 
Bill Little commentary: Attitude is everything
WACO, Texas -- The orange-and-white arm bracelet has been a part of the Texas Longhorn apparel since the summer, and its message could not have been more important than it was on Saturday in Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium. Because, more than anything else, the Texas-Baylor encounter was a test of the philosophy of philosophy. Until Mack Brown came to Texas in 1998, much had been made of the success of Baylor in Waco against the Longhorns. Strange things had happened there. Weird plays, questionable calls, goofy bounces - all such that at one point the trip was seen as a "jinx." The freaky stuff had a long history, dating all the way back to a 7-7 tie which devastated the unbeaten Longhorn team of 1941, probably the best team in the first 60 or so years of Texas football. Grant Teaff, who coached the Bears from 1972 through 1992, enjoyed a significant measure of success in that stadium during his time at Baylor. He, in fact, had been a big part of the strange phenomenon of nine Baylor victories over the 12 Texas trips to Waco in the time preceding Brown's arrival at Texas. "I used to really enjoy it when Texas players talked about 'the jinx,'" Teaff said as he stood in his personal suite in the press box. "I knew we had good players, and I knew it wasn't about a 'jinx,' but the fact that it was in their minds was always good for us. When you believe that you might lose and that there are forces working against you beyond your control, it is to your opponent's advantage." Meanwhile, on an absolutely perfect day, albeit a bit breezy, Texas and Baylor prepared to play football one more time in Waco. Most of all, the day was a reflection of college football in 2007. Over and over again, the message has been hammered home. All teams are so even that it will come down to who plays the best on any given day. How else do you explain the well-known upsets, and the near misses? Never is a very long time, so it's naive to say, "never in the history of the game have teams been so equal." But it has clearly been established that of all the recent seasons, this is by far the strangest. On the same Saturday, for example, Texas and Oklahoma, considered the annual powers in the Big 12, were challenged by Baylor and Iowa State - teams that both had surrendered more than 50 points the week before. What was positive Saturday for the Longhorns was that despite the frustration and twists and turns, they maintained. They never yielded to the temptation to blame things on a "bad day" or freaky football. They never disrespected Baylor, which rose to the occasion as so many Bear teams in the past have done. Where Texas under Brown had dominated the series in Waco, this Baylor team was poised and played perhaps as well as it possibly could, particularly defensively. Receivers that ran free the week before against Iowa State were covered, even on some of Texas' best plays. But as Texas ran its record to 6-2 on the season and to 49-5 after Oklahoma games in Brown's tenure, the maturity of the team shone through. "Early in this season," Brown said afterwards, "We probably would have lost this game." Certainly in that time the skill level has improved, as injured players have gotten better. But the biggest improvement of all has come in the psyche of the team. Where once the frustration of adversity might have disrupted them, this time they staved it off and won going away. Despite the coverage and a strong Baylor defensive effort, McCoy and his receivers accounted for almost 300 yards through the air. And a defense that had been challenged just a game ago to come up with turnovers delivered again and again. What it came down to in the end was the simple fact that players play games that are both physical and mental. If you believe you have a chance, you do, and Baylor did. If you expect to win and never sway from that belief, you probably will. That is what Grant, who is now head of the American Football Coaches Association, was talking about. A seed of doubt can grow quickly if it is watered by sweat. Or, as the bracelet says, "Attitude is Everything." In the dressing room after the game, Mack introduced the Longhorns' special guest and one of its most successful sports alumni, Roger Clemens. He told the team he liked what he saw in the way Texas played to the end, and he gave them one piece of advice: "Assume nothing. Always keep your edge." Or, as the bracelet says, "Attitude is Everything."
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