COINCIDENCE?

Monday, October 4, 1999. You guys remember that day? Let me bring it back for you. The Texas Longhorns just had their faces handed to them by the Kansas State Wildcats, 35-17. Texas' second-year starter at quarterback, redshirt sophomore Major Applewhite, had the worst game of his young career. He was sacked four times, picked off three times, fumbled three more times and had only one touchdown pass. One of his interceptions was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Mark Simoneau. On that play Applewhite was nailed on a blitz, and he told me later it was one of the two hardest hits of his entire career. He finished the day 19-37 for 271 yards with those three interceptions, three fumbles and one touchdown. K-State's David Allen returned a punt for a touchdown in the third quarter to break the game open. The oklahoma sooners went into week four undefeated and largely untested after three blowout wins and lost a shootout at Notre Dame, 34-30. Both Texas and ou were coming off losses and faced each other in the Cotton Bowl looking to regroup. The ou game in 1999, by the way, saw Texas coming in with a two game winning streak against the sooners. The Dallas Cowboys were 3-0 after beating the Arizona Cardinals, 35-7, on Sunday, October 3rd, six days before Texas/ou.  

 

Fast forward to this Monday, October 1, 2007. The Texas Longhorns just had their faces handed to them by the Kansas State Wildcats, 41-21. Texas' second year starter at quarterback, redshirt sophomore Colt McCoy, had the worst game of his young career. He was sacked twice, picked off four times and had only one touchdown pass. One of his interceptions was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Ian Campbell. On that play McCoy was nailed on a blitz and he will tell someone later that it was one of the hardest hits of his entire career. He finished the day 19-39 with those four interceptions and one touchdown. K-State's Jordy Nelson returned a punt for a touchdown in the third quarter to break the game open. The oklahoma sooners went into week five undefeated and largely untested after four blowout wins and lost a nailbiter to Colorado, 27-24. Both Texas and ou are coming off losses and face each other in the Cotton Bowl looking to regroup. Going into this week, by the way, Texas has a two game winning streak over the sooners. The Dallas Cowboys are 4-0 after beating the St. Louis Rams, 35-7, on Sunday, September 30th, six days before Texas/ou.