thatdude2

As a former Little League football coach, the toughest thing for me to teach my players was how to overcome their fear of contact. Then I realized something: it’s not necessarily about eliminating the fear of contact. It’s about not allowing that fear to dictate how you approach a collision with another player. When something is coming at you full speed, you have to meet it with full speed, but with the proper leverage, mechanics, and focus. That’s not just football. That’s life. Another thing I learned as a coach is that development is a process. Life is a process. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that this game against OU wasn’t disappointing or frustrating. I hate OU. I hate them so much that I paid for a membership to a site just to watch how their fans would react when things went wrong. I hated them to the point that I wanted their football program to become so bad that there would be no reason to continue playing the Red River Rivalry in Dallas. I wanted the games to return to Norman and Austin because the Sooner faithful had stopped showing up in Dallas. Just this past week, there were people on that site who usually attend the game every year but were actually considering not going this season. They were frustrated with Brent Venables, upset with Ben Arbuckle, and had lost so much faith in John Mateer to the point that they wanted the backup to start. I wanted Texas to do more than beat them. I wanted the Longhorns to annihilate them, send them to 2–3, and end their season. It’s playoff or bust for them. They’re starving for championship No. 8, and they believe they should be competing for national championships almost every year. They also believe Texas fans are some of the worst people on Earth. They hate us to our core. That’s why I wanted us to bury them. But I also take every Texas loss hard. Sometimes, I take it so hard that I’ve considered stepping away from being a spectator of the game altogether. I know realistically that Texas isn’t going to win every game until football is no longer played, but that doesn’t make losing on a Saturday any less miserable. Despite the disappointment, though, I enjoyed today’s game. I decided to step away from the hate. I don’t know whether the Oklahoma program will fall off the face of the earth, but I do know I no longer want to spend my time obsessing over their football program. I canceled my membership. I can’t keep wasting time reading about OU football every day out of pure hatred while neglecting other things that deserve my attention. Now, let’s get back to why I enjoyed today’s game. The way OU won was exactly how everyone said they would have to win it. OU media, Texas media, and the national media all pointed to the same formula: a defensive touchdown, a special teams touchdown, and Texas making mistakes. That’s what makes this rivalry special. I know this loss sucks for us, and I’m sure they feel like they’re on top of the world right now. But I don’t believe this game changed the trajectory of either team. I don’t think OU is suddenly going to win eight straight games and make the playoffs. And I don’t think Texas is going to give up a special teams touchdown and a defensive touchdown every week. Some will say, “Well, Texas will face better offenses.” But will we face better defenses? We don’t know. I’m not going to speculate, and I’m not going to predict what happens next. What I am going to do is enjoy the process of this season. There were some positives to take away from today. Derek Cooper looked really good. Cam Coleman had a good game against one of the top-rated pass defenses in the country. Bishop scored a touchdown. Wingo had an explosive touchdown catch. The Texas defense allowed only 10 points, but there are still areas where they still need to improve, particularly limiting penalties and creating turnovers. Even Arch had some really good moments. He delivered that throw to Coleman by getting himself ready to throw instead of just winging it. And after the pick-six, he battled back and led Texas down the field to tie the game at 24. Hopefully, this loss loosens this team up a little bit and allows them to play more freely and attack. I know some of you didn’t enjoy Steve Sarkisian’s press conference, but after listening to Sark, Hero, and Arch speak, I’m encouraged. People want to see them frustrated, angry, self-deprecating, and acting as if all hope is lost. They want to see the emotional fallout. But this is a process. It’s not a beauty pageant. When you treat football like a beauty pageant, you can end up with teams that look fantastic during the first few games but struggle later because they haven’t developed the other areas of their game they need when opponents start figuring them out. I honestly think this team needed to lose to help it transition to the next phase of its development. That thought has been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. Now that this team has experienced the fear of losing, hopefully, it can move past that fear, stop pressing, and just go out there and play ball. I’m not happy about the loss. I’m not going to pretend it didn’t hurt. But I’m choosing to focus on the process, the development, and what this team can still become. I’m still 10 toes down in this, and I’m still sipping the finest of the burnt orange Kool-Aid. I know @Bobby Burton is with me. Hook ’Em!

Ohio State’s three highway preventing explosive plays also had a roll in that. No one else has done that. Matt Sims had a great breakdown of Arch’s game. Arch’s pick 6 was the result of bad mechanics and not getting his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. He had Cam Coleman open, made a great initial play of getting outside the box, but that little part allowed the throw to be high. 🤘🏾

I still sip the finest of the burnt orange kool aid. Even Kobe had some ugly moments early on. Arch is my Kobe, and I will ride and die with Sark. 🤘🏾

Thank you for your response. Cam Coleman had a good game. Our two offensive freshman had some big moments today. The team needed this loss, and Arch needed this loss. All will be well. It just sucks losing, and to me as a fan I hate losing to OU more than anybody. Now being #1 is off our back. All 3 units had a role in the loss. Now we can turn it loose.

I’ll say it again. That was on me y’all.

@Jeff Howe @Bobby Burton @CJ Vogel @Gerry Hamilton Do you think this win changes the trajectory of OU’s season, or do you think this is chalked up to it being Red River?

This is what I was going to predict. Interesting no one is predicting an OU victory. I don’t have to be right, so I’m going for the kill shot. Texas 55 Oklahoma 3. 🤘🏾

Lance Jackson’s game will be overlooked because of the annihilation put on by our offense, but I got Lance with 3 and a half sacks.

Facts atleast 2 TDs.

That’s not Brent’s forte. He expects guys to play through pain if they can. See Kip Lewis, and David Stone’s dislocated knee.

Was it Tom Osborne’s Nebraska?

I think Venebles is lowkey a “let’s practice physically hard” psycho when things go bad. Per a sooner site a subscribed too (this week has been beautiful) he let the defense have at it against the offense on Tuesday. His answer to preparing the offense for Texas was to let them practice against the defense with full force. Hence some of the players appearing on the injury report. I understand toughening up your team, but damn aren’t you wearing them out ahead of time as well. It’s time for Texas to kill.

Venebles seat after Red River

10/10/2026 The day we send Oklahoma into Nebraska Cornhusker purgatory.