2010 BCS Championship Game - #1 Alabama Crimson Tide vs #2 Texas Longhorns

Tonight is the matchup The Blot has been waiting for his entire life. Not only are my two favorite teams playing each other for the first time since I’ve been alive, but they’re playing for all the marbles, i.e. the BCS National Championship, at the granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. It’s hard to put into words what this match-up means if you’re not a sports fan.


Growing up in Alabama you were forced at birth to choose a side, Alabama or Auburn. I, of course, picked Alabama, but since my parents are both from Texas and attended the University of Texas, I too had to be a Longhorn fan. And that’s where my split allegiances began. Since then I’ve actually attended both schools and like to think of myself as being a part of a pretty small group of people with degrees from both Universities (I went to Texas for undergrad and Alabama for law school).

So where does that leave me? Some might assume it’s a no lose situation since either way one of my two schools is winning the national championship, but not so fast my friend! I’m a Longhorn fan first and a Bama fan second. I’ve had Longhorn season tickets for the past four years and there is nothing I want more than for Colt McCoy and the Horns to destroy the Crimson Tide. Sounds harsh huh? Well that’s just how you have to be when your family and friends are split down the middle and trying to pull you in different directions. Plus, if Texas wins tonight, I win my college football pick ‘em league!


It’s been a tense month in The Blot’s family, as I mentioned above both my parents went to Texas, but my Stepmom is an Alabama alum. Even my Stepdad is trying to get into the action as a newly converted Alabama fan. I’ve been hearing for years from my high school friends how dominant the SEC is compared to the Big 12, and I’m sick of it. Tonight’s the night Texas proves to the world it is one of, if not the, elite program in college football.

While I had the opportunity to attend tonight’s game, at the last minute I decided to cancel my trip. I’m none too happy about it, but sadly I’ve come to the realization that sometimes you just have to make the hard, unpopular choice in life. And boy was this an unpopular decision, I think I’ve been told by every friend I’ve discussed it with that I made the wrong choice. Oh well, what can I say. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to attend Texas' two previous trips to the Rose Bowl and both were unbelievably memorable games. Regardless, I’ll be sitting on my couch all night, peeled to the screen in the biggest bowl game of the decade (I can say that with confidence since only a handful of bowl games have been played this decade).


Stats you may need to know before tonight’s BCS Championship game: The University of Texas is 2-0 in games played at the Rose Bowl; Texas is 3-0 in BCS bowl games; The University of Alabama is 0-3 in BCS bowl games; and Bama is 0-7-1 all time in games against the Longhorns.

The BCS Championship game between the #1 ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the #2 ranked University of Texas Longhorns airs tonight, Thursday, January 07, 2010 on ABC at 8/7c.

The University of Texas Longhorns Win The 2009 Fiesta Bowl

Man, was that a crazy football game in Glendale, AZ last night or what? The Blot’s emotions were all over the place as I watched the University of Texas Longhorns take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2009 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The first half was horrible, with both teams looking pathetic on offense but after halftime the fun began. With QB Colt McCoy leading the Longhorns on a couple of great offensive drives, for a few minutes there I actually thought the game might be over. But then the Buckeyes came back and actually took the lead with just over 2 minutes left in the game.


As the Buckeyes drove down the field in their last successful offensive drive you could actually see the blood drain out of the faces of the Longhorns fans’ faces I was watching the game with. Our defense had become ineffective and you could see the momentum shifting in the Buckeyes favor. When the Ohio State running back broke free for the Buckeyes’ final touchdown I was actually excited. I had thought at that point Ohio State would just run the clock down and kick a field goal to win the game, but instead they had scored too quickly and given Texas the ball back with plenty of time for McCoy and Co. to orchestrate a last minute game winning drive. The rest, they say, is history!


Texas is now 3-0 in BCS games, giving the school the second most wins in BCS games without a loss. The only team with more BCS victories without a loss is the LSU Tigers who are 4-0 in BCS games. Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns now have a 5 game winning streak in bowl games (2 Rose Bowls – 1 for the BCS National Championship, 1 Fiesta Bowl, 1 Holiday Bowl and 1 Alamo Bowl), which now gives the University of Texas the second longest active bowl game winning streak in the nation behind the University of Utah who have won a bowl game for six consecutive years.

Mack has continued to show this season that he can in fact win big games without Vince Young and the future for this young Texas Longhorns football team looks extremely bright. Junior QB Colt McCoy had a sick Fiesta Bowl, throwing for a BCS record 41 completions, 414 yards, 2 passing TDs and 1 rushing TD. Thankfully, Colt will be returning for his senior season next year, in which he will almost certainly be the front runner for the 2009 Heisman Trophy Award while the Longhorns should be ranked in the top 3 of everyone’s pre-season polls.


But what has The Blot the happiest about last night’s game was the performance of senior wide receiver Quan Cosby who had 14 receptions for 171 yards and 2 TDs. Cosby has been an intricate part of the Longhorns’ offense for four straight years and has provided the offense with some much needed upper-classman leadership these past two season. While The Blot will be sad to see him go, it was great to send him and all of the other Longhorn seniors off with another great win. Now I just need the 2009-2010 college football season to start already.

Barack Obama Invades The 40 Acres

While the Democratic presidential debate in Austin may be over (currently being replayed on CNN as I write this) and Senators Obama and Clinton are back out on the campaign trail, there is still one important issue to discuss…Senator Obama’s visit with the University of Texas’ football team earlier today. I was actually kind of shocked to find out that Mr. Obama took time out of his busy campaign schedule to take a tour of the school’s athletic facility and spend some quality time with Mack Brown and his players…but it did make for a pretty cool photo op.


The Austin American Statesman reports that while Texas Head Coach Mack “Brown has said that he doesn’t even vote (in anything other than the coaches poll), lest he be seen as straying too close to the political fire…his wife has donated to Obama’s campaign, giving $500 last March.” (link) Mack knows, as any good head football coach should, that picking a side, Democrat or Republican, can lead to a dicey situation while out recruiting, but it can’t hurt to have one of the most popular people in American flashing the Hook‘em Horns sign while campaigning to be the next President of the United States.




To view all of the pictures from Senator Obama’s time with the Texas Longhorns football team click here. To read the Austin American Statesman’s report of his visit to the University of Texas campus click here.

Texas Longhorns' RB Jamaal Charles Turns Pro

Well it's been rumored about for weeks but today the University of Texas released a statement that junior running back Jamaal Charles will be leaving school early and entering the NFL draft. Charles had a tremendous year and I for one will be sad to see him go. Jamaal ended the season with 1,619 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns and currently ranks fourth in career rushing yards at the University of Texas behind only Heisman Trophy winners Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams and Doak Walker award winner Cedric Benson. (link) Who knows what records and accolades would have come Charles’ way if only he had decided to return to Austin for his senior season.

You really can’t blame Charles for leaving, the Longhorns have continually underutilized him and never once did the Horns’ coaching staff attempt to focus our offensive game plan around his unique rushing skills. And yet game after game this year there was Jamaal, willing to give his all and pull the Longhorns out of the fire in the fourth quarter of games. Just look at the Nebraska game where he had an astounding 216 yards and three TDs in the fourth quarter alone. (link) It is only appropriate that Charles leave school after another great performance against Arizona State in the 2007 Holiday Bowl. With 161 yards and two touchdowns in his final college game, cementing a seventh straight 10 win season for Texas, #25 can leave his college football career behind with his head held high and the knowledge that the fumbles that plagued his career a distant memory in the minds and hearts of Texas fans everywhere.

What’s really amazing about Charles leaving early for the NFL is that in the 10 years since Mack Brown took over as head coach of the Texas Longhorns, Charles and quarterback Vince Young are the only two players to ever leave the program early for the NFL. (link) That is really an incredible statistic for college athletics in this day and age, especially for a major football program like Texas. I don’t know what Mack says to these young men but Texas fans have definitely be spoiled to not have to worry about losing their star players early for the NFL and the riches it offers. We in the Longhorn Nation can only hope this does not start a trend of student-athletes leaving early for the draft. As always, only time will tell.