Well, Thursday night, Texas did not have that luxury my gaming system offers.
Colt McCoy gets hurt on the first series. Out comes Garrett Gilbert. Who’s that? 18 years old. True freshman. 100,000 plus fans in the national championship at the Rose Bowl.
Welcome to meaningful college football snaps.
A day later, I have finally wrapped my finger around how crazy this really was.
It wasn’t just a Madden exhibition game you were playing because you had a little time to kill. This was the Super Bowl of your franchise. The game you’ve spent countless hours trying to reach. You can’t quit. You have no choice but to go on…or risk losing your stellar but unsaved season.
So, that’s what Texas had to do: find a way to go on. Not only did they do that. They almost won the game.
For all the grief I have given the Longhorns for their less-than-stellar performance against Nebraska and my disenchantment with the little guys not getting a fair evaluation, the guys in burnt orange gave Alabama a real fight.
They were down 24-6. It looked over. Then it was 24-13 and 24-21. You couldn’t help but root for the Longhorns. With every pass Gilbert hung up in the Pasadena air, I hoped his receiver would somehow come down with it. You didn’t want this kid to fail in the biggest moment of his young life, that he never even saw coming until McCoy’s shoulder went numb.
As I watched the game with a bunch of freshmen in college, I thought wow, this guy is the same age as them and right now, he is at the Rose Bowl, instantly thrown into the spotlight, playing the sport’s most analyzed position for a national championship.
We are in a college dorm room.
Imagine being in his shoes. The 18-year-old that sat on the sideline all season. He’s the kid at the high school dance standing at the back of the gym sipping punch and watching everyone else dance. Then for the last dance, the prettiest girl takes his hand and pulls him on the dance floor. Don’t mess up, man. Everyone is watching.
Well, everyone was watching Garrett Gilbert play quarterback. And it wasn’t too long ago he was probably at a high school dance or Prom.
Yes, Gilbert surely had his ups and downs in a game that may have been different if McCoy was at the helm. And yes, Alabama won the game and the national championship. But I will always remember this game for the story of Gilbert. For this true freshman being thrust into enormity, struggling in the first half but not giving up and almost leading his team to a classic comeback.
That’s why you don’t turn the Playstation off; the epic comeback with the backup quarterback always makes a better story to tell your friends.
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