AUSTIN, Texas -- They walked off the field winners.
Not impressive winners.
Or dominant winners.
Or the type of winners that will make anybody take No. 1 votes from Florida and ship them west to the Big 12's best. But they were winners, still. And in a season like this season -- and on a day like this day -- simply winning is something to cherish, which is why Texas was neither overly concerned nor openly apologetic after a 34-24 victory here against Texas Tech.
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| Texas coach Mack Brown: 'We're a work in progress. We've got things to do.' (US Presswire) |
They are 3-0.
They'll take it and gladly move on to UTEP.
"Survival," said Texas coach Mack Brown. "It's not playoffs or anything else. It is survival."
As CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd pointed out from The Swamp, top-ranked Florida and its fans didn't spend much time celebrating Week 3 despite a never-really-in-doubt victory over a rival. No, it was not the effort expected from the Gators, and the loss of offensive coordinator Dan Mullen -- plus receivers Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy -- is starting to look like it might be more of an issue than some suspected. But either way, the Gators missed the larger point by failing to celebrate a win over Tennessee -- specifically that they are still in control of their own destiny, still the obvious favorite to win a third national title in four years, and one of just five preseason Top 10 teams to escape the first three weeks unblemished.
Did you catch that?
Only three weeks of this season are in the books, and half of the AP's preseason Top 10 -- No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Southern California, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Virginia Tech and No. 9 Oklahoma State -- already have a loss. At least partly because of that, BYU had moved into the latest Top 10, all the way up to No. 7. But unranked Florida State blasted the Cougars at Lavell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, and so another school with hopes of a national title is now most certainly back to hopeless.
Meantime, Texas is 3-0 and steady at No. 2.
That's why Colt McCoy was smiling afterward despite spending much of the game doing nothing but enhancing the Heisman candidacy of Miami quarterback Jacory Harris. Through two quarters, McCoy -- who, it should be noted, missed Tuesday's practice with the flu -- completed just nine of 16 passes for 70 yards. He went to the locker room with more interceptions (one) than touchdowns (zero), and the Longhorns were only ahead at the half because of Jordan Shipley's punt return for a touchdown that sent the record crowd of 101,297 into a first-quarter frenzy that would soon be replaced by a second-quarter bout of depression.
The halftime score was 10-3.
Just 10-3.
But McCoy was hardly down about it.
"We were winning at halftime," he said. "Sometimes everything is not going to go our way. And give us credit, we came out and played a completely different game [in the second half]."
Indeed.
McCoy finished 24 of 34 for 205 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown that pushed the spread to 31-17. It wasn't a Classic Colt performance, or even comparable to the effort produced by Texas Tech's Taylor Potts (46 of 62 for 420 yards and three touchdowns). But it was -- and this is the key thing to remember -- good enough to get revenge for last season's crushing defeat at Texas Tech while keeping this season's goals completely intact. Do you have any idea how many elite programs would like to enter Week 4 in a similar position?
Again, the Longhorns are 3-0.
Have they looked perfect?
No.
But they remain perfect.
And in a season like this season -- and on a day like this day -- that alone is something to celebrate.
"We're a work in progress," Brown said. "We've got things to do."
Yes, that's true.
But trying to figure out how to overcome a loss isn't one of them.
Pratchmen 
