The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Bill Little commentary: The second season
10.25.2013 | Football, Bill Little Commentary
Seldom in life do you get a chance to start over, to put away the past and, like an artist, paint on a clean canvas.
FORT WORTH -- The track record for Mack Brown teams following a victory over Oklahoma is pretty astounding. Consider these:
1998: Went 5-1 (only loss 42-35 to Texas Tech), won the Cotton Bowl.
1999: Won the Big 12 South, going 4-1 over the finish of the regular season (only loss 20-16 to Texas A&M). Played in the Cotton Bowl.
2005: Went 8-0, won the Big 12 South, the Big 12, and the BCS National Championship.
2006: Won four straight and ranked No. 3 nationally until QB Colt McCoy was hurt against Kansas State and Texas A&M. Finished the year with an Alamo Bowl win over Iowa.
2008: Won six of seven, only loss in last second to Texas Tech. BCS Bowl win over Ohio State in the Fiesta.
2009: Won seven straight including Big 12 Championship, only loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship game when Colt went down.
In short, three of the six teams played in BCS Bowl games, winning the National Championship and the Fiesta Bowl. Two played in the Cotton Bowl. One in the Alamo Bowl.
The exhilaration that the Horns enjoyed last week following the victory over Oklahoma has given way this week to focusing on their next opponent, and -- more importantly -- focusing on themselves.
As we said last week, the victory over Oklahoma proved what the Longhorns CAN be. Now, against a worthy opponent in TCU, they get to find out what they WILL be as Texas makes its first trip to Fort Worth since 1994.
In the first-ever meeting between the two schools as Big 12 members last year in Austin, the Horned Frogs derailed a Texas team which was on a late season roll with a 20-13 victory. Saturday in Fort Worth, TCU has a chance to salvage its 3-4 season with a win over the old Southwest Conference rival.
The vision of a future which Texas saw two weeks ago in Dallas reflects the optimism of what has turned out to be a perfect break to begin a "second season." The Longhorns, at 4-2 overall, are 3-0 in the Big 12 with six league games remaining. To emphasize the point, think of a staircase where you have to take steps upward one at a time. That is the direction for Texas.
The hopeful end result may be a Big 12 title and a BCS bowl trip, but as sport is a reminder of life, you can't get to the top of the mountain by keeping your eyes only on the finish. How many times have you not paid attention to a single step and stumbled because you looked too quickly ahead on a precarious journey?
That's why this game Saturday is every bit as much about the mental approach as it is the physical. Both Texas and TCU have good players, and traditionally this seems to turn out to be a tough battle. The game of football in the Southwest didn't just start with the Big 12 -- the history between these two schools goes back more than a century.
The surprise that the Frogs pulled off last year was not something new. Traditionally, this matchup always seemed to come just before the Longhorns finished their season against archrival Texas A&M, and often TCU -- even when they had a lesser team -- presented a significant challenge.
This time, TCU is actually favored, although the Frogs are battling for victories to get to a bowl, and Texas is hoping (as has usually been the case) for greater things.
What this one comes down to, as Mack Brown and his staff have reminded the team all week, is individual accountability. Teams thrive and fail on that single factor. You do have to rely on the "man on your right and your left," and you do have to be accountable to the "man in the mirror."
Saturday is particularly important for this Texas team, which is excited about where it is headed, and yet cannot assume anything. The Big 12 this season is the most balanced league the Longhorns have been a part of since the glory days of the old Southwest Conference, when anybody could beat anybody.
Seldom in life do you get a chance to start over -- to put away the past and, like an artist, paint on a clean canvas. That is where Texas finds itself.
And, like a painter, you have to brush colors into a background before you can finish the work. It is a puzzle, where you interlock a core, and build from there.
Saturday won't decide the ending, but it will determine the direction.