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After failing to win big games over the last several seasons, the Texas Longhorns win over the USC Trojans feels like the program may have finally gotten over that hump. Even though head coach Tom Herman doesn’t believe in “momentum,” he does feel like that type of win does something for your team.
“I just choose to use a different word. It’s energy, it’s lessons learned, it’s validation,” Herman said in his weekly press address Monday. “There’s a lot of things that come from winning a game like that, that are positive for your program and positive for the psychology of your players.”
The Longhorns performance, specifically late against the Trojans, showcases what type of team Texas can be when they play up to their level of talent. Players and coaches can take a measure of relief from looking like a more complete team, but the coaching staff feels like they still haven’t arrived and must improve to reach their goals this season. However, those in the locker room can feel good about carrying lessons from that performance moving forward.
“We’re not a finished product. We’ve got to enhance and improve it but it’s confidence,” Herman said. “It’s not arrogance, it’s not cockiness, it’s confidence that ‘I trained so hard and am trained so well throughout the course of the week that when one or two bad things happen to me throughout the course of the game that’s okay; it’s football.’”
With that being said, the program’s recent history against the TCU Horned Frogs could possibly shake that level of confidence. The coaching staff feels they need to help the players focus intently on the opinions of nobody but those in the room and focus on going 1-0 once again this week, just like every other week.
“Moving past the first game was actually not as difficult as probably many people think; it really wasn’t. I think our guys were ready to learn and move on, just like we’re ready to learn and move on this week, from a win,” Herman said. “The motivation of the previous four, it’s inconsequential. I don’t think there is a guy on this team -- they care about this year and they care about this week and they care about going 1-0 this week and that’s all the motivation they need, really.”