Bevo set the tone early for the Longhorns last night by aggressively “targeting” the head of Georgia’s bulldog mascot UGA a full hour or so before the coin was even tossed. I have no idea who came up with the idea of placing a live moving target wearing red in front of a bull — whoever it was will never ‘fess up. But the mayhem it produced on the Sugar Bowl sidelines, on the national TV shows, and throughout all Twitter, Instagram, and Meme-dom was almost worth the innocent lives it nearly cost. By now you’ve seen the best of the social media reactions to the unprecedented and never-to-be-seen-again Longhorn taking aim and charging the sluggish pup. This piece by Rodger Sherman of The Ringer provides an entertaining tale of the tape and blow-by-blow account.
It was the stuff of legend. Your grandkids are going to be hearing the stories and seeing the footage thirty years from now. ESPN will do a 30 for 30 for the twenty-five year anniversary, guaranteed. Instant classic!
The incident really was a precursor to the whole evening as the two-touchdown underdog ‘Horns out-coached, out-hit, out-hustled, out-executed, out-everythinged fifth-ranked Georgia. Texas bullied Georgia; they absolutely man-handled them. In the past two years, no SEC offense has scored more than 16-points in the first half against Georgia; Texas scored twenty! The Longhorns held the SEC’s number-one ranked rushing offense to just 2.4-yards per carry; the Bulldogs averaged 6.1-yards per carry during the season. Texas fans were chanting “S-E-C!” during large chunks of the second half. It was inspiring.
And, my word, Sam Ehlinger sure has a nose for the first down marker and the goal line. He doesn’t look like a runner, he doesn’t move like a runner. He just kinda tiptoes around and stumbles and starts and stops — he looks like he has no business running the ball at all. But when the Texas signal-caller runs those quarterback draws or scrambles out of the pocket, he somehow finds the line and achieves it. It’s uncanny. And unstoppable.
The upcoming spring and summer will be crazy with relentless hype for the ‘Horns. Texas has a ton of young talent returning from this ten-win team and should be ranked in the Top Ten nationally at the beginning of this next season. They have momentum. Tom Herman is doing something down there in Austin.
But what Bevo did last night is the stuff of legend.
Hook ‘Em,
Allan
I don’t particularly love or hate UT but I always cheer for the teams from Texas. What a performance, and the kid is just a sophomore! More to come, for sure.
PG