As you may have noticed my journey to The Cliff took a little bit of a hiatus. I had to take a break from Nichole & The Cliff because honestly there was nothing to say.

Since I last wrote, here is a quick wrap up.

We beat Kansas (big deal).

We lost to everyone else. Oh. Except BAYLOR. But I will come back to this.

I thought maybe, JUST MAYBE, Texas would find an ounce of pride to play Texas Tech on Thanksgiving day.

I was wrong.

After stuffing my face full of anything that was placed before me and enduring a truly painful Cowboys game, my father and I made our way to DKR for the final time this year to sit through yet another rainy game.

“Why do you do this Nichole?” you may ask…

Because unlike the players that are on the field I haven’t given up on this school and this program. Even though I should.

It was a miserable game. Before the game even started we had three of our top players out. That number eventually grew to 12.

12.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW YOU LOSE 12 STARTERS IN ONE GAME? Do we even have a conditioning coach?

The only shining light in this awful night was Chris Warren. Where has that kid been all season?

Big 12 offensive player of the week after his first major start. I look forward to seeing how he progresses over the years to come. You know if he doesn’t get hurt like the rest of our team.

Since that Thursday was also senior night, they honored the seniors by calling out their names and handing them flowers for their final home game.

Losing to tech hurts my heart and soul. This is what I look like after a Texas loss.

Fast forward to the Baylor game. It was the first time my favorite Baylor grad and I would get to attend a game together. We had been trying for 5 years and the time had come. Unfortunately for me Texas was 4-7 and it was another 11 a.m. game. Which meant..5 a.m. wake up call.

Saturday quickly approached and I complained constantly the previous days about how miserable the game would be and how I could not believe I was doing this again. I was traveling to watch Texas give up.

That morning my alarm clock woke me up with the glorious sounds of One Direction and I drug my tired and less than thrilled self out of bed to get ready and make the drive to that little town no one cares about, Waco.

If you have never been to Waco and want to go, just chill in the nearest alley. It’s about the same.

To my surprise the caravan from Austin to Waco was packed full of Longhorns. I really couldn’t believe there were people as dumb as I was making this drive to watch an inevitable loss. But I cranked up my Get Up It’s Gameday Spotify playlist and let Ludacris and Jay Z get me in the football spirit.

To prove my stupidity even further I not only was attending the game, but I bet on it. Picking Texas to win. Yeah I know. But my heart is bigger sometimes than it needs to be.

McLane Stadium is nice. I will give them that. It is tiny (holds a solid 43,000) but they get bonus points for their killer sound system.

Because God loves me, my seats were surrounded by some fellow Longhorns. I was so grateful for this. I needed someone to cheer alongside me so I didn’t jeopardize my friendship with one of my favorite people in the world.

Kick off commenced and then something weird happened. It was like I was living in this alternate universe where Texas knew how to play football. WE SCORED POINTS. MORE. THAN. ONCE. We scored a whopping 17 points in the first quarter and me and my fellow Longhorns were like, “hey don’t worry I am sure we will self destruct eventually.”

All of a sudden our football game turned into a hockey game. Let me explain.

BOTH teams had been pushing and shoving a little more than usual football calls for on almost every single play. But after Baylor’s QB throws a pick intercepted by the wonderful Duke Thomas a shove from our very own Kevin Vaccarro (who is also number 18 for all the misinformed people out there who told me Swoopes should’ve been thrown out of the game) quickly escalated into an all out brawl. I am not being dramatic. Baylor’s bench literally clears and heads to the Texas sideline.

People were throwing punches, helmets were flying, I was so amped from watching it I wanted to go join! (I am more of a fighter than a lover).

Then those little yellow flags started flying. Naturally. EXCEPT TEXAS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS A PENALTY. But. Whatever.

Another fight breaks out later which AGAIN only results in a Texas flag for holding of all things. No worries though. Really. Not bitter at all.

End of the half: Texas 20- Baylor 0

Baylor fans started leaving at halftime. I even overheard one lady say, “This game is clearly over.” Ugh. This is one of my pet peeves. YOU NEVER LEAVE A GAME EARLY. EVER. And clearly that lady had never watched Texas play. We were minutes away from putting Baylor back into this ball game.

Start of third quarter and Texas looked liked themselves. Gave up points. Missed tackles. Oh man. SO MANY MISSED TACKLES. I was in the stands predicting each BU play AND WE STILL COULDN’T STOP THE RUN. With that said. I would like to formally apply for the Defensive Coordinator position.

The second half was a blur really except the last minute.

The scoreboard read 23-17. And I sat there with my hands literally shaking saying to myself, “We are going to lose by one point.” A feeling I had grown well accustomed to earlier this season.

I have to give Texas’ 4th string defense some major credit. They came out strong and made some big stops when they needed them the most. I throw in the 4th string part because as a reminder to EVERYONE Texas was missing I think around 9-11 starters. They were calling names out that I, a die hard fan, had never even heard of before. With that said, feel free to leave your “lack of QB excuse” somewhere else. We have two struggling QBs. Receivers who drop a ridiculous amount of passes, our top RBs watching from a TV somewhere, and our defensive studs limping around campus. I have no sympathy for your one player struggle.

F0ur seconds left. Johnson, Baylor’s third string QB, throws a deep ball to tie up the game. He throws a pick. Clock runs out.

AND I LOSE MY FREAKING MIND.

I am high fiving people around me like I had just won the heisman. It was a nice ending to a pretty rough season.

As most of you know Texas is not bowl eligible. Nor should they be. But I am thankful they fought (literally) for a game that really was only for pride. That Texas pride I have talked about in every post finally showed for the first time since the OU game back in October.

Final Score: Texas 23 – Baylor 17 Win

I want to end this season with this. Texas. You are the school and the football program that I love dearly. Probably too much. For those of you who are looking to attend this University and who care about football I ask that you learn the pride of Texas. Make it a part of who you are. Stick with this team through the bad (because Lord knows we could be dealing with a similar situation next year). This school and this program are much more than a money making machine that get’s way too much media attention. The University of Texas is the burnt orange and white. And we stick true to our motto: What Starts Here Changes the World.

My journey to The Cliff was a long, hilly, rocky, and a pretty painful journey. I traveled hundreds of miles, endured shutouts, losses, final second heartbreak (still not over it Nick Rose), and more rain than any person should have to sit through in one season. And I wouldn’t change any of it, except the losses of course.

Here’s to moving forward in 2016. I will miss you Texas Football and I can’t wait to resume my journey in September!

Thanks for reading.

Hook’Em Horns!

 

Nichole

 

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