Congratulations

[Longhorn93]

I think Greg doing the horns down was a personal issue for him. Being from Texas and leading one of the top high schools in Texas to a state championship and hardly given a glance by Texas. Maybe as a boy he dreamed of playing for Texas who knows.

Perhaps. Maybe it was just an emotional reaction. I think he's a good kid. That just rubbed me wrong.

 

[BAMA504]

Much appreciated. It hurts to lose, but all I really ever want out of my teams is heart, hard play and character. I got that last night, so it's all good. I just feel for McCoy. Kid didn't deserve that.

Class act Longhorn93.... I will say this about the game overall: BAMA took the foot off the gas at halftime (started thinking it was over way way too soon) and the Horns had no intention of letting up and it almost cost us BIG TIME... You guys played with a ton of heart even without your best player and gave me some more Gray hair that's for sure...

 

[Relayer]

Texas has a lot to be proud of for the way they played the game.

I wish Mack (and McCoy) would drop the public statements 'we would have won easily if McCoy hadn't been knocked out of the game', but I can overlook it.

The horn future at QB looks pretty bright.

 

[Longhorn93]

It's funny how the football bounces sometimes. I imagine GMac has gotten hammered pretty bad by his fellow Texans, I'm sure it felt sweet to get a victory over the premiere college in his home state. I haven't watched the game yet so I can't comment on the late touchdown other than to say that I don't think Mack Brown would've done anything different. You can't expect a player to not score in THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME when he has the opportunity. I don't believe it was meant as a shot at Texas or to "run up the score", it just kind of happened I imagine.

I think reasonable minds can disagree about the taking a knee issue. I hope Mack in those circumstances would choose to take a respectful knee, but it doesn't make Saban a bad guy or anything for running it up the middle. The TX D was just disheartened at that point. I knew Bama was going to score if they chose to run a play. It made the final score a little misleading IMO.

I probably shouldn't have put the thing about McElroy and the knee in the original post. That wasn't the point I was trying to make, but I should have known that it would draw the most attention. My point was to express my pride in my team and to congratulate a worthy champion.

 

[CajunCrimson]

If Coach Saban had called a couple of pass plays at the end, i'd say "okay", a la Steve Spurrier, or Urban Meyer. BUT........we ran some basic runs up the middle......and there was enough time that anything fluky could have happened. And, unless I'm crazy........weren't ya'll throwing passes right until the end??

I mean, if it's over, it's over, right?

 

[NYBamaFan]

... I just feel for McCoy. Kid didn't deserve that.

He is about to become a very rich man. He will be fine... :cheers2:

 

[CapitalTider]

Perhaps. Maybe it was just an emotional reaction. I think he's a good kid. That just rubbed me wrong.

I've never lived in Texas, but have worked with quite a few of them and/or UT grads. I could be wrong but my impression is that you Texans have a lot of these rituals for lack of a better word (i.e. hand gestures, bonfires, dropping class rings in glasses of beer, the Alamo, etc.) that you take EXTREMELY seriously. The rest of the country kind of views these things as meaningless, not very important and sometimes kind of silly. My point was I did not even NOTICE McElroy doing the Horns Down thing, but I did notice the Gator Chomp at the end of the SECCG. No Gator Fans posted on here that they felt disrespected by our team doing the Gator Chomp, but in a "Congratulations" post you couldn't help pointing it out. I just found the contrast interesting.

 

[Longhorn93]

Class act Longhorn93.... I will say this about the game overall: BAMA took the foot off the gas at halftime (started thinking it was over way way too soon) and the Horns had no intention of letting up and it almost cost us BIG TIME... You guys played with a ton of heart even without your best player and gave me some more Gray hair that's for sure...

I could hardly believe that we had a chance to win late. Made me feel bad for thinking it was pretty much over at half. When the shovel pass got returned for a TD, my hair didn't turn gray, it fell out. What a horrible turn of events that was (for TX fans). That kind of thing happens, though. The kickoff that bounced off the Bama player was a fortunate turn for us, too.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I could hardly believe that we had a chance to win late. Made me feel bad for thinking it was pretty much over at half. When the shovel pass got returned for a TD, my hair didn't turn gray, it fell out. What a horrible turn of events that was (for TX fans). That kind of thing happens, though. The kickoff that bounced off the Bama player was a fortunate turn for us, too.

At the time, there were two minutes left and UT with a TO left. At the time, I remarked to my wife that we'd run it straight ahead until the time ran out. UT had already come back from the dead once. It didn't really matter if we scored or not. I suppose we could have pulled up on the last play and taken a knee. In a way, that would seem like disrespect to UT - rubbing it in, so to speak. Why is this so important to you and the other UT fans? This particular complaint is basically unknown around here. Complaining about someone running up the score on you is sort of champion wuss...

 

[JAXFLBAMAFAN]

I had never heard of young Gilbert but I knew that he would have to be someone that was a highly rated. TX 5* qb no doubt. Sure enough it was no time before they showed his bio and the gazillion yards he passed for in HS. He showed he has a strong arm and great touch with the passes he threw last night.

Great game, great programs, great championship play.

 

[banjeaux]

... my impression is that you Texans have a lot of these rituals for lack of a better word (i.e. hand gestures ...

Yeah. Texas has their "Hook 'em horns." aTm has their "Gig 'em Aggies." That leaves us with the "bird," which is not appropriate, of course, for GMac's hand gesture. Seems to me that "horns down," as commonly used by UTx rivals was proper.

 

[BAMA504]

At the time, there were two minutes left and UT with a TO left. At the time, I remarked to my wife that we'd run it straight ahead until the time ran out. UT had already come back from the dead once. It didn't really matter if we scored or not. I suppose we could have pulled up on the last play and taken a knee. In a way, that would seem like disrespect to UT - rubbing it in, so to speak. Why is this so important to you and the other UT fans? This particular complaint is basically unknown around here. Complaining about someone running up the score on you is sort of champion wuss...

