This past Saturday, I traveled to Austin for the day with my buddy Jerry Sagehorn to meet my brothers Bud and Mike, and my brother-in-law Gene Acuna to watch the 7th-ranked Texas Longhorns play their Big 12 Conference opener against the Iowa State Cyclones, who are coached by my longtime friend, Dan McCarney.
McCarney — or “Coach Mac” as most everyone calls him — and I grew up together in Iowa City, Iowa, where we were teammates on a championship high school football team at City High in 1970. We have remained close friends over the years, and so I have tried to attend each game that Iowa State plays in Texas since Coach Mac became head coach at ISU in 1994. Coach Mac graciously comes through with a few sideline passes for me to use, and it’s always a great experience attending a game in Austin and College Station.
The Longhorns really have it going these days. After winning their first National Championship last season since 1970, the Horns are re-loading this season with a talented and deep group of players who are not only fast and strong, but also well-motivated. Mac’s Cyclones battled hard and, had a couple of plays turned out differently, could have been in a position to pull an upset over the 24 point-favored Horns at the end. However, the Horns dominated both lines of scrimmage over the final two-thirds of the game and methodically pulled away for a 37-14 victory.
The FilmLoop below contains some of the photographs that I took from the sideline during the game along with my comments about attending a game on the sidelines at D.K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. As with College Station, Austin is one of the great college football venues in the country. I am blessed to have the opportunity to experience it up close and personal, and I am grateful to be able to pass along the experience to you.