Big 12 pride is on the line. Where is the hate?

[GSG]

Big 12 pride is on the line. Where is the hate?

Cedric Golden, Commentary

 

The Texas Longhorns need to get something straight.

 

This game isn't about one game on a Saturday afternoon.

 

It's about legacy. The Big 12's legacy.

 

It's time to strike a blow, not just for the Longhorn Nation but also for the greater good. We can't give unbeaten Nebraska bragging rights to take to the Big Ten in 2011, guys. Lord knows this is probably Texas' last shot at the Children of the Corn, assuming Oklahoma doesn't implode down the stretch to miss out on the conference title game.

 

Horn taking out Corn will provide some much needed credibility to the remaining members of the proud Big 12. So the Longhorns can't sleepwalk on offense like they did for four quarters against UCLA. They can't play one bad half and one good half like they did against Oklahoma. There is so much more on the line than a notch on the Horns' won-lost belt. There's pride on the line here, boys. Big 12 pride.

 

Remember how sore those Huskers were when the refs gave newly minted Longhorn legend Colt McCoy that second back in the conference title game after he ran out the clock on what turned out to be the next-to-last play of the game?

 

It turns out some Husker players have taken to wearing red bracelets that say "FINISH" on one side and "0.01" on the other.

 

The Nebraska fan base hasn't gotten over what happened at Jerry World, and despite Mack Brown's statements to the contrary, methinks Husker Nation will show up with a healthy dose of hatred aimed at a program some view as responsible for the perceived lack of respect given to Big Red in the Big 12.

 

But instead of a well-aimed shot below the belt, what do we get? A sloppy, wet kiss from Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, planted squarely on Bevo's lips.

 

"I would beg to say that there's no question in my mind that Texas is one of the top 25 football teams in the country,'' Pelini said at Tuesday's news conference. "That's something they can't control, we can't control, but I understand fully, and our team understands fully, the challenge that coming in here Saturday."

 

Texas in the top 25 after consecutive losses? What is this, the Harris Poll?

 

Pelini, who wanted no part of the brilliant Red Out Around World web campaign this summer, couldn't be any more cordial than that grandma down the street who welcomes you to the neighborhood with a plated horror that barely resembles apple pie.

 

Win now or stew forever, Horns. Corn will soon be in the Big Ten, rubbing elbows with Wolverines, Nittany Lions and Buckeyes. What? The Sooners, Longhorns, and Aggies aren't good enough for you? What's wrong with our elbows down south? We moisturize here, too.

 

That's why anything but a rousing victory is unacceptable. Will Muschamp, if you have to sneak into a South Dakota State practice to get the perfect game plan to foil T-Magic, do it. By whatever means necessary.

 

"You know you have to go up there and win this game for the Big 12," I said to safety Blake Gideon Monday. "You can't lose this game."

 

Gideon, a class act if ever one existed, is taking a different tack, one that seems to be shared by his teammates, dang it.

 

"Regardless of that situation, our job is go out and play football,'' he said. "Whatever happens in 10 or 20 years, we're playing the Nebraska Cornhuskers of today with a chance to play for a Big 12 championship. And we're still in that race."

 

Then this from Brown, who sounds sad the Longhorns won't be lining up against Nebraska in future regular seasons.

 

"Unless it's in this year's championship game or unless it's in a bowl game, I don't think we'll see Texas and Nebraska playing for a long time,'' he said. "It's a shame with two of the winningest programs in college football history that they will not be matched up. It's been a fun rivalry and a good rivalry."

 

Come on, Mack. Can't you just say: "I hate to see Nebraska leave because I'm 7-1 all-time against them"?

 

Credit UT linebacker Emmanuel Acho for at least stoking the fire when he said at Monday's news conference that Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez was nothing the team should be worried about, given the standards at Texas. After being around Acho for three years, I can assure you he meant that in the nicest way possible.

