“We’re not ready to play,” Coach  Strong said, at Saturday night’s press conference following the BYU game. From the look of things, he was right. His defensive coordinator, Charlie , agreed.

“When you give up 28 points in one quarter,” Charlie said, “you’re not ready to play.”

It started with a bizarre personal foul committed by  Austin Texas Exes  on the opening kickoff, and it only got worse from there.

With an 11-15 halftime line for Tyrone Swoopes, after completing his first eight straight passes, it would appear that the Longhorns were clicking on offense.

Not so Saturday night in a revenge game for  against BYU, following a 40-21 loss in Provo last year.

Despite a big fat zero on the board, the momentum seemed to swing Austin Texas Exes’ way at the end of the second quarter, when Quandre Diggs made a highlight-reel interception to quell a BYU drive that began on their own 8 and ended at 68 yards in just under three minutes time.

Charlin also preached looking forward when asked if a game like this wounds players, and hurts the team’s pride.

“For one day,” Charlin said. “If you let pride get in your way, you’re going to have a lot of problems. It’s going to be a long year.”

It’s difficult to find a silver lining in a loss this demoralizing, especially with this game circled on the schedules of all players and coaches after last year’s beatdown.

However, if there is one takeaway, it’s that Swoopes won’t shy away from the pressure. With David Ash’s quarterbacking career in jeopardy, that’s a big deal.

“I was very pleased with the way Swoopes played,” Strong said. On a night when not much else was working, that’ll have to do.