The University of Texas Longhorns’ minister of culture has spoken.
Matthew McConaughey made sure to acknowledge how great the energy was at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium during an otherwise saddening 30-15 loss to Georgia this past Saturday, but he also got real with those in attendance who threw debris onto the field.
It was mostly harmless stuff like water bottles and what have you. In fact, since officials overturned the awful penalty that was called on the Longhorns in the first place, I fancied it to be an innovative way to hold bad officiating crews accountable for once. Too bad the SEC didn’t feel the same way, slapping the university with a $250,000 fine for their students’ unbecoming conduct.
Any qualms I have with the SEC and their excessive punishment, and all kidding aside about holding refs to a higher standard, McConaughey does have a good take here. He manages to call out the poor form while also inspiring fans to show out for November 9’s next home game against Florida. I’ll write out the most salient points above his post.
“You were electric Saturday night when we hosted Georgia. Bravo. Let’s continue to bring it. Even though our Horns didn’t get the W, you created a measurable home field advantage.
But let’s get real about the bottle bombing the field glitch we had. Not cool. Bogey move. Yeah, that call was BS, but we’re better than that. Longhorn Nation knows how to show up, show out like no other, and still keep our class.
So, going forward let’s clean that kind of BS up and leave that behind us for good. We have to shake hands on that. […] Nothing hits OUR field except that Texas fight.”
. @TexasFootball @TexasLonghorns #hookem pic.twitter.com/Vo0X8t95V5
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) October 21, 2024
Well said, Mr. McConaughey. A voice of reason in the aftermath of such a crushing L indeed.
Behavior of the Longhorn fans honestly might be the least of Texas football’s problems. They’ve got a tough road test coming up against Vanderbilt, who’s somehow ranked in the top 25 nowadays. Who would’ve thunk it? Anyway, they have a bit of a quarterback controversy now that a banged-up, underperforming Quinn Ewers got pseudo-benched for Arch Manning briefly in the Georgia game.
The Bulldogs were easily the most formidable opponent remaining on the Longhorns’ regular-season schedule. Rolling with Ewers from here on out should prove to be fruitful if I had to make a prediction. Nevertheless, Arch comes from football royalty, and if Ewers ain’t getting it done, fans may do more than launch objects about to clamor for a QB change.
Texas fans will, in all likelihood, hold up their end of the bargain and be classy like McConaughey is imploring them to do. Austin doesn’t strike me as a town overrun by some obnoxious fratty scene. The real question is, can Ewers deliver a national title? We’ll all find out together soon enough, but that means taking it one game and day at a time, starting with a hopeful bounce-back performance at Vandy.
