem solving to address the inevitable deficiencies you'll have on your roster
• luck w/r/t QB development, injuries, etc.

Some guys are brilliant x's and o's coaches, but can't recruit at a high level, or they hire their buddies as assistants, or they are stubborn in their approach to football and get caught flat footed when they are lacking in a position group that is a key component to the offense/defense they want to run.  So they can get to 07 LSU quality team, but they can't get to that next step. 

The hardest step to take, imo, is getting to that next level where you can reload every year.  I think it's really just hard to build a successful program and have it shed complacency every year.  You prolly have to be a bit of a psychopath. 

I like your point a lot, though.  It helps me articulate why the loss isn't as devastating as it could be.  If you had a coach in year 9 the AD was never gonna fire, and it was clear that 07 LSU was your ceiling, a loss like the Sugar Bowl would be a little tougher to take.  Because that's it, that's your chance.  

But if you see more potential for what's being (re)built at your program, and you see the potential for a coach (whether it's Sark or someone who takes the baton) to get to that next level, you can see the Sugar Bowl as a step on the journey.  

Will be interesting to see how we view that game in 4/5 years. 

One thing to feel good about is that we didn't have luck with injuries.  Ewers missed 2 games.  Brooks was lost for the season in game 10--we had good depth, but Brooks really is a difference maker.  Sanders, Whittington and Worthy were banged up pretty much the whole 2nd half of the season.  Mitchell may have been the only key offensive playmaker at full strength throughout (and maybe he was hampered and I missed it).  

[bullet 1,597]

On 1/4/2024 at 6:51 PM, BurntEyes said:

You know, it is possible more than one hobo was beat to death.

How do we know Craig James didn't do it?

[BurntEyes 6,008]

4 hours ago, bullet said:

How do we know Craig James didn't do it?

Were there hobo hookers in New Orleans? How did I miss them? Dammit, Craig James must have killed them all.

[horn4life 3,783]

You know, the pain has returned.  Watching the difference in Washington playing from behind and watching Michigan run the ball relentlessly early was depressing.  We showed Michigan the way, and it was mind boggling to see the same receivers that were pulling shit out of their assess dropping easy catches.  Again... sort of depressing.

Just made me feel like we really let that game get away with sloppy play.

Again it was also interesting to see Washington get screwed over by the refs calling ticky tacky penalties on Washington while missing Michigan linemen hanging onto outstretched defenders jersey's on big gains with no calls.  

Anyhow... just depressed me again.  I guess the bright side is that I honestly think that if we had just played mostly mistake free football, we might bvery well have been lighting the tower last night.  And that is fucking depresing...

[The_Great_Hornsby 3,281]

2 minutes ago, horn4life said:

You know, the pain has returned.  Watching the difference in Washington playing from behind and watching Michigan run the ball relentlessly early was depressing.  We showed Michigan the way, and it was mind boggling to see the same receivers that were pulling shit out of their assess dropping easy catches.  Again... sort of depressing.

Just made me feel like we really let that game get away with sloppy play.

Again it was also interesting to see Washington get screwed over by the refs calling ticky tacky penalties on Washington while missing Michigan linemen hanging onto outstretched defenders jersey's on big gains with no calls.  

Anyhow... just depressed me again.  I guess the bright side is that I honestly think that if we had just played mostly mistake free football, we might bvery well have been lighting the tower last night.  And that is fucking depresing...

Sometimes you gotta pay your dues to get to the top of the mountain. Texas paid the toll. Lets see if they can get use this experience to come back stronger next year and win it all. 

[TreatyOak 16,413]

At least we can revel in the misery of those stupid Washington posters who signed on here and posted all their crap, hahah. Screw you bunch of losers. 

 

 

[CoTex 1,162]

Maybe I can find solace in the fact that some of those Washington fans we saw in NO spent a lot of $$ to get there, and then turned around and did it again, just to taste defeat.

I'm guessing a W fan that went to both games spent minimum $6,000 for the experience.  

Now, you Huskies go back to your desks and get to work like the rest of us.