Texas has rung up fools-gold wins under third-year coach Charlie Strong before.
The one Sunday night against Notre Dame, in front of 102,314 fans and the biggest television audience of college football's opening weekend, feels different.
Several times in what turned into a 5-7 2015, the No. 20 Texas team in the coaches' poll (11th in the AP) that will take on UTEP on Saturday was in close games against quality opponents. Over and over again, they lost.
The script was in place Sunday, both when they blew a 31-14 lead, then when they retook the lead only to fall into a 37-37 tie on a blocked extra-point return.