I will say this Earle, being up by 2 scores sure is not a given in any game and had we of kicked a FG or tried (Tiffen was just bad last night) that would of been to me more of a slap in the face.. IMO, texas KNEW we were going to run it heck my 10 yr old son KNEW it so running the ball and working that clock down was not trying to run up the score its called not letting what ALMOST happened in the ucheat game happen again~!~
One little side note for ANYONE crying or saying it was dis-respectful to score points: I look at MANY of the texas games and saw McCoy in there when the game had long been decided but yet they were still running their offense. So why is it now that when a team decides to run their offense there is a problem??????????

 

[Crimson Cat]

At the time, there were two minutes left and UT with a TO left. At the time, I remarked to my wife that we'd run it straight ahead until the time ran out. UT had already come back from the dead once. It didn't really matter if we scored or not. I suppose we could have pulled up on the last play and taken a knee. In a way, that would seem like disrespect to UT - rubbing it in, so to speak. Why is this so important to you and the other UT fans? This particular complaint is basically unknown around here. Complaining about someone running up the score on you is sort of champion wuss...

Not piling on here, but I tend to agree with Earle. I don't understand the criticism of this, particularly coming from team/s that habitually run the score up on lesser quality opponents so their star qb can have a better chance to win the Heisman.

 

[CapitalTider]

I don't understand the criticism of this, particularly coming from team/s that habitually run the score up on lesser quality opponents so their star qb can have a better chance to win the Heisman.

I said this in another thread, apparently schools that are used to running up the score on other teams don't like it when it is done (or they think it is done) to them. I remember UF crying in 2005 about us running up the score beating them 31-3. I remember thinking then "UF whining about running up the score? That has to be the largest case of pot & kettle I've ever heard of." Seems our UTx friends are the same way.

 

[BAMA1979]

Congrats on your season and your comeback in the game last night. Gilbert, Shipley, and your defense certainly made the second half more interesting than I was hoping it would be.

There are two ways to look at this. You could say that Saban was trying to run up the score (which I don't believe) OR that he had so much respect for the Texas team that he felt like a 10 point lead with 1:40 to play wasn't safe. IMO, a 10 point lead in that situation against probably the best program of the last decade is not an automatic win. McElroy took a knee inside the five yard line against Florida with a 19 point lead, but there is a big difference between a two score game and a three score game. People can say what they want to about Saban, but he has never been one to embarass an opponent or pad the stat sheet.

 

[Jay Hughes]

Not piling on here, but I tend to agree with Earle. I don't understand the criticism of this, particularly coming from team/s that habitually run the score up on lesser quality opponents so their star qb can have a better chance to win the Heisman.

Bingo!!!!!! If they had let the backup play more, he might have performed even better.

 

[BAMA1979]

I had never heard of young Gilbert but I knew that he would have to be someone that was a highly rated. TX 5* qb no doubt. Sure enough it was no time before they showed his bio and the gazillion yards he passed for in HS. He showed he has a strong arm and great touch with the passes he threw last night.

Great game, great programs, great championship play.

If I'm not mistaken, Gilbert was the Parade National Player of the Year in 2008. He has quite an arm-that two point conversion pass was Favre or Elway-like velocity. The Big 12 defenses better watch out next year.

 

[TexasMath]

I too was upset at the decision to run the ball with 1:40 left. We had one timeout, Alabama could have run the rest of the clock out. However, that was a coach's decision and shouldn't reflect on the players or fans.

And as some have pointed out...they did run up the middle with a freshman running back. I'm not sure if that makes it better. If Saban did it because he was truly worried that we still might have a chance in that crazy up and down game, then it shows a deep amount of respect from him.

Had it been Ingram on a sweep or power I formation, I probably would have voiced a few profanities on here that would have gotten me kicked off the forums. Our defense was tired and dejected. We asked alot of them last night, but they did not shame us.

As for McElroy, he's from Texas, and no Texas schools recruited him. I'm sure he was feeling some personal vindication with the win (although I will point out, the Tide won despite the lack of a passing attack from Alabama...relying on their excellent running game and light's out defense.)

It was a hell of a game, and I will forever bleed Burnt Orange but I tip my hat to the Alabama players and fans.

Congrats on #1

 

[Ldlane]

I too was upset at the decision to run the ball with 1:40 left. We had one timeout, Alabama could have run the rest of the clock out. However, that was a coach's decision and shouldn't reflect on the players or fans.

And as some have pointed out...they did run up the middle with a freshman running back. I'm not sure if that makes it better. If Saban did it because he was truly worried that we still might have a chance in that crazy up and down game, then it shows a deep amount of respect from him.

Had it been Ingram on a sweep or power I formation, I probably would have voiced a few profanities on here that would have gotten me kicked off the forums. Our defense was tired and dejected. We asked alot of them last night, but they did not shame us.

As for McElroy, he's from Texas, and no Texas schools recruited him. I'm sure he was feeling some personal vindication with the win (although I will point out, the Tide won despite the lack of a passing attack from Alabama...relying on their excellent running game and light's out defense.)

It was a hell of a game, and I will forever bleed Burnt Orange but I tip my hat to the Alabama players and fans.

Congrats on #1

McElroy was playing with cracked ribs. Had to run.

 

[TexasMath]

In hopes that my previous post doesn't come across as negative:

I have to say that Saban and Co's decision to play a very very conservative 3rd quarter directly led to Texas' comeback effort.

I think that showed alot of respect on his part. He was happy scoring 24 points on us and just wanted to end the game. Unfortunately for him, our defense and Gilbert/Shipley weren't quite ready to call it a game.