Everything’s Coming Up Roses for Horns

*Photo by Dallas Smith*

The University of Texas and its fans have been waiting for this day for 35 years. The Longhorns destroyed the Colorado Buffaloes in the Big XII Championship Saturday in Houston, securing their first 12-0 season in history and a place in the National Championship in January.

After squeaking by then-#4 Ohio State on the road in the second week of the season, Texas finally got the Oklahoma monkey of its back, then it was just a matter of bearing down and finishing the job against the rest of the conference. The Longhorns scored 40+ points in all but one game this year, led by the Heisman-like season of junior quarterback Vince Young. Young, protected by one of the best offensive lines in the country, was one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the nation and worked his usual magic with his feet. Young was assisted on the ground from a triumvirate of running backs, including Ramonce Taylor, Selvin Young and Jamaal Charles. And the defense was hitting harder than ever, flying to the ball. And that might be the difference on January 4th when the Horns take on back-to-back defending champs the Trojans of USC. The offensive fireworks should cancel each other out, leaving the Texas defense to trump USC’s below-average one. But, we shall see. Reggie Bush is very, very, very scary.

In the meantime, the hype should be out of control. This is the game everyone wanted. This is the game everyone has waited for all year, and both teams have done their parts, remaining atop the polls for the entire year. The game has a two-time defending champ (USC), once of the most storied teams in college football (UT), last year’s Heisman winner (Matt Leinart), this year’s probable Heisman winner and runner-up (Reggie Bush and Young), the two best offenses in college football and the only two undefeated teams in college football.

As far as making it to the game? Well, you better have some cash and some connections. Tickets are most likely going to be the hottest commodity in Austin’s history. However, Ticketmaster will be releasing 1,000 seats for sale tomorrow morning at 10am. Tickets from ticket brokers and on auction sites are going from $750-$5,000 as of right now, and they will only go up. And, there is the whole problem of traveling the 1,400 miles to get there. We spent our freshman year a SC, so trust us when we say it is not a fun drive, so you’re probably looking at a flight in the neighborhood of $500+ to get there. So, start playing online poker or kissing some people’s asses, cause this ain’t gonna be an easy one to be a part of, but for many, after all these years of waiting, it may be well worth it.