Burnt Orange Nation

Right now it is a Monet sky and a beautiful burnt orange sunset here in Central Texas, a tremendous fall evening. The weather isn't the game we are considering, as great as it may be. 

I'd bet the Horns have planned the Missouri and OSU games as a two-fer. I intuit that the plan was to run it up the first half, nail down what we could in the third quarter and get some rest for the starters on both sides of the ball. And, as a special benefit, get a complete quarter of playing time for subs to build depth for the stretch run as well as next year.

Any complaints about the second half need to be couched in terms of the plan. The plan for the second half seemed to be to smother the Tigers and reveal as little as possible to OSU. For the third week in a row, it will be a short week again for practice and with travel, so conservation of energy is the real name of the game.

Sure, running up the score could have been great for the style points and palaver for the talkin' heads. The Horns don't need frickin's style points - the SEC propaganda machine, ABC and ESPN would just chew them up anyway - so screw 'em. What the Longhorns need is a critical victory in Stillwater. This falls under the cliched 'must have' win.

Oklahoma State is playing well on all levels, from the QB, Zac Robinson, to the newly minted receivers and RBs, and their defense is showing up. There will be greater analysis later this week; the point now is that this can be a lethal team.

I suspect last year's OSU game, which turned into a dogfight in the second half, and the later showing at Tech in the first half caused a rethinking of how to approach this year's three-game road run. Dallas is not really a road-match, but going on the road the next two weeks can create a certain weariness, a loss of energy and attention, which this Texas team just cannot afford.

The Missouri game went pretty much the way you'd want to get your team some rest. Next weekend the Horns will probably need four quarters of maximum effort. And with them coming home to Central Florida, they can afford the all out effort. But they couldn't last night at Columbia.

So when you hear the press moaning and groaning about the second half showing, a miserable six points, no TDs, an INT, etc. etc. etc., it's all just grandiose bullshit. Pay no attention to those who get paid to fill space and not to win football games.

When anything is turning into a popularity contest, it is quality which gets the shaft. That's great if you like buying used movies; the crap movies are overpriced and the good stuff is generally underpriced.

The later in this season it gets, the more we will see some desperate efforts against us. But the hard truth is going to be that no one is going to want to play us at the end of the year. We're bad news and, as far as I'm concerned, we can stay bad news. The Longhorns are getting better every game. Muschamp's defense is becoming a killer.

To those other voices out there, say what you want to say now, say it loud, 'cause we gonna whip your ass when the time comes. And no amount of talk is going to make any difference. 

That is all.

Hook 'em