{"id":79637,"date":"2025-01-02T04:55:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T10:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/the-reheat-texas-wins-and-thats-all-that-matters-in-january\/"},"modified":"2025-01-02T04:55:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T10:55:38","slug":"the-reheat-texas-wins-and-thats-all-that-matters-in-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/the-reheat-texas-wins-and-thats-all-that-matters-in-january\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reheat: Texas wins, and that\u2019s all that matters in January"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to The Reheat, a weekly recap of the previous day\u2019s game, just popped out of the microwave. Look for it every time Texas plays a Wednesday? game, rain or shine.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[Join Inside Texas TODAY and get 7 days for just ONE DOLLAR!]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I was texting with Joe Cook before the Peach Bowl<\/em>, and he asked if I had a pregame story. I had to shamefully respond, \u201cNope, I\u2019ve got no ideas.\u201d<\/em> I\u2019d written The Preheat<\/em><\/a>, but besides that, I was low on angles and high on post-Christmas, no-school-induced parental stress that\u2019s common this time of year. Luckily for me, he responded that he didn\u2019t have much either.<\/p>\n

I felt the feeling I\u2019d experienced earlier in the year of Too Much Birthday<\/a><\/em>. I was tapped out of storylines, like all the juice had been squeezed from the proverbial Peach. I was overconfident, and the early 14-3 lead after just three plays with the ball in the Longhorns\u2019 hands reinforced my sureness. I predicted a 52-19 score for the IT roundtable. I was positive it was going to look more like the Big 12 Championship of 2023 than the drunken breakdance in the street it ended up resembling.<\/p>\n

Despite the chaos, it all gave the fan\u2014the writer\u2014a lot more stories than my predicted blowout would\u2019ve, even if we are on a meteor eventually destined to crash into the sun. I went into the Longhorns\u2019 quarterfinal game against the Sun Devils unsure of what to say, but now I\u2019m wondering how I\u2019ll ever leave the Peach Bowl<\/em> behind. It feels like a near-death experience you can\u2019t forget. In the growling shout of Eddie Vedder: \u201cHey, I, oh, I\u2019m still alive!\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n

Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns still have a beating heart inside their chests and at least one more game to play against Ohio State. But before Jerry World, let\u2019s revisit a few more things from the Peach Bowl<\/em> before it\u2019s left behind from a narrative perspective:<\/p>\n

\u2014There\u2019s a lot of talk about who \u201cdeserved\u201d to win, and in the hazy aftermath of victory, I may have said Texas didn\u2019t deserve to win. But what does deserve<\/em> have to do with anything? Fans of sports use words like deserve<\/em> when we see a game between a Goliath and a David that doesn\u2019t play out like we expected. If Goliath toys with David or plays down to him, then he didn\u2019t deserve the victory in the eyes of the audience. But if David busts out a trick play and plonks Goliath in the head with a stone from a slingshot, then that\u2019s somehow deserved? What it\u2019s ultimately about isn\u2019t who is deserving, but expectations. When expectations are defied, we try to assign merit when we should just enjoy the ride. Either way, I think the talk of deservedness is tiresome. I sure would have traded a lot of hard-fought losses for \u201cundeserved wins\u201d between 2010\u20132022. Say what you wish about deservedness, but Texas earned the victory over Arizona State in Atlanta. They stole it. They snatched victory from the jaws of defeat\u2014or plucked it off the middle spear of the Sun Devils\u2019 pitchfork.<\/p>\n

\u2014Despite college football being the sport that majors in the transitive property or \u201cX-team ain\u2019t played nobody,\u201d it is really a week-to-week sport. More than any other. Texas was a heavy favorite over Arizona State because of how the Longhorns looked against Clemson.<\/p>\n

Because of Texas\u2019 struggles against ASU, pundits, detractors, and nervous fans are now having trouble with the concept that Texas should indeed still play Ohio State. Should Texas just forfeit? Many are asking this. The Buckeyes looked great in against Oregon and in the first round against Tennessee. They are surely the hottest team. But we are no longer in the r\u00e9sum\u00e9-building portion of the calendar, and the commentary surrounding the sport is having trouble adjusting to that fact. The sport willingly adopted a tournament model to decide who its champion is. There are flaws in the system, to be sure. But a playoff double-overtime win doesn\u2019t deserve the type of scrutiny that an October near-loss to an inferior opponent should.<\/p>\n

Nor should a dominating victory deserve the same bouquet of flowers. Teams are who they are at this point, but the wins are all that matter\u2014not the r\u00e9sum\u00e9s. It doesn\u2019t matter how you win in the playoff like it might in the regular season. It doesn\u2019t matter that Oregon was 13-0 or that Texas almost lost to Arizona State, who lost by 10 to Cincinnati at some other time in the calendar. The time to dissect why Texas blew a lead and extrapolate deeper meaning is the offseason. Because the current objective is to survive and advance\u2014by any means necessary. Oregon dominated more opponents than Texas did this season. And the Ducks are at home while the Horns are still playing. Which team would you rather be a fan of right now?<\/p>\n

\u2014It was the type of game that shows why college football is beautiful. There was unbelievable skill: Colin Simmons\u2019 pressure, Matthew Golden\u2019s clutchness, Sam Leavitt\u2019s ability to avoid sacks. There was the ultimate character that takes over the screen: Cam Skattebo. There were college kickers. There were moments: trick plays, big hits, and, of course, Quinn Ewers to Golden and Gunnar Helm. Andrew Makuba\u2019s interception. There was heartbreak, drama, and redemption. In an era in which everything about this sport is nitpicked, the Peach Bowl<\/em> offered a New Year\u2019s Day special that encapsulated everything that makes this sport so damn great.<\/p>\n

Fire The Cannon for:<\/strong> Quinn Ewers coming through on 4th down on January 1st in a do-or-die moment when he fell short in a nearly identical moment last year. What a moment, what a throw. I\u2019ll never forget it.<\/p>\n

\n\n

EWERS, GOLDEN, THE DREAM REMAINS ALIVE. pic.twitter.com\/PhemXB98Rh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Justin Wells (@justinwells2424) January 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Horns Up on Offense for: <\/strong>Matthew Golden and his beautiful, steel-trap hands.<\/p>\n

Horns Up on Defense for:<\/strong> Jahdae Barron was amazing, as he always is, as were Trey Moore and Colin Simmons. But Andrew Makuba\u2019s game-winning interception slammed the door on Kenny Dillingham and Skattebo\u2019s dreams.<\/p>\n

\n\n

TEXAS WINS. pic.twitter.com\/B298PF8Jam<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Justin Wells (@justinwells2424) January 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Bevo\u2019s Bucket for:<\/strong> Oh, I don\u2019t know. How about blowing a 24-8 late 4th quarter lead and all the stupid stuff that came along with it. College kickers\u2026<\/p>\n

Schadenfreude of the week<\/strong>: Even the $77-million-dollar man loves the Longhorns.<\/p>\n

This piping Hot Take burned the roof of my mouth<\/strong>: I\u2019ve stayed out of the Ewers draft discussion, but screw it. Today got him back in the first round of April\u2019s draft. Yes, I saw the interception. I also saw him lead what could have been four separate game-winning drives with unreal composure. I\u2019ve also seen Paxton Lynch and EJ Manuel be drafted in the first round. They never had careers or skill sets like Ewers.<\/p>\n

Hype Train Level:<\/strong> Cue Eddie Vedder one more time.<\/a><\/p>\n

The post The Reheat: Texas wins, and that\u2019s all that matters in January<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to The Reheat, a weekly recap of the previous day\u2019s game, just popped out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79637\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}