For the love of the game - Tim 1, Shawn 0

I love football.

I loved it before I was a Sport’s Editor and I’ll love it after my pen runs dry…or when my computer dies.

Last year was marred by a horrible pandemic which is still affecting people and families worldwide.

The fact that football season happened at all was a miracle after COVID-19 shutdown baseball, softball and track last spring.

With the necessary steps taken to ensure safety in most places, players donned pads, helmets and uniforms with a strong hope they could play a complete season.

While it wasn’t that way for some teams most squads played through its entire schedule and the 1A-4A state playoffs and championships went off without a hitch.

College football’s landscape looked different as well simply because most of the Power 5 conferences played only a few games overall.

I’m not going to get into the Ohio State saga but my Publisher Shawn Larson thought it’d be fun to do a post-write-up on the Texas/ Colorado game.

With a strong Aggie, Arkansas and LSU presence here in northeast Texas I feel like an outcast when I mention my favorite team is Texas.

Since Shawn is from Colorado and his favorite college team is the Buffaloes I don’t seem like the only outcast around now.

The two teams met up this year in the Alamo Bowl.

Shawn told me he’d call to see how I was doing after the game was over with hopes his Buffaloes could win the contest.

With Texas’ issues brewing since 2009 and the score sitting at 17-10 ‘Horns at the half, I was thinking he could be right.

The Longhorns took over in the second half and won convincingly 55-23.

I didn’t rub it in when I saw Shawn next. I simply reminded him of the game, the score and the fact that the second half outburst was sparked by the play of a freshman running back and a sophomore quarterback.

No harm in relaying those facts.

Since we are ultra-competitive I count this as Tim 1, Shawn 0.

This goes for any sports Texas and Colorado may be involved in against one another.

The Longhorns and Buffaloes have been playing since 1940 but have only met up 19 times in those 80 years.

The ’Horns own a 12-7 series lead.

Texas won the initial meeting 39-7 in 1940 and followed that up the next year with a 34-6 decision.

The two teams didn’t meet again until 1946 when the ’Horns dismantled the Buffaloes 76-0.

Twenty-nine years later in 1975, the teams met again and Texas won that game 38-21.

The teams didn’t meet again until 1989 and it was that game in which Colorado won its first victory over Texas with a 27-6 win.

Colorado won the next five games which was sporadic in the ‘90s.

In 2000 Texas beat Colorado 28-14 and then again in 2001 by a score of 41-7.

The Buffaloes got the last laugh in the 2001 Big 12 Championship game with a 39-37 win over Texas.

That was the last time Colorado beat the Longhorns.

Texas won the 2004 matchup 31-7 and then won the 2005 contest 42-17.

Texas returned the favor of the Big 12 Championship loss in 2001 by toasting Colorado 70-3 in the 2005 Big 12 Championship.

That’s the year Vince Young led the Longhorns to its first championship since Darrel K. Royal’s 1970 championship team.

In 2008 and 2009 the Longhorns topped Colorado by identical scores of 38-14.

It’s been 11 years since the two teams met mainly because in 2010 Colorado left the Big 12 for the Pac 10.

Hopefully, the two schools can put something together so that Shawn and I can have memories of our two teams playing one another again.

I still believe that relaying all of this information to him is vital.

So how did Texas get to this point of playing at the dome for the second straight season?

Unfortunately losing to other teams on the schedule puts your team on a path to a lesser-known bowl come “bowling” season.

It’s hard to watch a team with such a talented roster as Texas get beat year in-and-year-out by a team heavily accented with Texans playing over the border in crimson colors.

That coupled with a loss to Iowa State and TCU is one reason the Longhorns were playing in the Alamodome this year.

Other than the 59-3 smacking of UTEP in the season opener all of Texas’ games were decided by eight points or less win or lose.

Colorado, or “Cahlarahduh” depending on who you ask, has 22 Texans on the roster. That’s second to 24 kids from its own state.

The Buffaloes opened the season on fire by beating UCLA, Stanford, San Diego State and Arizona.

COVID-19 knocked out a few of its games but the final two of the season I’m sure the Buffs would like to forget.

Colorado lost to Utah 38- 21 before its 55-23 loss to Texas.

Both teams are better than records indicate and that made for a great matchup this year.

Since Shawn and I have only known each other through one meeting I can safely say…Tim 1, Shawn 0.

If he’s not happy with that score I can remind him of the game score one more time and how it was achieved.

Like I’ve said, these are vital facts and information he needs to know.