Lulz. You can think it was whatever you like. We all know what was really happening. Even your head coach realized the fake injuries were so blatant and egregious that he felt the need to make up several bullshit lies about various things including no A/C in the locker room, which was quickly and easily refuted with the actual physical plant data released by the university-- the kind of stuff you absolutely can't lie about, because you represent the state and could go to jail for it.
Now I'll go ahead and drop it and you feel free to have the final word.
Sorry Marcus, you can try to tie whatever dumb stuff Orgeron says to whatever you like, but the facts of the situation don't support your assertion, if you're not too bullheaded to see it.
On the other hand, the facts in evidence for the field injuries heavily favor the sincerity of the situation. I think--I don't know--if you ever bothered to rewatch the game you'd see it. My best friend in Austin--you met him once when I brought him to your tailgate--a UT grad and die-hard as they come, was pretty sore about it after the fact. Then he called me after a rewatch and said he realized they almost certainly weren't faking cramps. The down and distance make no sense in some cases, and the players who left the field on and missed games attest to the fact they weren't flopping. Also the guys who it happened to. If you'd been familiar with the roster, these aren't the people you take out of games. I think anyone who is actually open to the evidence and not committed to their preferred narrative no matter what the facts are would agree. I'll go over them and we'll see which category you fall into.
Feel free to rewatch the game to check the facts. Feel free to watch the rest of the games that season to verify the follow-ups. They're all free on YouTube. Here's all 7 "flops" that got boo'd by Horn fans, starting with the first man down.
Texas drive:
- 3rd down goes for 1st and 10, Tyler Shelvin cramps. No time missed. This is the only one that I can entertain was a flop. Though it's not exactly a news flash when a 300 lb DL has a cramp.
- 3rd down goes for 1st and 10, Michael Divinity hurt his arm, was able to briefly return.
- 2nd and 6, Michael Divinity again, clearly in pain on camera with the same arm, went to locker room, did not return, missed multiple ensuing games
- 1st and goal, Rashard Lawrence is helped off the field, limping, was clearly in pain on replay. Seen on the sidelines afterwards getting his ankle taped. Returned to game but missed multiple ensuing games.
- Texas scores TD anyway.
Next drive:
- Grant Delpit cramped AFTER TEXAS SCORES TD, was seen leaving the field for the locker room, missed game time on subsequent possession. This is pure dumbassery if you think a guy flopped after Texas scored. Sure...the guy faked an injury after the other team scores. Then to really sell it he misses time. Brilliant. Horns, of course, boo.
Next drive: UT drives field for TD, no LSU injuries
Next drive: UT drives field for TD, no LSU injuries
Next drive:
- On 1st and 10 after conversion, both Chaisson and Logan are slow to get up. Chaisson's leg clearly seen buckling on replay while getting fallen on. Can't see what happened to Logan. Occurred on a major UT loss due to holding. Not when players fake injuries. You also don't fake two guys at once. Who are your best players at their positions. Both returned to limited action for the game, both missed multiple ensuing games
- UT kicks FG not because of injury timeouts, but because of a holding penalty against them.
Next drive: UT final TD, no LSU injuries.
Most of these guys didn't make it back until the Florida game mid-season, in some cases because they weren't cleared, in a couple cases to try to give them more time. Divinity returned for the UF game and reinjured the same arm and was lost yet again for a couple games. In all cases they were starters. They were obviously missed as the LSU defense became the subject of criticism. There's better people to flop if they were going to.
I think if I were a Texas fan in the emotion of the moment I might suspect the same thing. Excitement runs high and things are often not how we remember them in the moment. I also think, like my friend and many other Longhorns I know, I would've changed my mind.
Anyway, any neutral observer will see it, and the DKR crowd was wrong to boo hurt players.
