The text messages from the Texas side are enough to offset LSU's loss

Photo credit: Craven Whitlow

Twenty-one years ago, I saw firsthand how many dreams a 6-foot-1 quarterback in Razorback red could ruin.

As an Arkansas native living in Austin, I have seen the hopes of Texas football fans continually trampled despite the many benefits the program offers.

A particularly vivid memory came in 2003, when an unranked Arkansas team arrived at Darrell K. Royal Stadium to face a No. 5 Texas team with national title hopes. As I left a bar on Sixth Street the night before the game, a friend assured me that Texas would win by at least three touchdowns.

Instead, try to lose by 10 points. Led by 6-foot-1 quarterback Matt Jones, Arkansas ran roughshod over the Longhorns that day, racking up 265 rushing yards to Texas’ 62 yards. Jones rumbled for 102 yards alone while adding another 139 yards and a touchdown on the way to a 38-28 win. His pounding all over Texas that day was glorious. Simply wonderful. There are few things better than sitting in a group of people and watching your unranked team have their hopes and dreams of returning to the promised land dashed.

Last Saturday, Arkansas football fans held out hope that another dual-threat 6’6″ dynamo under center for the Hogs would help crush the dreams of another national title contender. But Taylen Green was unable to lead Arkansas to the upset of No. 8 LSU, as Arknasas was blown out by 24 points in a game they had tried almost everything to lose.

Unfortunately, this is old hat for Arkansas. Big highs followed by big lows have become part of the program’s DNA in the SEC era. Just as it looks like things are moving in the right direction for the team, an anvil drops out of nowhere.

Texas’ win in 2003 helped Arkansas jump into the top 10 a few weeks later. But just when it looked like Arkansas was going to make some noise, they had to go out and do it as soon as October rolled around:

That kind of track record makes a loss to No. 8 LSU in the next game after beating No. 4 Tennessee seem almost predictable.

Many fans may still be grumbling about how the referees completely screwed Tyrone Broden with an unprompted targeting call and how consistently Arknasas shot themselves in the foot with turnovers. I want to give such sufferers the gift of rejoicing in another instance of Texas screwing the pooch, something its fans tolerate far less than Razorback fans do.

Here are just a few text messages my Texas football fans sent me as they watched the sprawling car wreck that saw No. 1 Texas beat No. 5 Georgia give the Bulldogs a 23-0 lead:

“The main problem is that Georgia has much better players than us.”

“Quinn Ewers did this to himself. They’ll say he’s hurt.”

Reply to “Sark just strangled Ewers’ draft stock”

“Cam Williams = not a first-rounder”

“They dominate both lines of scrimmage. We weren’t near a sack.”

Breathe that in, Arkansas. Let’s take some of the pain out of the LSU loss. Delight in the followers of your main competitor who realize that they can no longer claim the top of the mountain at their new conference. You’d think they would have known that already, although I suppose the win over Alabama last year allowed them to get an even bigger head than many thought possible.

No longer. The No. 1 team in the country was downsized to 30-15 by No. 5 Georgia. The win, in which the Bulldogs had seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss on the night, had so many Texas football fans practically running for the “exit” at Darrell K. Royal Stadium.

One of my Texas soccer fan friends said on Sunday that he had to go to a local MLS game to see more offense in a “soccer” game.

Here are some others from various Longhorn trailers trying to tackle the truck that just hit them at 80 mph:

“The audience was fun. QB is washed out”
“They are simply a better team”
“Ewers is not a guy who is going to win us games. He’s also not the type of QB that can improvise and move sticks when shit breaks down.” (Let’s not forget that Ewers was the potential top QB in the draft a month ago.)

I know some might accuse an Arknasas fan of going after the people of Texas in this way as if the kettle was calling the pot black. But that’s not why I’m sharing these delicious little gloating pops. I share it because, having lived in Austin for decades, I know that this is not a small snippet of what many Texas fans think.

You talk about not turning your back on your team, but during the first real battle of the season, so many chose to give up the faith.

Like rats jumping from a sinking ship.