As a Texas Ex, I have read and listened to everyone from the sportscasters to the bloggers to my laundryman expound on how far the Longhorns have fallen this year, how Tyrone Swoops doesn’t have the goods, etc., and I am tired of fair-weather fans dumping on Coach Strong and the team.  

I was there when we won the ‘69 National Championship, and I was at the Rose Bowl in 2004 to see Vince Young pull out a victory over Michigan. (I tried to get tickets for the 2005 game, but we all know that regular folk can’t afford tickets to those things. However, I did buy the DVD.)

I am at a point in my life, both physically and financially, where I can’t afford to get to the games anymore, but I’m fed up with people, especially local fans, who can’t stop griping about my dear Longhorns’ fall from grace and don’t show up for the games.

When I was in Austin, I never missed a home game if I could get a ticket. I remember the crap we took if A&M or Oklahoma beat us, even if we had a winning season. Granted, Mack Brown is no Darrell Royal, but he never was. He rode to the championship on the gifted back of Vince Young and company and made it to bowl games with Colt McCoy despite his poor coaching.

The bottom line is, GET OFF COACH STRONG’S BACK! I think he’s doing a hell of a job cleaning up the program and needs the support of the Longhorn fans and alumni to do it properly. I am embarrassed by the poor showing of fans at the games. Each week, I get out my pom-poms, light up my neon Longhorn and watch the games when they are broadcast in my area. (The only ones so far that have not been scheduled to be shown are on The Longhorn Network. Don’t get me started on that, because that is a whole different rant for another time!)

I watched on Saturday as our Longhorns made a valiant effort on the field. Although the scoreboard did not show it, our coach and our young men should be proud of their performance against a ranked Sooner team: They never faltered and they never quit. They made me proud to be a Texas Longhorn fan. I believe I will continue to see improvement throughout this season and into 2015 as, in my living room, I enthusiastically shout “Hook ‘Em Horns!”

— Suzanne Barnert, psychology alumna, from Chandler, Arizona