Laramie: The Longhorn Twilight Zone

A road trip to Wyoming. I knew it had the makings of something wild and crazy as soon as it was placed on the schedule. A team with a record of 4 – 8 last season. Locale: Laramie, Wyoming – population 27, 204 – or about one quarter of the size of DKR Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. It had all the makings of – strange.

Would it be the Wild West … or the Twilight Zone?

As it turns out, it was a game of two halves – a great Twilight Zone episode if ever there was one. In the first half, there were crazy calls by the refs – for example, an unsportsmanlike conduct call for … well, I am still trying to figure out what that call was all about. The real Longhorns must have still been on the bus, because with 1:32 left in the first half, they were down 10 – 6. Yes, it was an ESPN upset special waiting to happen.

Then James Kirkendoll reminded everyone that the Longhorns really were the higher ranked team - his spectacular 25 yard catch putting the Longhorns up 13 – 10 at halftime. Whew. A short sigh of relief.

The second half played out the way the script was originally written. Some semblance of order returned to the Longhorns, and though I am still not sure they played to the level of a number 2 team, they did escape the Twilight Zone in Laramie with a 41 – 10 victory. A win is a win, but if there is truly anything like “style points”, then the ‘Horns certainly didn’t win any.

Give a game ball to James Kirkendoll and Tre’ Newton. They definitely kept the Longhorns in the game. And while Colt McCoy’s numbers were pretty solid – and are better than the same time last year – there are times when he is simply trying too hard. When Colt relaxes, defenses listen – and pay.

The Twilight Zone didn’t just affect the Burnt Orange. Just when we thought that the Big 12 conference was rocking and rolling, well, it all went berserk. Of course, week one had the Oklahoma loss to BYU, but week two had more surprises. Apparently, the whole state of Oklahoma simply can’t seem to find a way to make the Big 12 look good – with Oklahoma State falling to Houston. It looks to me like they were over-rated. Now that Halloween game in Stillwater just doesn’t have quite the same excitement to it. No worries - I have no doubt that T. Boone Pickens has a budget for a new coach should the season go downhill from here.

And while we’re speaking of teams named OSU that were over-rated, let’s add in (once again) the Ohio State University. Sure, it was USC that beat them – but it was at home! And when will the writers and coaches realize that a) the Big 10 isn’t that strong, and b) Ohio State should not be a perennial top 5 or top 10 team?

As for the Big 12, Colorado also helped to diminish the prestige of the conference by losing to – Toledo. Ouch.

Now, the game we’ve all been waiting for – Texas Tech. I’ll bet this year’s game doesn’t come down to eight seconds, unless it’s eight seconds remaining in the second quarter by the time this one is decided.