 

The message is: Don't listen to the players or the coaches. The Horns won't be surprised to get booed this weekend, and Pelini and athletic director Tom Osborne won't be satisfied with anything less than a 21-point blowout.

 

Can't they all just not get along?

 

cgolden@statesman.com; 912-5944

 

http://www.statesman.com/sports/longhorns/big-12-pride-is-on-the-line-where-971171.html

 

Is our kindness getting under their skin? I thought it was a decent read.

[knapplc]

They really, really want us to hate them, don't they? It's sad when they basically beg you to treat their fans poorly.

 

Talk about a fan base and local media that simply Does. Not. Get. It.

[Husker_x]

This just reaffirms what I said before––this means more to the 'horns and the Big XII (X) than it does to Nebraska. We're not worried about the championship game anymore. We're going forward. Texas is the program left behind sitting atop a crumbling dungheap of a conference with no TV contracts, one piddly rivalry that matters to anyone, no reason to think it can stay afloat, and no balls.

 

Come take your last shot. After that, we don't hate you, we're done with you.

[Nate]

I'd pay good money to see Pelini give Bevo a big ol' smooch.

[johnny5]

This just reaffirms what I said before––this means more to the 'horns and the Big XII (X) than it does to Nebraska. We're not worried about the championship game anymore. We're going forward. Texas is the program left behind sitting atop a crumbling dungheap of a conference with no TV contracts, one piddly rivalry that matters to anyone, no reason to think it can stay afloat, and no balls.

 

Come take your last shot. After that, we don't hate you, we're done with you.

 

That is a great line. Do you mind if i use that?

[Husker_x]

This just reaffirms what I said before––this means more to the 'horns and the Big XII (X) than it does to Nebraska. We're not worried about the championship game anymore. We're going forward. Texas is the program left behind sitting atop a crumbling dungheap of a conference with no TV contracts, one piddly rivalry that matters to anyone, no reason to think it can stay afloat, and no balls.

 

Come take your last shot. After that, we don't hate you, we're done with you.

 

That is a great line. Do you mind if i use that?

 

Help yourself.

[ADS]

This reassures what I thought about that fan base fickle: fickle, full of hate, full of their selves. Once this game is over and I watch the bevo nation hang their heads in shame I can finally say bye to the fan abse that has drivin me crazy for years.

[GSG]

They sound like that girlfriend that you caught cheating on you. She's mad cuz you're not mad at her. And she's really mad that you're happily moving on to a hotter chick with better "assets"

[Apathy]

They sound like that girlfriend that you caught cheating on you. She's mad cuz you're not mad at her. And she's really mad that you're happily moving on to a hotter chick with better "assets"

Hmmmm sounds like my junior year in High School

[95huskers]

I'd pay good money to see Pelini give Bevo a big ol' smooch.

 

Id pay big money to see BO walk out with a steel and a butcher knife!!!!

[WYHusk]

 

Come take your last shot. After that, we don't hate you, we're done with you.

 

That is a great line. Do you mind if i use that?

 

This. I didn't give a damn TXass before last year's CCG. I will cease to give a damn about them on 10/17, like I've been saying.

[ESPY]

Pelini, who wanted no part of the brilliant Red Out Around World web campaign this summer, couldn't be any more cordial than that grandma down the street who welcomes you to the neighborhood with a plated horror that barely resembles apple pie.

Go ahead, Cedric Golden, and call him a grandma to his face.

[RazzinGTO]

Honestly this article is exactly how I feel about this game. Win it to show what they (the Big 12)are losing because they all kiss TexASS. I would love to be able to have the last word and then move on to that chick with the nicer "assets"

[307husker]

This game is pretty much all there is for the rest of Texas' season. Their season will be largely over on 10/17 whether they win or lose. OU won't stumble enough to get Texas into the CCG. I hope Pelini & Co give them a memorable farewell...

[TXHSKR]

I would like to buy Mr. Golden a drink.....I think he would order a vinegar and water!! What a D-Bag.