This is the most fun watching a Texas team since 2008

[hornian 5,222]

I had pretty low expectations going in to 2008 after the “horrible” 2007 season, which In retrospect I would have killed for a season like that anytime post 2009, and obviously my low expectations were blown away that year. I just remember ‘08 being such a fun team to follow each week - even with the shitty hand we were dealt after the loss in Lubbock, that team made being a fan worthwhile. 

Even 2009 wasn’t fun - it was stressful. Colt was willing us to victories and the line was letting him get thrown around like a rag doll and not doing anything about it. I was in the Rose Bowl and I have no doubt that if Colt doesn’t get hurt the outcome of the game is different, but it was a fitting end to an era in retrospect. A transcendent player had papered over some of the larger issues in a way that wouldn’t happen again. We just didn’t know it at the time.

Since then there’s been some fun games (sending Nebraska and Aggy out of the conference with losses, Case McCoy besting OU, the fool’s gold of the ND win, etc.), but the teams as a whole haven’t been fun to watch for a while. 

This team is different. It is fun. Obviously September 1st wasn’t fun, but since then the ride has been great. I think it goes back to low expectations being exceeded. And there is something different about this team’s attitude. 3rd downs, while not automatic like they were with Colt under center aren’t feeling like they are insurmountable. We come out of the locker room in the second half and play lights out instead of sitting back (at least since SC). Our defense flies to the ball, and our team out works and out physicals  whoever lines up across from them most plays. And outside of three series in the 4th Q we beat OU so badly on offense they just fired their DC. 

They aren’t perfect, by far. They haven’t put together a complete game. They will probably drop a game we don’t expect them to drop - but they’ve already won several we didn’t expect them to win, so we are playing with house money. But whatever happens, Saturdays are fun again. 

 

[Valmy77 13,266]

I don't know. I really thought that 2008 team was special and was destined for glory so that whole year up until the second Gideon dropped that INT was amazing. Some of the most fun I have ever had as a football fan.

This team is fun, I like them, but it feels more like 1998. We are on the rise and it is fun to see how far we might go, but I am under no illusions this is going to be one of the best Texas squads ever.

[hornian 5,222]

I wasn’t saying this team is as good as the 2008 squad. Not even close. But this is the most fun I’ve had watching a longhorns team since then. 

 

I do think that the comparison to 1998 is pretty apt. 

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

Both good comparisons.  98 probably team talent wise and the wonder of a new coach and how high our ceiling is. And it is 08-like in that we were in the position to win games that felt monumentous like the OU win.  

08 team of course would beat the current team senseless.  They were basically the OU team we just saw plus a defense.  

Since then we were favorites in every game of 09, which made it feel like a burden. And then the decade long slog. 

[HOOK'EMHOOAH 1,610]

im gonna go nerd for a second and assert that the changes are because of things from within the program itself from the culture shift to the S&C to recruiting. here is the nerdy bit: 3.5B years ago or so when earth went into a deep freeze, it wasnt the sun (an external factor) that caused the thawing of the planet or a new super-continent to emerge. it was the internal radioactivity (mechanisms working within the program) that brought about this great thaw. on the other side of which, there was Rodinia, a massive super-continent in the southern hemisphere that dominated the landscape.

Texas is still thawing and hasn't completely found its way out of the icepack, yet. its coming though. Texas will be a major force in the coming years and the win this weekend over oklahoma put the entire country on-notice that We're Texas and We're coming for your souls.

[SwanderedTalent 5,761]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the 2009 season was a bit of a joyless slog. It seemed like almost every week's summary started with "Well, I'm glad we won, but..." beginning with the somewhat disappointing "payback" of Tech.

This has been a pretty fun season, from the 2nd quarter of the USC game on.

[Valmy77 13,266]

1 minute ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the 2009 season was a bit of a joyless slog. It seemed like almost every week's summary started with "Well, I'm glad we won, but..." beginning with the somewhat disappointing "payback" of Tech.

This has been a pretty fun season, from the 2nd quarter of the USC game on.

Yeah. I don't think I have ever been less happy about winning a freaking conference championship as I was after that Nebraska game. That was not a fun season.

[SwanderedTalent 5,761]

2 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

Yeah. I don't think I have ever been less happy about winning a freaking conference championship as I was after that Nebraska game. That was not a fun season.

Did we even have 400 yards of offense combined in the OU and Nebraska games? They must have had nine losses between them that year but we made their defenses look like the Steel Curtain.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861]

2 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

Did we even have 400 yards of offense combined in the OU and Nebraska games? They must have had nine losses between them that year but we made their defenses look like the Steel Curtain.

It was Ndamukang Suh and 10 members of the Aluminum Curtain.

 

(also, what a Heisman gyp job that was.  we had colt, of course, which would have been nice but there are so few opportunities to give the award to a defensive player, and they chose Just A Guy Mark Ingram over Suh).

Edited October 8, 2018 by SuingToGetAMessageBoard?

[NoRagrets 1,125]

I’m convinced Suh was doping on race horse adrenaline

[jdhorn92 1,553]

35 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

Yeah. I don't think I have ever been less happy about winning a freaking conference championship as I was after that Nebraska game. That was not a fun season.

yeah  I agree. The Kirkendoll drop of a sure 70 yard Td kept that game closer than it needed to be.  Maybe it wasnt 70, but it was close.

Edited October 8, 2018 by jdhorn92

[Mikey4 2,476]

The comparison to 2008 is a good one. The difference is that we did not play close games against lesser opponents in 2008; we blew them out by 6 possessions (anyone remember 52-10?). This year, we cannot seem to put together a dominant performance against anyone. And if we play every game close, then we'll lose some.

I wholeheartedly agree that the fun factor this year is identical to 2008. We're back, or we're on the way back. 2019 and 2020 should be incredible.

[MidTexHorn 822]

Man 2008 was such a fun season. I was in Lubbock for that loss and it just made me sad for the team, because I loved that bunch so much.

This year doesn't feel exactly like that team, but there are some definite similarities and I have to agree that this is the most fun I've had watching Texas football since then. It's amazing how much of a painful struggle 2009 was at times, given we played in and had a chance to win the national championship. Just not an easy year, that O line suuuuucked!