Sadness? I went to school in the late Mack years and had season tickets for Charlie Strong and Tom Herman. The past two seasons are as good as Texas has been since I was in high school (I'm in my 30s).
We smoked OU, A&M, and Arkansas by a collective margin of 71-23; all away from DKR. Oklahoma and A&M combined for three offensive points. Not three scores, three points. We're going to be talking about shutting out A&M's offense in the return of the rivalry for the rest of our lives.
We went 7-1 in the SEC and played for the conference title our first year in the league. We were right there in that game. That loss is probably the one that stings the most from this year. By that point it was evident we weren't the best team in the country but I wanted that first year SEC title bad and we were capable of winning it.
We hosted a CFP game and beat both the ACC and Big 12 champions en-route to a second consecutive national semifinal, the only program in the sport that can say that.
Over the course of the year we got to see Texas roll out an elite defense for the first time in a long while; which can be hard to fully appreciate in the moment, but there's going to be points 5, 10, 15 years from now where we have a really good defense and we're going to refer to them as the best since 2024. We got to see the Thorpe Award come back to Texas and the National Freshman of the Year become ascendant on defense. I suppose there's some sadness in not having hardware for that unit but that's how it goes sometimes. They were an absolute pleasure to watch and played incredible football with unbelievable consistency for a college team.
We signed the consensus number one class stacked on top of multiple top 5 classes before it.
Last night was disappointing with the way it went down at the end, but you know what? We're not the best team in the country this year. So while you obviously always want to win those games, I can live with a hard fought loss in a semifinal against what probably is in fact the best team in the sport. Since I set foot on campus up until last season, every time I watched Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, or some other top team it was like watching a different league of football. No longer. This year cemented Texas as a top 5 program in the sport. Not top 5 potential, not top 5 coaching jobs, not just a one time top 5 finish in the polls. Top 5 program, today. If we compete at this level long enough we're going to make some additions to the trophy case.
So, yeah, there's a universe where we could have had more success this year. Oh well. It was still an important, successful year for the program and the window should be open the next few years. This season and last are the first time I can say that in my adult life, so you won't catch me being sad about it.
And if you are, these should help: