What’s the Story?
One of my favorite team transformation stories is about the 1970 Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys lost their ninth game of the 1970 season 38-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday Night Football. The loss left them at 5-4 for the season and in third place in their division. The franchise was in turmoil. After last second NFL Championship game losses to Green Bay in 1966 and ’67 the Cowboys were supposed to be a dynasty in the making. Then in 1968 and ’69 they were routed in divisional playoff games by the Cleveland Browns. Now it was the Dallas Cowboys, the team that can’t win the “big one.” Dallas head coach Tom Landry was criticized as having an offense that was too complicated and that he was an unemotional automaton who couldn’t motivate players. Controversial Cowboy running back Duane Thomas infamously called Landry a “plastic man.” The blow-out loss to St. Louis was a national humiliation. The team seemed out of the championship picture. Fans and sportswriters were calling for Landry to be replaced. So what did Landry do? He had the team play flag football in their first practice after the St. Louis loss. They had fun. They relaxed. After the flag football practice they won their last five games on the 1970 regular season and went on to play in their first Super Bowl.
After Case McCoy hit Marques Johnson on a 65-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, it became clear to me that Texas was going to beat TCU, and beat them easily. There would be no backsliding after the Oklahoma game which led me to wonder, what in the wide, wide world of sports is going on with the Longhorns? Is there a “flag football practice” story here? How did a team that looked to be in total disarray at 3-2, heading into what was surely going to be another blowout loss to Oklahoma, suddenly turn itself around and thoroughly dominate, as the underdog, Oklahoma and TCU? How did Texas transform itself from an over-rated collection of under-achieving four and five star recruits, into a serious contender for the Big 12 championship and a BCS bowl bid? Further, how did the Longhorns accomplish this while in the middle of heated controversy and turmoil regarding the job status of their iconic head coach?
What happened? Were there team leaders who finally stood up and demanded that their teammates get their acts together? Does Greg Robinson have influence on the team beyond the defense? Did “Mack the Nice” make Bennie Wylie roust players out of bed at five a.m. to run the steps of Royal-Memorial Stadium? Maybe Mack had the players divide into teams and form a fantasy football league. Could it be a case of the old McCoy magic?
It’s a bit premature to count on Texas to be playing Baylor in the last game of the season for the Big 12 Championship, but if they do there’s an interesting story to be told.
Extra Points
Despite the lightening and rain, Homer Mark and I very much enjoyed our visit to Amon Carter Stadium Saturday night. The recently renovated stadium’s 50,000 seats are right on top of the field and they are wide, they have seatbacks and plenty of leg room. The concourses are also wide and roomy. The Jumbotron presentation is less loud and commercial than at Royal-Memorial. Everything is shiny and new but the game day experience has an old fashioned Ivy League feel. It’s quite a contrast from attending a game at corporate UT. Not that there’s anything wrong with corporate.
I predicted last week that Baylor would likely be the only undefeated team at the end of the regular season. By the way, fairly or not, I’m not counting Fresno State and Northern Illinois in this calculation. Anyway, my prediction is right on track as Texas Tech and Missouri lost on Saturday. This week at least one more undefeated team will fall when Miami and Florida State face off. If you’re wondering about Alabama, I figure they’ll lose on the road to Auburn in the last game of the regular season.
HooK eM,
W.E.
Over/Under Results
I enjoyed reviewing the Baylor-Kansas final score predictions this week with several of you guessing that Baylor would score 100 or more and one contestant had them putting up 139. But the tie-breaker wasn’t necessary as veteran player Mike Yoxall, with eight correct answers, broke through with his first win in of the year. Bob Frink finished second with a seven and eight contestant answering six correctly tied for third.
