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A Texas vs SJSU Preview as an Ernest Hemingway Novel

by: RT Young09/05/25
Texas QB Arch Manning
Adam Cairns | Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A Farewell to Spartans: Texas vs San Jose State

They came home to Austin, because Austin was home.

They wore the wounds of defeat from Ohio.

Now that had been a battle. Two teams of fast men, strong men, violent men. Or were they boys?

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“I should have played better” said the quarterback. He was young.
“Yes, you should have,” said the coach. He was middle aged. He was dressed by his wife. Very fancy.
“That’s what I said.”
“I know.”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s start to win again.”
“We’d like that,” said the fans.

The quarterback’s hands were soft. His name was royalty. His passes in Ohio went high. His passes in Ohio went low. When it happened, many on the television said, “I told you so.” “You did, yes you did,” typed others on their cellular devices.

They don’t see what the coach sees in the quarterback. A killer’s eyes. Eyes that want to kill. With the weight of the world off his shoulders, the quarterback is ready to destroy. And men who are ready to destroy are more machines than men. The coach knows there will be a day soon when those same people say, “I wish he was still a man, not a machine.” And the coach will say, “You made him this way.”

This opponent is not like the Spartans of history. Smaller. Weaker. Bluer. These Spartans of San Jose are coming to the heat. And they will suffer in it. This won’t be like Thermopylae. There’s no shade to fight in at Texas Memorial Stadium. DKR it’s called. An arena for today’s gladiators.

These Spartans like to pass. The Longhorns lick their lips. These Spartans. They’ll be battered. They’ll be bruised. They’ll be buried on the turf. Some will ask, “Why do the Longhorns still have turf?”

The game will be played a few hours after dawn. The whistle will blow. And nothing will be the same. Night will come later. Death for all of us, soon.

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“But victory first,” said the quarterback.
“Yes,” said the coach.
“Okay,” said the quarterback. Then Arch Manning walked into the heat. The big drum of war pounded.

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