After Saturday’s loss, I made the executive decision to turn off my phone.
The criticism from the media is well-deserved. Texas did not play well offensively and if the same issues that presented themselves at Ohio State persist, it makes for a worrying season. It sucks to look at, but when viewing the commentary objectively, it’s not ridiculous.
What I’m more concerned about is the Texas fan base’s treatment of a team that’s barely been given the chance to show what it’s capable of, not to mention the full abandonment of a young quarterback by the same people calling for him to play last season.
No one is more critical of a team than its own fans. I would know — I’ve been a Dallas Cowboys fan since I could walk and I don’t know if anyone hates Dallas as much as the fans who still sit down to watch the ‘Boys play year after year.
But there’s a difference between being critical and fully abandoning a team and a quarterback the moment adversity presents itself.
The fans who completely turned their backs on junior Quinn Ewers last year and begged for then redshirt freshman Arch Manning to start over him are the same people who now flock to social media to say, “Quinn, we’re so sorry, will you please come back now?”
You begged for his replacement, you fixated on his inability to be a dual-threat quarterback. Don’t go back on it now!
Instead, remember this is a young team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. It’s full of young receivers and has a young o-line.
Manning may be in his third season with Texas, but it’s his first starting and playing full time. Critics called him overrated before the season even started, saying that he’d only started in two games, then ignored that fact when claiming a quarterback in his third year in college should prove himself to be a generational talent when playing the defending national champions on their home turf.
The purpose of all of this is to tell you, my dear Longhorns, is to take a chill pill. Slow your horses. Wait for the season to get underway before you hype this team up or tear it down.
We could talk all day about the Manning effect, but the real effect is that everyone now treats Texas the same way that Manning has been treated since he stepped on campus — either the Manning-led Longhorns are the saviors of college football, or complete frauds. There’s no in-between, no room for mediocrity.
The Longhorns are great or they’re nothing and this team can go to as many semifinal playoff rounds as it wants, but until a championship is brought back to the Forty Acres, they’ll never be seen as a decent team.
If you set expectations so high, anything that falls slightly below the impossibly high line is going to be a complete and utter disappointment. Hence, the funeral proceedings last Saturday.
It’s time for Texas fans to abandon the mindset that the Longhorns are the absolute gods of college football.
Maybe fans have been spoiled the past three seasons. Maybe you’ve forgotten having this kind of team isn’t the rule — it’s the exception and it’s something long-time Texas fans have been waiting for since the glory days of quarterback Vince Young.
Don’t forget this standard you’ve been enjoying is new. Don’t forget how far Texas has come in just a few short years. Don’t forget, before quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Sam Ehlinger came out to play, we didn’t know anything about how good they’d turn out to be. And please, for the love of all things good and holy, don’t forget one game does not dictate an entire season. The glory days are still ahead of us.
