It is painful to write at this moment, after watching 6 dropped passes and two dropped interceptions, Deon Beasley playing like my five year-old, the entire Texas offensive line crying for mommy, and GD/McCoy showing the shivers until the third quarter to take the ball up top over some incredibly outmanned cornerbacks, we learned five things about this Longhorns team that bode well for this year and next.

1.Malcolm Williams is the TRUTH (and on special teams as well).

2. Sergio Kindle is the TRUTH squared - he single-handedly wreaked enough havoc on defense to keep the Horns in the game. He got the shell-shocked offense on the board by causing Michael Crabtree to fumble. He sacked Graham Harrell in the red zone to lead to a field goal. He caused Harrell to pass high on several open routes, and those incompletions led to field goals instead of touchdowns

3. Texas still has incredible heart, and the biggest one lies in the chest of Jordan Shipley, who once again delivered CPR to the Horns with his punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter.

4. The Horns were in position to win the game despite playing the entire game without Quan Cosby (ribs), more than a quarter without Brian Orakpo, who I'm guessing is out for the season with another wrecked knee, and also Roy Miller for a time. Houston and Melton, in particular, stepped up their games on the DL, and Williams stepped up as a WR.

5. Fozzy Whittaker exists, and makes the offense run better, and Colt McCoy will not get killed when he's in the game.

As much as the pain as there is of being one play away from victory, there is this to think about. Yes, the Horns need help, but...

It will be at least Wednesday before the Red Raiders remember there's a game against Oklahoma State on Saturday. Tech may not be ready for the punch in the mouth that is the Cowboys. For sure, the Riaders won't have the adrenaline they had for this game

Tech still has to go to Norman.

Oklahoma still has to go to Stillwater

If all those situations result in Tech losses and a Sooner loss, Texas is still Big 12 champion.

I don't see Penn State losing, and if Florida beats Alabama in the SEC title game, Texas will not be ranked ahead of them. But the Horns would still win a conference championship, and that would be far and above most expectations for this season.