Horns and Pokes share some history

AUSTIN - The Longhorns-Cowboys series has a flair for drama.

"I would say it's wild and crazy," said senior center Chris Hall. "The last few games have been so back and forth. Some of them high scoring. Some of them defensive. It's been really, really fun to play in for sure."

The Longhorns have trailed the Cowboys by at least 19 points in three of the last six years-- a statistic not lost on the team.

"They always have our number in the beginning of the game, so we need to try not to let that happen this year," senior linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy said.

While the series has been raising fans' blood pressures since 2003, head coach Mack Brown is reminded of their game in 2004, when the Longhorns trailed 35-7 in the second quarter, and came back to win 56-35. After the game, he called his mother.

"After the game I always call my mother," Brown said, "because after I don't I get in bad trouble, and I call mom and say, 'Mom what about that comeback?' And she said, 'Yeah, everybody's bragging on your halftime talk. What about pregame? Could you give a pregame talk that gets them started better than that?' And that's my mother."

Comebacks aside, Brown's teams are undefeated against the Cowboys, implying that perhaps for this series, the drama is necessary. Senior quarterback Colt McCoy disagreed.

"I think if you ask any of our teammates, we would say we don't like putting ourselves in that position-- having to come from behind to win," McCoy said. "We're never going to quit. We're never going to give up. And if it comes to that, we'll do our best."