Lets flashback to the Rose Bowl in 2005. The Texas Longhorns played the Michigan Wolverines in the big daddy game of them all. This was the day that a legacy was born for head coach Mack Brown and star quarterback phenom Vince Young. Number 4 Texas came rally back winning the fourth quarter 17-6 and winning the game 38-37. The following year, the Longhorns rolled through the Big 12 and made it right back to the Rose Bowl game.
This game had more on the line. The 2006 Rose Bowl was for the BCS nation Championship. The Longhorns were a 7 point dog to the dynasty of college football, the USC Trojans. The Horns were supposed to get smashed by the world beating Trojans, but they took a 16-10 lead into the half. Vince Young was fighting Heisman Trophy Winenr Matt Leinart in arguably the greatest college football game ever played.
And once again, Texas won.
The game goes on in Texas lore, with the vision of Vince Young scrambling into the endzone and looking into the crowd, and the picture of Mack Brown holding up the BCS trophy.
Vince Young moved on and so did Texas, to gun slinger (pun intended) Colt McCoy. The Horns took a step back to start the season, losing big to the number 1 ranked Ohio State. But the Longhorns carried on to beat the next two ranked opponents they'd play, #14 Oklahoma and #16 Nebraska. The season culminated in a win in the Alamo Bowl. The story would stay the same in 2007 as the Longhorns would stay a good team, but not a great team. They'd win the Holiday Bowl.
The 2008 version of the Longhorns was a great team to follow. They knocked off number 1 Oklahoma and looked poised to make a National Championship run once again, until they were upset by number 6 Texas Tech, a game that still pains many Longhorn fans (including the writer). But if one thing was for sure, the Longhorns were back in business. They would have to settle though for the Fiesta Bowl.
All due respect to the Alabama Crimson Tide and their fans, but the 2009 Texas Longhorns deserved the National Championship. The football world would look so much different had Colt McCoy not got injured, but he did. Garret Gilbert came in tp replace McCoy, and then everything broke.
The 2010 Longhorns were a broken team. A 5-7 fall from 13-1 a season ago. The 2011 Longhorns were okay, but a quarterback problem had begun. David Ash and Case McCoy (brothers) were average at best and couldn't win big games. This held true after they were both gone when Case graduated and Ash was forced to retire in 2014 due to injuries.
After a new tradition of mediocrity had begun for the Longhorns, Mack Brown was released from the Longhorns following the 2013 season. He would be replaced by Charlie Strong. Strong wants one thing and one thing only. He wants to win.
In Strong's first season in 2014, the Longhorns didn't do much winning. A 6-7 record with another broken quarterback, Tyrone Swoopes. The 2015 Longhorns promised a more versatile offense and a young defense that flies around. To open the season with a 38-3 loss to Notre Dame, neither of those two promises looked kept.
And now here we are today. The Longhorns are 1-3 currently after losing two straight games due to a special teams blunder. Although there is one positive. The Longhorns have found an answer at quarterback. enter, Jerrod Heard. But the Longhorns still have problems and it's a shame to say.
The real problem is this: now that the Longhorns have moved from Swoopes to Heard, it seems like Strong no longer wants to win now. He'd rather build for years in the future. He's already abandoned ship on a team that was offensively impressive in a loss (darn kickers). Charlie Strong is costing his team right now. Coach, there's still a season to play here.
Charlie can do good things, yes. But you can't worry about the future when you have a team who is trying to make some noise here. The Longhorns have to travel to TCU this weekend and the last thing they are is inspired. But they should be amped. Not only is the future bright, but the present is so good as well. The Longhorns are two botches away from possibly being 3-1. But this is a team that has no coach at the moment, and will suffer in the long run. A team with so much legacy, has been left on the corner for another year while fans are left to wonder, what could be.