LONGHORN NATION WE BACK.

Oh I’ve missed the journey to the cliff and all of you. Whether you are cheering on my dramatic posts full of tears and pain because you are glad to see Texas struggle or if you are a fellow longhorn who has stuck with this team through the treacherous terrain, I’m glad to have your attention once again for another football season.

I have so many thoughts and emotions. I write this post as I watch the game on TV for the third time….Because I have no life.

I’m going to refrain from recapping last season because let’s just not. So let’s dive in to one of the best nights of my life with Texas vs Notre Dame…more like Notre Lame…

This weekend was extra special for me because my family was in town to kick off my birthday celebration. So even if Texas lost got some cake and presents you know? And as most of you know I did a major launch for football season with Twas the Night Before Football which, thanks to this wonderful longhorn loving family and my fantastic friends, exceeded my expectations. So thank you for sharing.

I did not sleep an ounce Saturday night. My mind was going through flashbacks of the Notre Dame game last year. I couldn’t go through that pain again. I WOULDN’T GO THROUGH THAT PAIN AGAIN.

Early Sunday AM, I blasted my get up for gameday playlist (sorry neighbors) made some coffee and went through my gameday routine because I’m OCD and actually believe my routines make or break a game.

For the first time in a very long time I participated in the fan events with my dad. We went to the Co-op and met Longhorn legend Quan Cosby. Let me tell you..This guy is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. I respected him a lot already but now it’s beyond measure. Wonderful representative of our great University.

I also took a picture with the National Championship trophy and made sure to curse it for ou and a&m. You’re welcome Texas.

We finally made our way into the stadium after enjoying a few hours of hill climbing and heat that melted my soul, found my seat in the end zone (14th row holla) sit and boom RAIN. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! If you recall last year I think I sat through about 5 games in the rain. Not a huge fan of the whole wet dog look but it appears every game I would now sit through for all of eternity would feature that very look. Ok MAYBE not eternity… When we sat there were 50 minutes left until kickoff and the stadium was pretty full which is beyond rare.

The clocked ticked away and I gathered my thoughts and awaited the answers to the many questions I had. Like will our defense be able to stop the run this year? Will Sterlin’s new offense actually score touchdowns against ND because uh that would be cool. WILL THIS KICKER ACTUALLY MAKE FIELD GOALS?!!!!!!!! And Shane or Tyrone?

But before we could get to the game we got to meet our new Bevo. Welcome to Texas Bevo XV. You precious 19 month old longhorn you. Please please bring us good luck.

The fans were hyped. The canon boomed. It was on.

It didn’t take long for the leprechauns to score. Not a good start for the defense… You could see the panic in every person’s face. Was this hype too much? What if they couldn’t live up to the expectations?

It was time for Texas to take over on offense. WHO WOULD BE THE QB?! Fans could be heard making bets with one another around the stadium. Shane or Swoopes? Swoopes or Shane? And then it happened. The answer to our QB draught of 6 years. Shane Buechele took the field. KID LIT UP THE FIELD. KID HAS AN ARM. GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS.

The game was a freaking battle every second. Let’s fast forward to that time it took 4-5 attempts at one single touchdown. Shout out to you refs. It’s cool though really. YOU ARE FANTASTIC AT YOUR JOB.

Texas decided to give up a 17 point lead in true 2015 Texas fashion, but all hope was not dead. Texas scored to take the lead back and all the new kicker had to do was make the extra point and we were back in control of this game (flashbacks to Cal game). Some confusion on the field and a missing player led to rushing the play and (even though the clock DEFINITELY hit 0 before he got the snap off) the kicker kicked and BLOCKED and within seconds ND scores. Tie game 37-37. I wasn’t screaming. I was doing whatever is above that level.

This game was headed into overtime for the first time at DKR and I paid an ungodly amount of money to witness every second. #WORTHIT

Cue overtime 1: Notre Dame wins the coin toss. Texas got the ball first. Solid drive. Touchdown scored. Losing my mind in the stands.

Notre Dame now takes their shot. ONE DRIVE BOOM TOUCHDOWN. Preparing myself for a mental breakdown.

Cue Overtime 2. Notre Dame up first. Our defense stepped up and held ND to a field goal. BLESS BLESS BLESS. All Texas had to do was score a touchdown and this game was done.

I was about to be sick.

Throughout the game Texas used a combination of Shane and Swoopes to utilize the 18 wheeler package. Swoopes is a truck that will just straight mow you down but I’m not going to lie, when I saw him walk out onto that field to finish this game I started panicking. Could he finish this? Could he just get us a touchdown?

He did.

3rd down. Swoopes straight up superman’s into the endzone. Game Over.

SWOOPES THERE IT IS.

TEXAS BEATS 10TH RANKED NOTRE DAME and chaos ensues. I was screaming, crying, hugging strangers and resisting all urge to join the dog pile in the endzone. The leprechauns would have to find their gold at a different game.

Final Score Texas-50 Notre Lame – 47 W

Because of my social media obsession I got my snapchat ready to record the final play because I knew I would want this video to show my kids….or dog…one day.

When I die just play this video on loop at my funeral. People will know I lived a happy life. (yes that horrific scream is me)

Texas. No matter what happens this season we will look back at this game as not only one of the best games college football has ever seen, but the turning point for this team. You fought till the end. You played as a team. You played with that Texas pride.

The journey to the cliff is off to an amazing start. I climbed that cliff came back down, climbed back up, and found myself at the bottom relieved at the outcome. However, this is one game and the journey is just getting started. And to all you fans out there hating on us Longhorns for over celebrating…If you didn’t play a top 25 team or an FBS school for that matter please pull a T Swift and remove yourself from this narrative.

Let’s freaking ride horns. I’ll see you Saturday.
HOOK’EM!

Nichole

 

If you missed out on Twas the Night Before Football you can read it here

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