A Bleak Victory: Michael Taaffe's perspective on DKR, the fans and the standard
Despite the win over UTEP, it was a bleak day at DKR. Lofty expectations fell short, the offense sputtered, and Arch Manning’s showing felt heavier on him than anyone else. As Ian Boyd noted, it’s hard to remember a win that produced this much angst outside of the 28-21 escape against Tulsa in 2018, back when a young Sam Ehlinger was still finding his way.
[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY for $1 and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]
Over the next few weeks, Steve Sarkisian and Manning will go back to the well, trying to diagnose what went wrong and draw out an effective playbook. But for now, it’s the in-between space, the dissonance between fans in the stands and product on the field which lingers.
Nobody captured that better than senior safety Michael Taaffe. The Westlake product has lived every side of being a Longhorn and made clear after Saturday’s win just how much that perspective weighs on him.
“You come back for a fifth year and you expect sunshine and rainbows, obviously you know adversity is going to come. Today wasn’t what I wanted as a competitor.”
Top 10
- 1Breaking
AP Poll
Big shakeup in Top 25
- 2
UCLA Hot Board
Top candidates to replace Foster
- 3New
Georgia Tech
Fined for field storming
- 4Hot
Coaches Poll
Massive Top 25 movement
- 5
Virginia Tech Hot Board
Intriguing names to watch
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
He acknowledged the celebration, but also the disappointment. “You celebrate the win, but gosh we left a lot out there as a team…you only get so many opportunities at DKR…the cool thing about being a fifth generation Longhorn is I know what it looks like from every side of it. Being on the sideline, or nosebleed seats, or it’s my dad telling me every third down you stand up and yell. I was told you stay from Eyes to Eyes every single game. Now playing in the game, I know we have to put on a show for the fans.”
[Order THE LONGHORN ALPHABET FOR 16% OFF: Get the perfect gift for the Little Longhorn in Your Life]
In the end, Taaffe summed it up with a truth that hung in the air: “Every single avenue of what DKR is built on, I’ve been through that. And I just feel like we didn’t put an A+ performance out there for our fans. We have to go back to the drawing board to give our fans something to cheer about.”
