1. Of course, it would have been nice to whoop up on the Pigs, but give them some credit for some well scouted 3rd down defensive play calls and execution. Truth is, Texas choked them out in the 4th, on the road, in a rabid environment ... after Arkansas made it a 3 point game late. We are now going on two years of consistent 4th quarter responses from this team. Even in losses against UW and OU last year and Georgia this year, Texas has shown they fight til the end and give theirselves a chance. After a decade of inventing new ways to lose (face punt agaist Ok Lite, missed extra point against Cal, Sam fumbles against USC at the 1, his int against Tech, up 28-7 on OU, etc... etc...), you have to take 9-1 and go merrily about your day, unless you are simply a miserable POS. Then, I pity you.
2. Alfred Collins, Cam Williams, Gunnar Helm, Vernon Broughton, Michael Taafe.... development can be seen up and down this roster. All were afterthoughts at one point in their career and now are all key members of a top 3 program and about to get paid. Couple that with the playing time of Wingo, Simmons, A. Hill ('23), as freshmen, the playing time of key portal additions such as Bolden, Golden, Bond, Lole, Mukaba ... on top of last year's historic draft class... and there's a lot to sell on the recruiting trail these days and we haven't even mentioned the Lambos.
3. This Arkansas game reminds me of ISU last year. (Texas beat Arky 20-10, beat ISU 26-16). Not a great performance from Quinn, but in both he made some key plays down the stretch. Last year, he seemed to loosen up after ISU and Texas rolled their next two opponents. I think this W will have a similar impact on Quinn. I am not saying we roll Kentucky and ATM, but I do believe we'll see Quinn at his best against Kentucky and good enough to get the job done against the Aggys.
4. Aggy is ripe for the upset this weekend for Auburn's senior night and AU has actually played some relatively decent football, lately. They are coming off a beat down of ULM, and if you look at the numbers of their 17-7 loss to Vandy, they actually held Pavia to his worst game of the year and outgained Vandy by 100. They've been close, but have had some "gum falling out of Tom Herman's mouth" moments to end a few games. The chatter in CS about beating Texas has been so loud ALL year, the trash talk about Texas' schedule and performances, students already camped out for the Texas game... NO WAY they will be able to stay focused on Auburn all week.
5. Historically, aggy is their best when expectations are low. Losing to Notre Dame brought expectations down and they won a few games. LSU win took expectations back up for a week, only for them to crash and burn in South Carolina. Now, the expectations to win on Saturday and set up the biggest home game they've ever had will be too tall a task for lilttle brother. Auburn over Aggy 21-17. Que the "players only" meeting for Monday morning in preparation for Texas.
6. The sting of defeat in Auburn will be made worse knowing Texas did their part to set up the historic match-up in beating Kentucky 31-10.
7. With Texas already up 7-0 on Aggy in the 1st quarter, Anthony Hill takes a Marcel Reed interception back to the house.... and does the horns down to the aggy crowd just like he did to the bama fans in Tuscaloosa. Aggy fights to the end... but never gets closer than 10. Texas, 34-17.
8. Indiana @ tOSU. You gotta love the 11:00 kick for Indiana. I thought OSU benefited from getting Penn State at 11 on the road. Indiana will benefit, as well. Give me the upset, 24-20, Hoosiers.
9. I got... Notre Dame over Army 31-16, Ole Miss over Fla 41-20, Vandy over LSU 27-24 and Bama over OU 38-17.
10. It's all there for the taking... let's put the women and children to bed and go looking for f'n dinner.
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