Golden: Why Texas-Texas Tech is the Longhorns' biggest game since Texas-Alabama in 2010

In the movie "Any Given Sunday," head coach Tony D’Amato described the shelf life of a football team: “This game has got to be about more than winning,” he said. “You're part of something here. Along the way, I want you to cherish it, because when it's gone, it's gone forever.”

As far as movies go, it was OK because Al Pacino gives a good speech in every movie he’s in. But it particularly applies when it comes to the opportunity in front of the Texas Longhorns.

Texas (10-1, 7-1) can make history with two more wins. The Horns can win the Big 12 in their final season as a member and, if things fall right, advance to the College Football Playoff. That’s some double.

Let’s keep it real, though. The Horns won’t always have it this good once they leave for the SEC. While the Big 12 is a fine league, there's no Alabama, no Georgia, no LSU — and yes, no Texas A&M — to have to deal with on a yearly basis, so these football steers had better take the bull by the horns and play to that No. 7 ranking or they will be filled with regret for the rest of their days.

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You don’t want to be the ex-football player sitting in the barbershop at age 65 talking about a big whiff the year you only needed to beat Texas Tech at home and then handle a piece of business against an underdog in Arlington to move the program into the national playoff.

Steve Sarkisian’s preparation has been on point in Year 3, and the tried and true method of one game at a time has worked up to this point, but one cannot overlook the enormous implications at play entering the final Big 12 game ever played at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

It’s Texas' biggest game since the 2009 national title game — the 2018 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia was a nice moment, but no championship was on the line. Speaking of championships, it would be a huge get for the head coach who has never won a conference title.

“When you put it like that, it sounds super important,” right tackle Christian Jones said. “But I mean, right now, I don't want to say that the game isn't important, but we’ve got to take it one day at a time and keep the same routine that we have throughout this whole season.”

Clearing up the title picture

Big 12 title game paths: There was a bit of confusion regarding whether the Longhorns had clinched a berth in the conference title game with that win over Iowa State. It turns out there was a bit of work remaining before fans could make reservations for Jerry World.

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Beat Texas Tech — it’s that simple.

The short week is nothing new to the program. A case can be made that one less day to get ready is one less day to deal with distractions. Sark knows this is a high-stakes game, but he’s had his team in the same mental space for the entire season, and it’s worked well so far.

“This is a Big 12 championship game,” he said Monday. “We feel like we've been playing Big 12 championship games one week after another. We know the value of them. We know the importance of them. You never know how it's going to shake out. And we just did not want to put ourselves in position where we were relying on other people.  And so I don't feel like in this week that I have to do more than that.”

So while many of you will be out hunting for retail bargains on Black Friday, the Horns will be stalking their first conference title since 2009 with a station-to-station look at the one coming up.

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They can’t stop now. It’s been some time since the Big 12 championship was so accessible. This thing is set up on a platter, and much of it is Texas’ own doing. The Horns have put in the work to win 10 games in a regular season for the time since 2009, and that 7-1 conference record has made for one entertaining season, even if they have been guilty of playing down to the competition at times.

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As for the opposition, the Red Raiders (6-5, 5-3) are out of the running for a league title but would love nothing more than to end Texas’ CFP hopes and send the Horns packing off to yet another meaningless Alamo Bowl with a road win in the 73rd and possibly final meeting of a rivalry that goes all the way back to 1928.

History waits for no man — or team, for that matter. The Horns must dare to be great because there may come a day when championship opportunities like this one won’t be nearly as close.

The time is now.

A difference of opinion

At the movies: In case you’re wondering, "Remember the Titans" is my favorite football movie. Sarkisian prefers Adam Sandler’s "The Waterboy."

“Bobby Boucher!” Sarkisian yelled as he walked out of the interview room Monday.

Good times.

Traylor saga underscores in-season hiring issues

Jeff Traylor fallout: Former Texas assistant Jeff Traylor was in the middle of everything that’s wrong with these in-season coaching interviews.

One day after Kirk Bohls reported that the UTSA coach had interviewed for the Texas A&M head coaching position via Zoom earlier in the week, Traylor posed for photos with his seniors before their final home game.

These players are aware of what’s going on in the football world, and they know their head coach is interested in a job at a bigger school. There isn’t anything wrong with trying to improve one’s lot in life, but it’s unfortunate that coaches must take their focus away from their programs during the season because these programs need to hire a head coach to protect the prized recruits who have committed and will make it official during the early signing period in December.

You can’t blame the Aggies for trying to bring in the best coach they can find, and you can’t blame Traylor for wanting to run a bigger shop, but it’s sad for guys like him who now have to explain to their underclassmen that they might leave after persuading their families to send their son to play for him for three or four years.

There doesn’t appear to be a fix for this, though would it really hurt not to allow job interviews for coaches to occur until after a team’s senior day? Imagine how hard the conversations are with Traylor and his players today. Even if he doesn’t get the A&M job and stays, they probably don’t view him the same anymore.

Hey Buckeyes, please beat Michigan

Rooting against Michigan: If there is such a thing as karma, then No. 3 Ohio State will spank up on No. 4 Michigan and keep the suspended Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines out of the College Football Playoff.

The Buckeyes, who jumped the Wolverines in the latest CFP rankings, aren’t squeaky clean when it comes to scandal, but compared with Harbaugh and his flunky Connor Stallions, who did to the sport wrong with their sign stealing, they should arrive in Ann Arbor on Saturday wearing white hats.

To cheat is one thing, but it’s quite another to cheat, show righteous indignation and then accept a three-game suspension presumably after seeing the mounting evidence against you.

The guy should not be allowed to coach in college football again, and he won’t since he figures to bolt for an NFL job while the Michigan administration will bear the brunt of his indiscretions.

One more thought: The NCAA powers should leave the Stone Age and require every college football program to fit the helmets of the quarterback and a defensive player with microphones so we can never have to see those stupid signs on the sideline or discuss stealing signals again.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Stakes couldn't be higher for Horns against Texas Tech